tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/breaking-bad-6728/articlesBreaking Bad – The Conversation2023-03-21T12:42:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992512023-03-21T12:42:41Z2023-03-21T12:42:41ZPoisons are a potent tool for murder in fiction – a toxicologist explains how some dangerous chemicals kill<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515276/original/file-20230314-2595-90gnm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2121%2C1412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poisons are often not so clearly labeled.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/poison-bottle-with-a-skull-royalty-free-image/1319519485">Josefe Photography/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People have used poisons <a href="https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2462&sectionid=194918294">throughout history</a> for a variety of purposes: to hunt animals for food, to <a href="https://theconversation.com/poison-or-cure-traditional-chinese-medicine-shows-that-context-can-make-all-the-difference-163337">treat diseases</a> and to achieve nefarious ends like murder and assassination.</p>
<p>But what is a poison? Do all poisons act in the same way? Does the amount of the poison matter in terms of its toxicity?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.engr.colostate.edu/cbe/people/brad-reisfeld/">I am a toxicologist</a> who studies how chemicals affect human health, particularly when they cause harmful effects. As a fan of mystery and detective stories, which often feature the use of poisons, I’ve noticed a few poisons that turn up repeatedly in books, television and movies. How they really work is as fascinating as how they’re deployed toward evil ends in fiction.</p>
<h2>What is a poison?</h2>
<p>The 16th-century <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27214290/">physician–alchemist Paracelsus</a>, considered to be the father of toxicology, once wrote: “What is there that is not poison? All things are poison and nothing is without poison. Solely the dose determines that a thing is not a poison.” By this adage, any substance can be a poison with the appropriate amount.</p>
<p>Many people intentionally expose themselves to chemicals like ethanol through alcoholic beverages, nicotine through tobacco products and botulinum toxin through botox treatments at relatively low doses and suffer minimal adverse effects. However, at <a href="https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2462&sectionid=194918464">sufficiently high doses</a>, these chemicals can be lethal. The body’s response often depends on how the chemical interacts with receptors within or on the surface of cells, or how it binds to enzymes used for biological processes. Frequently, higher concentrations of the substance <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tox.2013.04.007">lead to stronger responses</a>.</p>
<p>Despite Paracelsus’ dictum, in popular culture the term “poison” is often reserved for chemical compounds that are not normally encountered in daily life and can lead to detrimental health effects even in relatively small amounts.</p>
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<span class="caption">At a high enough dose, any chemical could be poisonous.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-man-spilling-multiple-pills-in-his-hand-royalty-free-image/1432823897">Malorny/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Poisons in books, TV and film</h2>
<p>Novel writers and television and movie screenwriters have exploited numerous poisons in their works, including those that are chemical elements, such as <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090422045609/http://www.agathachristie.com/story-explorer/stories/450-from-paddington/">arsenic</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7737528/">polonium</a>, and those derived from animals, such as <a href="https://www.mrsherlockholmes.com/adventures/the-speckled-band/">snake venom</a> and <a href="https://columbophile.com/2019/11/24/episode-review-columbo-murder-under-glass/">blowfish poison</a>. Many poisons derived from plants have also been used for villainous purposes in fiction.</p>
<p>In the AMC TV series “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/">Breaking Bad</a>,” high school chemistry teacher Walter White uses a compound called ricin to murder the business executive Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441948/">Ricin is a very potent poison</a> derived from the castor bean <em>Ricinus communis</em> and can be especially lethal if inhaled. Once this compound gets inside a cell, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20051181">damages a structure called a ribosome</a> that’s responsible for synthesizing proteins essential to the cell’s function. Ingesting ricin could result in intestinal bleeding, organ damage and death.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">It wasn’t Stevia that Lydia sweetened her tea with in ‘Breaking Bad’.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Sometimes, particular organs are much more susceptible to the effects of a poison. Physicians use <a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/83/i25/Digoxin.html">digitalis medicines like digoxin</a>, which are derived from members of the foxglove family of plants, to treat congestive heart failure and heart rhythm problems. When administered in sufficiently high doses, however, they can lead to heart failure and death. By interfering with a protein in heart cells called the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6328127/">sodium-potassium pump</a>, they can decrease the rate of electrical impulses in the heart and increase the strength of its contractions. This can result in a dangerous type of irregular heartbeat called ventricular fibrillation and lead to death.</p>
<p>The villain of the James Bond film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/">Casino Royale</a>,” Le Chiffre, has his girlfriend attempt to kill Bond by poisoning his martini with digitalis. At high doses, digitalis drugs can alter the activity of the autonomic nervous system, which controls unconscious bodily functions like heart pumping. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Poison is one way to win a poker game.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>TV characters are not immune to the dangers of poisonous mushrooms. One particularly potent fungus, <em>Amanita verna</em>, is known as the “destroying angel.” In the ITV TV series “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118401/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Midsomer Murders</a>,” puppet show owner and presumed upstanding citizen Evelyn Pope uses this mushroom to fatally poison chef Tristan Goodfellow as part of her murder spree of the inheritors of an estate. This mushroom contains <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2017.10.002">various chemicals called amatoxins</a> that are thought to inhibit the activity of a specific enzyme critical for the production of <a href="https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/messenger-rna">messenger RNA</a>, or mRNA, a molecule essential to protein synthesis in cells. Because ingested amatoxins mainly target the liver, these poisons can severely disrupt the <a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-the-liver-regenerate-itself-could-give-patients-with-end-stage-liver-disease-a-treatment-option-besides-waiting-for-a-transplant-191826">liver’s ability to repair itself</a>, leading to loss of function that will prove fatal without liver transplantation.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">They don’t call it the “destroying angel” for nothing.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Another highly popular poison in detective and mystery stories is <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/strychnine/basics/facts.asp">strychnine</a>. In the Agatha Christie story “<a href="https://www.agathachristie.com/stories/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles">The Mysterious Affair at Styles</a>,” Alfred Inglethorp and his lover Evelyn Howard use this poison to kill Inglethorp’s wife and wealthy country manor owner, Emily Inglethorp.</p>
<p>Strychnine, which comes from seeds of the <em>Strychnos nux-vomica</em> tree, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/d1np00079a">affects the nervous system</a> by blocking a neurotransmitter called glycine in the spinal cord and brainstem. Normally, glycine slows down the activity of neurons and prevents muscle contractions. By blocking glycine, strychnine ingestion can result in excessive activation of neurons and muscles, leading to a series of full-body muscle spasms that can become so intense that they cause respiratory arrest and death.</p>
<p>Many more poisons exist in nature than described here. Aside from potentially enhancing the enjoyment of detective and mystery stories, understanding the mechanisms of how these poisons work can provide an added appreciation for the complexity of the effects foreign chemicals have on the human body.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Reisfeld does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From ‘Breaking Bad’ to James Bond, certain chemicals are popular options for characters looking to achieve nefarious ends.Brad Reisfeld, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1887132022-08-16T00:04:43Z2022-08-16T00:04:43ZThe finale of Better Call Saul: A psychologist explains how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479051/original/file-20220814-34367-qta4ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C43%2C5571%2C2824&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bob Odenkirk's portrayal of Saul Goodman over two different TV series has been a fascinating journey.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AMC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This story contains spoilers about ‘Better Call Saul,’ although it doesn’t reveal details of the series finale.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3032476/">Better Call Saul</a></em> has wrapped up after six seasons, bringing an end to one of the most interesting characters in the history of television. </p>
<p>Bob Odenkirk’s portrayal of the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNMQqh1ovlM"><em>criminal</em> lawyer</a>” Saul Goodman began in 2009 during <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/">Breaking Bad</a>,</em> but <em>Better Call Saul</em> tells the complex story of the character both before and after the events of <em>Breaking Bad</em>.</p>
<p>As a clinical neuropsychologist and associate professor of psychology — and a fan of <em>Better Call Saul</em> — it’s been fascinating to watch the progression of the character who transforms into three different identities. He goes from young lawyer Jimmy McGill to the corrupt Saul Goodman and then finally to Gene Takovic, the persona he adopts to avoid the law after the events of <em>Breaking Bad</em>.</p>
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<img alt="A composite of three different characters played by Bob Odenkirk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479166/original/file-20220815-19-8zmpbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, Saul Goodman and Gene Takovic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AMC</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Jimmy McGill’s character defies categories, capturing the complexity of personal development shaped by circumstances and personal choices. </p>
<h2>Antisocial personality disorder</h2>
<p>Despite displaying several features of <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928">antisocial personality disorder</a> (stealing from his family, a history of conning people and defying authority), he can be compassionate and is guided by an idiosyncratic code of ethics. Sometimes he even exceeds normative morality to the point of altruism (like when he <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Mijo">saves the twins’ lives from Tuco’s revenge</a> in Season 1, how he takes exceptionally good care of his brother Chuck during his illness and how he risks his career <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Coushatta">to save his assistant Huell from jail</a>).</p>
<p>The arc of his character is carefully constructed to resist moralizing. Just as we start to make up our minds about Jimmy, a new side of him is revealed that’s incompatible with that judgment. </p>
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<p>The early part of the series tells the story of Jimmy becoming a lawyer after years of pulling small-time cons as “Slippin’ Jimmy.”</p>
<p>While supervisors at his first law firm acknowledge Jimmy’s valuable skill sets (a natural ability to connect with people, highly persuasive, creative problem-solver who holds up under pressure, extremely hard worker), they are constantly on the edge, bracing themselves for the next fallout. </p>
<p>At work, he is a strange mix of assets and liabilities: he generates <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Sandpiper_Crossing_class-action_lawsuit">a multi-million dollar class-action lawsuit</a> for his firm, but his obnoxious, authority-busting behaviour quickly builds up to a critical mass that bosses cannot tolerate.</p>
<h2>A magnetic personality</h2>
<p>People close to him are drawn to his magnetic personality and are able to see “the good in him.” He makes friends easily, and typically keeps them for life. With her last breath, his mother <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLQFrSEpmYY">calls out for Jimmy</a> — as Chuck is dutifully sitting by her deathbed. <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Davis_%26_Main">Davis and Main</a> welcome him to their law firm with open arms. Even the battle-hardened, fish-eyed <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Mike_Ehrmantraut">private investigator Mike Ehrmantraut</a> (whose life trajectory provides a subtle road map to Jimmy’s) has a growing respect for him. </p>
<p>However, they inevitably fall victims of his impulsive need for subversive behaviour. Even so, his vibe is intoxicating. <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Kim_Wexler">Kim Wexler</a>, who goes from fellow lawyer to co-conspirator to his wife, gets addicted to the thrill of recreational or utilitarian rule-breaking binges he inspires.</p>
<p>Jimmy has a pathological need to challenge the power structure. His thrill-seeking streak gets him in trouble time and again, hurting his loved ones either directly (like when he needs to be <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Sunk_Costs">bailed out of jail</a>) or indirectly (his limited income due to <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Chicanery">a suspended law licence</a>, lost trust from deep, dark secrets). Despite his reflex to externalize, deep down he knows Kim is right (<a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/better-call-saul-season-4-episode-9-review-wiedersehen/">“You are <em>always</em> down, Jimmy”</a>), eliciting cycles of self-reflection, depression and eventual recovery.</p>
<p>Jimmy’s personal responsibility for his misfortunes is another fascinating thread. Early on, the balance (an overused symbol of justice in the series) seems to tip toward “his own worst enemy.” </p>
<h2>Learned helplessness</h2>
<p>As we learn more about Jimmy’s understated but ongoing victimization (gut-wrenching, repeated emotional betrayal by his brother, the arbitrary <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Wiedersehen">denial of his application</a> by the law licensing board during the one time he did <em>not</em> try to manipulate the system, his accidental entanglement with the cartel, barely getting paid for his high-quality defender work), an alternative explanation is emerging: a condition known as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/learned-helplessness">learned helplessness</a>. </p>
<p>As Jimmy tries hard (though arguably not hard enough) to leave his checkered past behind, he is constantly confronted by the rejection of the system that he openly despises but secretly wants to join.</p>
<p>As his emotional scar tissue accumulates, it turns into callouses. He spends a lot of time in a <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20355215">dissociative reflection</a>, and finally accepts his fate as an eternal misfit. Jimmy slowly becomes (or regresses into?) a street-wise, no-nonsense, tough-minded hustler who is well-connected to the underworld. </p>
<p>As he finds himself on the other side of the law, he develops a new persona: the <em>criminal</em> lawyer Saul Goodman. Identity change is often catalyzed by trauma — in his case, coming to terms with his losses. He is the last McGill left and his unique skill sets cannot be monetized in the legitimate world.</p>
<p>He disappointed his brother (the only man whose approval he craved), his girlfriend, the top lawyers in the state and ultimately, himself. <a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Lantern">Ushering Chuck toward his suicide</a> may have settled their rivalry in his favour, but it’s also the first of many red lines to cross on his way to Goodmanhood. </p>
<h2>Becoming Saul</h2>
<p>Becoming Saul is more than taking on a new professional identity: it’s a desperate attempt to reinvent himself and become successful <em>his way</em> through a grotesque fusion of Slippin’ Jimmy (the freedom to be himself) and Charles McGill (the respect he craves).</p>
<p>It may seem like a dramatic transformation, but at some level he simply returns to his roots – this time, as a major-league scam artist embedded within the legal system (that <em>criminal</em> lawyer that Jesse in <em>Breaking Bad</em> references).</p>
<p>The name he chooses (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/oct/11/sall-good-man-how-better-call-saul-became-superior-to-breaking-bad">“S'all good, man”</a>) encapsulates the tension that holds his character together: a desire to be liked against an opportunistic appropriation of a culture by <a href="https://www.chicagojewishnews.com/is-saul-goodman-in-breaking-bad-jewish/">portraying himself as a Jewish lawyer</a>.</p>
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<img alt="The characters Kim Wexler and Jimmy McGill sit on a bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479200/original/file-20220815-19-a4cqxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The relationship between Kim (Rhea Seehorn) and Jimmy becomes a defining moment in the series.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AMC</span></span>
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<h2>Personal purgatory</h2>
<p>In the words of Tony Soprano, a criminal career ends in one of two ways: jail or death. While Jimmy repeatedly escapes both, the black-and-white footage of his post-Saul life (as Gene Takovic) is an intrusive reminder that his troubles are not over. He’s spending his last years in his own personal purgatory, perpetually re-examining where he went wrong.</p>
<p>Jimmy would make a tough patient if he ever stumbled into a psychologist’s office.</p>
<p>Cognitive therapy (“mind over mood”) has little to offer him in the way of life-changing revelations: he already knows himself pretty well and understands how his self-defeating thought pattern contributes to his problems. </p>
<p>Jimmy could talk circles around a psycho-dynamically oriented clinician, and the authoritarian style of Freudian therapy would likely trigger oppositional behaviour, recapitulating rather than resolving his core conflicts. </p>
<p>He may respond best to <a href="https://www.contemporarypsychotherapy.org/volume-12-issue-1-2020/act-and-existential-therapy/">Existential or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy</a>. Although his diagnosis is famously treatment-resistant, the “good in this man” provides a window for a genuine (patient-initiated) attempt at self-redemption in the hands of a highly skilled clinician. </p>
<p>Reminiscent of ancient Greek tragedies in which the heroes rebel against their fate and inevitably lose, Jimmy is a morally ambiguous figure who fights another invisible force — his own impulses that keep him from becoming the man he wants to be. </p>
<p>This is what makes him relatable. We’ve all experienced that struggle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188713/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laszlo Erdodi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The end of the TV show ‘Better Call Saul’ wraps up the story of Saul Goodman. A clinical neuropsychologist analyzes the character’s progression from a small-time con man to a ‘criminal’ lawyer.Laszlo Erdodi, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1884472022-08-15T20:03:56Z2022-08-15T20:03:56ZBetter Call Saul’s final episode is the end of the golden age of TV as we know it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479063/original/file-20220815-54278-oqeqr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C1096%2C615&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it was announced that the creators of Breaking Bad would be filming a prequel spin-off to their iconic series, few could have imagined the critical acclaim it would receive in its own right. </p>
<p>As Better Call Saul prepares to air its final episode, many have taken to calling it the <a href="https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915943/better-call-saul-might-be-the-greatest-of-all-time-if-it-can-stick-the-landing">greatest television show of all time</a>. </p>
<p>It joins a list of other prestige TV shows that have come and gone in recent years: Game of Thrones, The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Dexter, and of course Breaking Bad.</p>
<p>Better Call Saul is often considered part of the <a href="https://ultimatepopculture.fandom.com/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Television_(2000s%E2%80%93present)">new golden age of television</a>, stretching roughly from 2000 to the present, characterised by high-quality, original shows with prolonged, complex story arcs, compelling visual aesthetics and morally ambiguous characters. </p>
<p>Thanks in part to cable networks like HBO, AMC and Showtime, television was elevated to high art, leading to HBO’s famous slogan: “It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” </p>
<p>Today, however, decade-defining shows are scarce. The streaming wars have inundated audiences with content, leaving them overwhelmed. <a href="https://time.com/6121212/tv-streaming-peak-redundancy/">Judy Berman, writing in Time, calls this</a> “peak redundancy”: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We may still be deluged with viewing options, many of exceptional quality. But we also have too many shows that feel interchangeable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Better Call Saul remains the last of those defining, <a href="https://theconversation.com/mad-men-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-and-the-golden-age-of-television-48660">golden age shows</a>, and will leave a poignant mark on the television landscape. </p>
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<h2>Law and chaos</h2>
<p>As a prequel spin-off, Better Call Saul was always going to be compared to its beloved predecessor. But thanks to intelligent dialogue, skilful shifts in tone, and multifaceted characters, the show has established its own unique legacy under the guardianship of creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. </p>
<p>Breaking Bad was notorious for <a href="https://collider.com/breaking-bad-science-fact-checking/">fulminated-mercury explosions</a> and gruesome deaths (<a href="https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Character_Deaths">271 deaths compared to 65</a> in Better Call Saul, as of the penultimate episode). Better Call Saul, by contrast, is renowned for its unhurried momentum and painstaking focus on the minutiae of the legal world. </p>
<p>As David Segal of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/arts/television/better-call-saul-season-2-episode-5-recap.html">The New York Times put it</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>For decades, law firms have been portrayed on television as realms of glamour and intrigue. The reality can be pretty awful.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While Breaking Bad felt slick and gritty, Better Call Saul feels painfully real. Jimmy is not the romanticised anti-hero Walter White is. He is not a Dexter Morgan or a Tony Soprano. If anything, Jimmy is one of life’s losers, struggling to hold onto his individuality in a corporate system that thrives on conformity. </p>
<p>We like Jimmy because he is kind, irreverent, resourceful and idealistic. His girlfriend-turned-wife, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) remains the primary voice of reason until the end of season five, when she succumbs to the lure of Jimmy’s scheming ways. </p>
<p>Like Jimmy, Kim is torn between the stability of corporate life and her passion for public defender cases. She, too, realises that law and justice are not always the same thing. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479068/original/file-20220815-49874-3niwqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler and Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
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<p>Better Call Saul resonates because it’s filled with characters who feel smothered by dead-end compromises, like Ignacio “Nacho” Varga (Michael Mando) and Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), both of whom are caught in the orbit of the drug cartel. Like Jimmy, their tragic arcs are amplified by the choices they feel they are forced to make.</p>
<p>We pity Jimmy in particular as he tries in vain to be accepted by the corporate mainstream. But his past as a small-time conman makes this transition impossible. No matter how much Jimmy tries to appease the establishment, and his brother, Chuck (a formidable Michael McKean), he can never quite shake his reputation as “Slippin’ Jimmy”. </p>
<p><a href="https://time.com/5419078/better-call-saul-season-4-justice-system-finale/">For Berman</a>, this is where Better Call Saul excels, in showing us the hypocrisy of the American judicial system, where “even the attorneys who uphold this system don’t really believe in second chances.” </p>
<p>Jimmy and his clients, she says, are </p>
<blockquote>
<p>shut out of institutions they’ve earned the right to re-enter — and so they do whatever it takes to survive outside of those institutions. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mad-men-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-and-the-golden-age-of-television-48660">Mad Men, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the 'Golden Age' of television</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Faced with these untenable conditions, Jimmy descends further into the world of the con, gradually forsaking his idealism and fulfilling a destiny that others – institutions, colleagues, his brother – have written for him. </p>
<p>This is what makes Jimmy’s slow transformation into Saul Goodman so despairing, and yet so relatable. Unable to be himself, and yet unable to affect real change by the book, the corporate world eats away at his resolve until there’s nothing left but the thrill of the scam. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/how-better-call-saul-season-4-is-about-to-change/">As Odenkirk himself noted</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think one of the themes of Better Call Saul is that real, fundamental change of a person is driven by some pretty hard and powerful forces. You have to really crunch the psyche of a person to get them to change fundamentally.“</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-reasons-better-call-saul-works-a-scriptwriters-perspective-39579">Three reasons Better Call Saul works: a scriptwriter's perspective</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>End of an era</h2>
<p>Like its predecessors, Better Call Saul combines strong, cinematic visuals with methodical storytelling to give audiences a complex portrait of the land of opportunity’s shadow-world. </p>
<p>As it comes to an end, so does the golden age of TV. In the streaming era, we seem to be losing the patience for such storytelling, with shows constantly one-upping each other for shock value, from The Witcher to rise-and-fall dramas Super Pumped and WeCrashed. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/better-call-saul-season-5-review">Taylor Antrim of Vogue explains</a>: "Saul looks like nothing else on TV.”</p>
<p>He writes that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>its meticulous shabbiness inspires nostalgia for a slightly less overheated TV era, when shows didn’t have to jostle and compete and shout ‘look at me!’ for attention.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The universe that Gilligan and Gould created is not one we are likely to forget, its departure signalling the end of a truly great era of television.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Siobhan Lyons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Better Call Saul is one of the last examples of prestige television still airing - with its finale, we say goodbye to the golden era of TV.Siobhan Lyons, Scholar in Media and Cultural Studies, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1295932020-02-10T13:57:42Z2020-02-10T13:57:42ZA Nazi drug’s US resurgence: How meth is making a disturbing reappearance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313198/original/file-20200203-41516-vfhkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A drug addict smoking crystal meth on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Homeless-Crisis-on-the-Coast-Photo-Gallery/854421aedac84655854ae18e015b0021/62/0">AP photo/Jae C. Hong</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although I am teaching a course at Indiana University this semester on the opioid epidemic, I can’t get meth out of my mind.</p>
<p>A colleague of mine was recently carjacked. He was forced to drive at extreme speed throughout the city and escaped with his life only by intentionally crashing his car. My colleague told me he believes his gun-wielding assailant was suffering an acute psychosis related to methamphetamine use. </p>
<p>Opioids may get most of the media attention these days, but meth has hardly gone away. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/29/745061185/seizures-of-methamphetamine-are-surging-in-the-u-s">Law enforcement seizures</a> of meth are surging in the U.S., up 142% between 2017 and 2018. <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/what-scope-methamphetamine-misuse-in-united-states">Overdose deaths</a> in 2017 were seven times higher than in 2007. </p>
<p>Just what is meth? Why is it such a grave threat to health? And why does its terrible specter seem to loom larger and larger?</p>
<h2>The health effects of meth</h2>
<p>Methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant of the central nervous system, has some <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Blitzed.html?id=YN2pDAAAQBAJ">legitimate medical uses</a>, such as the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But it is widely trafficked and purchased for recreational consumption, often as crystal meth (think of the award-winning television drama “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/10/11/769312766/breaking-bad-creator-vince-gilligan-reflects-on-meth-and-morals">Breaking Bad</a>”).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/how-methamphetamine-misused">Recreational meth users</a> smoke, snort, ingest or inject the drug. Smoking and injection seem to give the greatest rush, but the effect doesn’t last as long. <a href="https://methoide.fcm.arizona.edu/infocenter/index.cfm?stid=166">Users often report</a> euphoria, increased alertness and reduced appetite; chronic users may experience paranoia, delusions and unpredictable mood swings. Addicts may exhibit a “<a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/how-methamphetamine-misused">binge and crash</a>” pattern, and many try to maintain the rush with continuous consumption. </p>
<p>Chances of addiction are high, and symptoms from withdrawal can linger for months. Treatment is complicated, particularly because many meth users are often also using cocaine, heroin or alcohol. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313199/original/file-20200203-41485-1ka9xnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Law enforcement seizures of meth are on the rise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/California-Meth-Seizure/f79539f304ff4189af2fffec407a1e68/5/0">US Customs & Border Protection via AP</a></span>
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<p>Meth is directly <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/what-are-long-term-effects-methamphetamine-misuse">toxic</a> to the brain; developmental delays are common in meth babies. In adults, it’s associated with an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.02.032">increased risk for Parkinson’s disease</a>. Addicts age at an accelerated pace, and commonly acquire “<a href="https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/m/meth-mouth">meth mouth</a>” – tooth loss, tooth decay and tooth blackening.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/what-are-long-term-effects-methamphetamine-misuse">Those who overdose</a> may develop psychosis or abnormal heart rhythms. Unlike opioid overdoses, which can quickly be resolved if the drug naloxone is available, meth overdoses have no “reversal” agent. <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007480.htm">Instead</a>, the meth is suctioned from the stomach. Anti-psychotics can help with psychosis, and anti-hypertensive drugs can reduce acutely elevated blood pressure. </p>
<h2>Meth’s dark history</h2>
<p>During World War II, meth played a sinister role in the Nazi war machine. </p>
<p>The military, along with German civilians, used a <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Blitzed.html?id=YN2pDAAAQBAJ">commercial form</a> of the drug – made in Berlin and marketed under the trade name <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/crystal-meth-origins-link-back-to-nazi-germany-and-world-war-ii-a-901755.html">Pervitin</a> – to stay awake, alert and energized. With Pervitin, factory workers and homemakers alike found they could work longer and harder. Troops called it “tank chocolate” or “pilot’s salt.” Pervitin fueled the Nazis during their “<a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-nazi-death-machine-hitler-s-drugged-soldiers-a-354606.html">blitzkrieg</a>” invasion of France in 1940. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YN2pDAAAQBAJ&q=everyone+cheerful#v=snippet&q=everyone%20cheerful&f=false%22%22">Wrote one German commander</a> about Pervitin: “Everyone fresh and cheerful, excellent discipline.” Later his assessment became less rosy: “After taking four tablets, double vision and seeing colors.”</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313200/original/file-20200203-41554-nww6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A box of meth from a 2018 Minneapolis drug bust. Law enforcement seized a total of 171 pounds with an estimated street value of $7.75 million.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Meth-Deaths/8d6651c49058456291cdcd7fd8a5fa62/38/0">Cannon River Drug & Violent Task Force via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The toll meth took on the Germans was <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Blitzed.html?id=YN2pDAAAQBAJ">immense</a>. It provoked war crimes, stoked psychosis and triggered suicide. As the war progressed, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Hitler.html?id=v3bWAAAAMAAJ">Adolf Hitler</a> received ever-increasing doses of the drug. </p>
<p>No one should be surprised. After all, the German name Pervitin is related to the word pervert (“ill-turned”). It means corrupted or distorted. Meth, as the Nazis discovered, distorts our nature and turns us away from what we are meant to be.</p>
<p>Now, 75 years after the war, and still without an <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/faqs/">effective</a> drug therapy, a meaningful response to methamphetamines requires three things. We in the U.S. must recognize the true scope of the problem. We must make sure meth users have access to counseling and behavioral therapy. Most of all, our society needs to help individuals and families discover healthier ways to find meaning in life. </p>
<p>[ <em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129593/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Gunderman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s widespread attention on the dangers of opioid addiction, but use of damaging crystal meth continues in the U.S., with police seizures rising.Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151322019-05-26T19:32:06Z2019-05-26T19:32:06ZA long time ago… why prequels are taking us back to the future in popular film<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275314/original/file-20190520-69209-hnakud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An upcoming film will explore the origins of the Joker, last seen in the Batman franchise. But prequels are often poorly received – perhaps with good reason.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/mediaviewer/rm1076453632">DC Comics/IMDB</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last month, audiences got their first glimpse of the trailer for the upcoming film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/">Joker</a>, which explores the origins of its iconic title character, last seen in the Batman franchise. The trailer came just weeks after <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154664/">Captain Marvel</a> was released to cinemas, detailing the back story of Carol Danvers, a superhero who suffers from amnesia and struggles to find out about her past. </p>
<p>Joker is not the only prequel in the works. DC entertainment (also behind Joker) will follow up with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877830/">The Batman</a>, a 2021 film set to focus on a younger Bruce Wayne. The <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/09/die-hard-6-mcclane/">sixth instalment of Die Hard</a>, titled McClane, will also be an origin story focusing on John McClane in his 20s. </p>
<p>And after the critically acclaimed <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3032476/">Better Call Saul</a> – a prequel to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/">Breaking Bad</a> – it was recently announced that classic TV show <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/9kpvmy/sopranos-prequel-movie-release-date-new-title-what-happened-to-the-many-saints-of-newark-vgtrn">The Sopranos</a> would be followed up with a prequel movie. Even <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikawsmith/2019/01/14/game-of-thrones-prequel/">Game of Thrones</a> will be filming a prequel series.</p>
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<p>Prequels and origin texts focus on the back story of our favourite characters. Traditionally much rarer than sequels, they are fast becoming a popular mode of storytelling, alongside the recent boom of 90s remakes. Prequels allow filmmakers to stay in familiar territory while also developing new storylines for old (and even dead) characters.</p>
<p>While prequels present a unique opportunity for storytelling, they are often poorly received, from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329028/">Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd</a>, to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204313/">Exorcist: The Beginning</a>. On the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prequels">list of film prequels</a> on Wikipedia, 36 were direct-to-video. Prequels like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/">Godfather Part II </a>and Better Call Saul appear to be the exceptions to the rule. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-happening-again-our-love-affair-with-tv-reboots-78454">It's happening again ... our love affair with TV reboots</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why the appeal?</h2>
<p>Society loves origins. Much like our obsession with the lives of celebrities “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXOk6VWlb9y1-wdnNbi_pqxS5EUG7_vYh">before they were famous</a>”, we’re naturally curious about the past of characters. The great attraction of the prequel and origin story is that we get to take a look into a character’s elusive past. </p>
<p>Film scholar <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Christopher_Nolan.html?id=Ty8GuAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Darren Mooney argues</a> origin stories offer what the late <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/marvel-comics-genius-stan-lee-outcasts-heroes/">Stan Lee called</a> the “illusion of change”, so that our understanding of the character can evolve, even when the character themselves remains more or less the same. </p>
<p>Prequels rely on this process of change, and if we can watch this unfold, it can make certain enigmatic characters more relatable – from the Joker to Tony Soprano. This might explain the popularity of <a href="https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3438219/prequels-origin-stories-much-good-thing/">prequels in the horror genre</a>, where we see the early years of killers from Norman Bates to Hannibal Lecter. </p>
<p>Just like sequels, the prequel format is a particularly lucrative business model; <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel2018a.htm">Captain Marvel has grossed more than US$1 billion worldwide</a>, continuing Marvel’s blockbuster run. By taking advantage of the prequel angle, production companies can capitalise on their films without needing to be particularly original. This means the big film franchises will likely continue their cinematic reign under the guise of “novel” storytelling techniques. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275319/original/file-20190520-69192-h9kdcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brie Larson in Captain Marvel, a film that explored the origins of its title character.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154664/mediaviewer/rm3956700416">Marvel Studios/IMDB</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As film studies scholar <a href="https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/klein-palmer-cycles-sequels-spin-offs-remakes-and-reboots">Andrew Scahill puts it</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the prequel offers the pleasure of familiar characters and settings while further exploring the narrative world of the existing text and possibly deepening the audience’s connection with central characters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet he also acknowledges that “as an industrial mode, the prequel provides the financial safety of a tested storyline with a built-in audience”. This means popular culture, once a thriving field of experimental storytelling, risks becoming ever more derivative as it heads into the next decade.</p>
<h2>When prequels go wrong</h2>
<p>Prequels are more difficult to pull off than a sequel, because we already know how the story ends. As <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/better-call-saul-season-5-release-date-delay-breaking-bad-a8861261.html">AMC President Sarah Barnett said</a> of Better Call Saul: “We know clearly the end was already written before the beginning began.” Filmmakers must also contend with the natural process of time, since actors inevitably age. The task is to make the back story both engaging and authentic to the original narrative.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275320/original/file-20190520-69199-huyqtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul, a prequel series to the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3032476/mediaviewer/rm1012214016">IMDB</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Star Wars prequels illustrate how easy it is to do a bad job. The first two films in particular were poorly received and accused of bad writing, equally terrible acting, and falling well short of the original trilogy in regards to storytelling. When prequels are weak, it often seems as though they are simply there to make money for production companies.</p>
<p>While sequels and reboots defined the 2010s in popular culture, prequels are set to define the 2020s, which is not necessarily good news. Ironically, there is no longer anything particularly original about origin stories, as the format has already started to exhaust itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Siobhan Lyons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From the Joker to a Game of Thrones prequel, origin stories are increasingly common in film and TV – perhaps at the expense of originality in popular culture.Siobhan Lyons, Scholar in Media and Cultural Studies, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/866582017-11-02T11:19:17Z2017-11-02T11:19:17ZPizza delivery for Walter White: the pros and cons of fan tourism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192825/original/file-20171101-19853-gknvvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Breaking Bad/AMC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a delicious story: so many fans of the US crime series Breaking Bad have tried to recreate the scene where protagonist Walter White angrily throws a pizza on to the roof of his house that the real world owners have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41596496">built a six-foot fence around the property</a> to keep them out.</p>
<p>Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s easy to understand why the real life residents are not so impressed. While there is clearly an attraction for fans to travel to get close to their favourite film or TV series, sometimes this devotion can cause problems for the people who have to put up with all the attention.</p>
<p>For fans, these trips are important – it reinforces their love of, and loyalty to, their favourite TV shows. It illustrates how big a fan they are and it makes the fiction appear more real. As you would imagine, many tourist destinations are also keen to profit from any links they have to popular culture – offering official tours and merchandise to attract travelling fans. For example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/elvis-tourism-selling-the-king-from-tupelo-boy-to-graceland-icon-82290">visiting Graceland</a> has become a mini industry in itself – for an Elvis fan, no trip to Memphis is complete without going there.</p>
<p>It was recently reported that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41561589">traffic is to be banned</a> from part of a road in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, made famous by the TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones, to protect its famous tunnel of beech trees known as the Dark Hedges. You can understand the local people’s wish to preserve the natural beauty of the road – but it’s hard to deny the attraction of the revenue that Game of Thrones has brought to the region – an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-36749938">estimated £150m</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, for a city such as Albuquerque, New Mexico (not renowned for its global tourist attractions), the increase in tourism related to both AMC’s Breaking Bad and the current Better Call Saul is <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/breaking-bad-boosts-albuquerque-tourism-article-1.1289815">important for local businesses and residents</a>. Nevertheless, some fans have become a nuisance, as in the case of the pizza throwing pests – so regulating private and public access to the former filming location has become a hot topic for locals. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uk2sibEFZl0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>For the majority of fans, many of whom pay to go as part of an <a href="https://www.breakingbadrvtours.com/">official tour group</a> which actually cooperates with the home owners so as not to disturb their daily routine, simply taking a picture of themselves in front of the location is an important part of their fandom. So when fans pass through spaces made famous in the media, taking photos to preserve the moment is a celebration of their relationship with the TV show or movie. Building a fence will not only prevent fan photography but it may disrupt the congenial relationship between local business, tourists and residents which has been carefully built up over years. </p>
<p>When I visited the house as part of my own research on fan tourism earlier this year, I was impressed by the relationship our tour guide had with the family, how warmly they welcomed the tour group and how interested they seemed in what brought us there to visit.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192690/original/file-20171031-18735-1340mm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When I went in search of Walter White (no pizza in sight).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pilgrim’s progress</h2>
<p>In my own research, I see clear parallels between the centuries-old religious pilgrimage to sacred sites of worship and the pilgrimages that fans make to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Cult-Collectors/Geraghty/p/book/9780415617666">locations of popular culture</a> they cherish. Taking pictures of buildings, landscapes and people at these popular media sites becomes a way of affirming their affection for the show. But it is also about achieving some sort of mastery or control. Being there, comparing photos with the images on screen, seeing how shots were filmed in relation to what is really there gives fans a better understanding of the filming process. </p>
<p>This knowledge taps into a fan preoccupation for learning and developing their expertise. It also offers fans another more personal connection to the series; when watching and rewatching it, they can imagine themselves being there – they are now part of it. In terms of being a fan, memories of the tourist site captured in photos and video strengthen the connection to popular media and enhance the fan experience. </p>
<p>For example, a short film made by fans of the original Ghostbusters (see below) works as a travel guide for other fans who might want to visit New York City filming locations, but it also highlights the real affection these fans have for the movie.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c85kOdXyIpY?wmode=transparent&start=2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/492/438">Fan tourism</a> is about the relationship between space, place, memory and fan identity. Those fans who travel to sites made special through their appearance on screen get something out of visiting. It makes the fictional text more real and renders the viewing experience more special when they return to it. What negative news coverage of fan tourism neglects to share is that the vast majority of fans work with local businesses and residents to get access to special sites – and they value them just as much as the locals. </p>
<p>Surely rather than building fences or banning cars, it would be better for all concerned to work out ways in which these special sites are managed? Most fans are happy to pay for their homage to the film or series that they love, so why not make it a win-win situation for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lincoln Geraghty does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Busloads of people rubber-necking their favourite movie location can be a pest, but fan tourism is a growing business.Lincoln Geraghty, Reader in Popular Media Cultures, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/758512017-04-10T20:19:32Z2017-04-10T20:19:32ZWhy glamorising narco culture, on screen and in Sydney’s pop-up shop, is wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164605/original/image-20170410-29396-1g6f0xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Photos of some of the 43 Mexican college students who disappeared in 2014 and are feared to have been massacred by gang members and police. Screen depictions of Mexico's drug trade mostly ignore their human cost.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jorge Lopez/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian streaming service Stan will open a <a href="https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/food-and-drink/article/los-pollos-hermanos-pop-">pop-up restaurant called Los Pollos Hermanos</a> in Sydney this week to promote the latest season of the Breaking Bad spin-off <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3032476/">Better Call Saul</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164597/original/image-20170410-29403-buqtm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring in Better Call Saul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">idmb</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Giancarlo Esposito, who plays the restaurant’s owner - drug lord Gus Fring - in both shows, will attend the event. Fring uses Los Pollos as a front for his criminal activities and a money laundering operation. The pop up restaurant has previously opened in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. </p>
<p>This marketing stunt turns the promotion of a TV show built around a savage reality - the consumption of narcotics in the US and the cartel wars in Mexico - into a pop culture event. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Breaking Bad</a> and Better Call Saul revolve around the New Mexico underworld and the distribution of illegal narcotics in the US. Created by Vince Gillian, they show the end of the drugs chain that starts with the Mexican cartels. Mexican criminal organisations, particularly the Juárez Cartel, cast a shadow over the main plotline throughout the shows. Numerous Mexican narcos get tangled up with the main characters. </p>
<p>Yet since the shows began in 2008, their producers have done little in the plotlines to acknowledge the human tragedy being experienced in Mexico. For the past 40 years, it and other countries such as Colombia have suffered the deathly effects of the drug trade, including mass murder, corruption at all levels of government and a general sense of unease in the population.</p>
<p>When Mexicans and other people of colour appear in these shows they are exclusively shown as <a href="https://theconversation.com/narcos-and-cartel-land-fall-into-the-same-trap-an-obsession-with-one-sided-storytelling-48273">“bad hombres” </a> whose activities corrupt virtuous Anglo characters such as Walter White, a chemistry teacher who becomes an amphetamines producer. In Weeds (2005-2012), produced by Showtime, a naive, white suburban widow involved in narcotics dealing confronts a vicious Mexican cartel. The comedic tone of this show uses cheap laughs to deal with an issue that has cost thousands of lives “south of the border”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164596/original/image-20170410-3845-1rrpowi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Manuel Uriza in Better Call Saul (2015)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">High Bridge Productions/idmb</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The repercussions of drug violence are seldom explored in these shows or other screen depictions of the narco trade. Indeed, Hollywood has a long history of glamorising and misrepresenting narco culture, with dealers and hitmen or <em>sicarios</em> often portrayed as heroes with compelling rags-to-riches stories. </p>
<p>In cult classics such as Brian DePalma’s <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086250/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Scarface</a> (1983) and Ted Demme’s <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221027/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Blow</a> (2001), drug dealing is shown as carefree and luxurious. In the Netflix hit <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2707408/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"> Narcos</a> (2015), Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar is a noble, if flawed, individual with an enviable lifestyle. Like the TV mobster Tony Soprano, Escobar is depicted as a good family man who happens to kill and torture for a living. In real life, Escobar was a vicious murderer whose violent legacy has shaped contemporary Colombia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164601/original/image-20170410-29396-8ix5gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar in Narcos (2015).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dynamo, Gaumont International Television, Netflix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hollywood’s more recent obsession has been the current Mexican cartel wars, a conflict that has fascinated producers and A-listers. In January 2016, actor Sean Penn infamously travelled to rural Mexico to interview billionaire drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán - then the most wanted man in the world - which he turned into a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/el-chapo-speaks-20160109">flawed article</a> for Rolling Stone magazine. Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was later apprehended by authorities. At least two major studios are preparing biopics about Guzmán’s life. </p>
<h2>A brutal reality</h2>
<p>The reality glossed over by Hollywood is brutal and unforgiving. Since the escalation of cartel violence during the Felipe Calderón presidency (2006-2012), more than 160,000 Mexicans have been murdered as a result of narcotics trafficking.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164610/original/image-20170410-29396-13xzs97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman holds a placard that reads Stop the Drug Wars at a march in Monterrey, Mexico last year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Becerril/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The flow of arms from the US to Mexico and the failure of US authorities to curb domestic drug consumption have helped perpetuate the conflict. The fragmentation of the drug cartels has led to gruesome displays of power such as the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166484/Mexican-drug-cartels-decapitate-rivals-disturbing-video.html">circulation of decapitation videos on the Internet</a>. In the past few years <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/15/americas/mexico-mass-grave-skulls-found-veracruz/">mass graves</a> have been found throughout the country. Countless corpses have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/05/bodies-bridge-23-mexico-drug">hung from bridges</a>. In 2014, 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/ayotzinapa-a-timeline-of-the-mass-disappearance-that-has-shaken-mexico">disappeared</a> and were allegedly killed as a result of drug violence. </p>
<p>The cartels have branched out into other illegal activities such as organ harvesting, sex trafficking, extortion and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/feb/21/mexico-kidnappings-refugees-central-america-immigration">kidnapping of Central American migrants</a>. Many regions of Mexico live in a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4126304/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><em>de facto</em> civil war</a>. </p>
<p>Hollywood is not the only cultural industry that glamorises narco culture. In Latin American countries such as Mexico and Colombia, <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/mexico-narco-soap-operas-do-more-than-just-glorify-drug-trade">highly controversial</a> <em>narcotelenovelas</em> (soapies) such as El patrón del mal (2012, about Escobar) and El Señor de los Cielos (2013, about the Mexican dealer Amado Carrillo) sanitise drug violence. The shows are full of luxury cars and impossibly beautiful people. Violent deaths are a fun narrative trick. The ethical and humanitarian dilemmas of armed conflict become banal. </p>
<p>In a genre known as <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_se/article/mexican-narco-cinema-part-1-of-3">narco cinema</a>, dozens of straight-to-video Mexican B-movies, often financed by the cartels themselves, also treat criminals like heroes. Meanwhile <em>narco corridos</em>, a folksy musical genre derivative of the <em>corridos</em> that narrated passages of the Mexican Revolution, have been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm">forbidden</a> in some regions of Mexico for glamorising narcos by turning their lives into epic stories and portraying them as modern day Robin Hoods.</p>
<p>Mexican arthouse directors, however, have tackled the complexities and harmful effects of the drug trade. Gerardo Naranjo explored the effect of drug violence on young women in the critically acclaimed <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1911600/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Miss Bala</a> (2011). Amat Escalante won the Golden Palm as Best Director in Cannes for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2852376/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Heli</a>, an unforgiving realist film that depicts how the drug trade destroys family life. More recently, documentary filmmaker Everardo Gonzalez released <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/devil-s-freedom-974782">La libertad del Diablo</a> (Devil’s Freedom), where he interviews <em>sicarios</em> as well as victims of the narco wars.</p>
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<p>The opening of Los Pollos Down Under has been met with enthusiasm by the Australian media. Last week, Fairfax Media <a href="http://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/breaking-bads-los-pollos-hermanos-is-popping-up-in-sydney-20170403-gvc96f">reported </a>that, “Los Pollos Hermanos, Breaking Bad’s chicken shop and crystal-methamphetamine distribution front, is taking over Thirsty Bird in Potts Point…” Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.timeout.com/sydney/blog/get-free-fried-chicken-at-a-los-pollos-hermanos-pop-up-breaking-bad-fans-040317">Time Out Sydney noted</a> that the food will be free but that there is, “No word yet on whether there’ll be [a] chunk of crystal meth in there too”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164600/original/image-20170410-29399-1jmai6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Walter White (Bryan Cranston) outside Los Pollos Hermanos in an episode of Breaking Bad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">High Bridge Productions/idmb</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The tone of these articles was light-hearted. But as a Mexican-Australian, I am troubled by the opening of Los Pollos Hermanos in Sydney. In the show, Fring uses the chicken shop to pass as a legitimate entrepreneur, a common practice among the cartels north and south of the border. He also uses food containers to smuggle amphetamines. </p>
<p>There would be public outcry if a TV show found banal entertainment value and marketing potential in the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, or the Rwandan genocide or the Syrian civil war. The brutal narco wars should be no different.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>César Albarrán-Torres does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Los Pollos Hermanos is a chicken shop run by a drug lord in the TV series Better Call Saul. A pop-up version opens in Sydney today - and both ignore the savage reality of Mexico’s drug wars.César Albarrán-Torres, Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/691702016-11-21T15:02:01Z2016-11-21T15:02:01ZThe Singing Detective at 30: never mind the modern box sets, here’s a true TV masterpiece<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146770/original/image-20161121-4518-pvu95e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Time for another viewing?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrogers/3388376575/in/photolist-6ausPJ-6aqjcp-6aqjeg-6aqjiM-6aqjhR-9waZHK-6ausUo-64qbTH-79WijU-bLY73Z-6ihLzN-mG8Jp-8nSqhy-f8EN2y-8nPfCk-8nSqjj-8nPfvn-8nSqc5-8nSq9E-9dsPvL-8nSqkU-f6EsuE-fFwvaN-3xmchn-6KrpPi-BjUGaD-AHecJr-BjUG4M-APAJJf-BhE37L-CS7FYP-CxhGsY-BhE2Um-BeqXHo-BgJGqF-CxhGH7-CVvwaN-LY2UPD-L94W4Z-LVskqd-f9o9TQ-6pymt3-Dk9kE-HbsqX-4d8DCb">Pere Ubu</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Monday, mid-November, 30 years ago, British newspapers <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JXi7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA351&lpg=PA351&dq=%22Every+Sunday+for+Six+Weeks:+Drama+from+Heaven%22&source=bl&ots=UHTizmN5f6&sig=TU4YwIH2817ByDym6ydIgDqMFY4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7z-fs1rnQAhXpKsAKHaSCDQkQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=%22Every%20Sunday%20for%20Six%20Weeks%3A%20Drama%20from%20Heaven%22&f=false">were hailing</a> the first episode of a major “television drama event” that had aired the night before. “Every Sunday for Six Weeks: Drama from Heaven,” declared The Financial Times. “Stunning new serial,” wrote The Guardian. </p>
<p>Those of a certain age may be disconcerted to learn it has been three full decades since <a href="https://store.bbc.com/the-singing-detective">The Singing Detective</a>, the six-part drama by Dennis Potter, was first shown on British television on Sunday nights at 9pm. It still <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110911083558/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/list/list.php">frequently</a> features in “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jan/12/guardian-50-television-dramas">greatest-ever TV</a>” polls. </p>
<p>Much <a href="https://youtu.be/WvQRDQ59q7Q">parodied</a> over the years, many will be familiar with <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/487877/">the story</a> even if they haven’t seen it. A middle-aged misanthropic writer of pulp detective stories, the appropriately named Philip E Marlow (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002091/">Michael Gambon</a>), is hospitalised with a dreadful disease that inflames the skin and cripples the joints. <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCArchive/status/798920714535440384">Confined to</a> his hospital bed and suffering intermittent bouts of fever, Marlow hallucinates doctors, nurses and other patients miming to the old 1940s dance band tunes from his youth. </p>
<p>In his head, he starts to rewrite one of his own old detective novels, imagining himself as its hero, The Singing Detective, striding down the shadowy mean streets of 1945 post-war London. At the same time, he delves into his own childhood memories from the same year, reliving a sexual trauma that led to his mother’s suicide. </p>
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<p>What elevates The Singing Detective is the way in which these threads gradually intersect: individuals from Marlow’s childhood memories appear in his pulp detective fantasy; characters from the detective fantasy emerge in the “real” hospital ward. Reality and imagination finally completely fuse as a gun battle takes place in the ward and the seemingly “real” Marlow is killed off and replaced with his fantasy alter ego, The Singing Detective. The writer character has used his memory and imagination to renew himself psychologically, replacing his old sick self with a more positive and open persona that can leave hospital. </p>
<p>It provides arguably the most vivid representation of the workings of the human mind ever realised on screen. “This is the piece of work I’d like to be remembered for,” Potter <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bUeGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=Detective+%22It+goes+leagues+forward+from+anything+I%E2%80%99ve+written%22&source=bl&ots=qD6136ecns&sig=bBb4fe5zAPBvk3fIwjkc-NIysIc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_-aCM2rnQAhUHAsAKHefoBIoQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=Detective%20%22It%20goes%20leagues%20forward%20from%20anything%20I%E2%80%99ve%20written%22&f=false">told The Times</a> even as the drama was still being shot by its very able director, Jon Amiel. “It goes leagues forward from anything I’ve written.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146772/original/image-20161121-4515-879hu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Michael Gambon as Philip E Marlow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrogers/3388376575/in/photolist-6ausPJ-6aqjcp-6aqjeg-6aqjiM-6aqjhR-9waZHK-6ausUo-64qbTH-79WijU-bLY73Z-6ihLzN-mG8Jp-8nSqhy-f8EN2y-8nPfCk-8nSqjj-8nPfvn-8nSqc5-8nSq9E-9dsPvL-8nSqkU-f6EsuE-fFwvaN-3xmchn-6KrpPi-BjUGaD-AHecJr-BjUG4M-APAJJf-BhE37L-CS7FYP-CxhGsY-BhE2Um-BeqXHo-BgJGqF-CxhGH7-CVvwaN-LY2UPD-L94W4Z-LVskqd-f9o9TQ-6pymt3-Dk9kE-HbsqX-4d8DCb">Pere Ubu</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Box-set generation</h2>
<p>While “quality” US TV dramas such as <a href="http://www.hbo.com/the-sopranos">The Sopranos</a>, <a href="http://www.amc.com/shows/mad-men">Mad Men</a> and <a href="http://www.amc.com/shows/breaking-bad">Breaking Bad</a> have taken up the baton of narratively complex and layered storytelling, arguably none have quite sustained the intense interior drama and rich metaphor of The Singing Detective. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/feb/02/singing-detective-addictive-bbc4">According to</a> one Guardian critic writing in 2012, it makes “the best current drama look like an amateur hour”. </p>
<p>Behind this may lie the different industrial constraints of modern long-form US TV dramas. There is always a commercial incentive to keep them running for more seasons than is artistically desirable, using a soap opera-like “infinitely extended middle” of interweaving storylines and story arcs to resist the audience’s desire for resolution. Contrast this with The Singing Detective, made by the public service BBC in a very different era. The whole drive was towards final narrative closure. </p>
<p>Running for only six episodes allowed it to benefit from the intensity of a single authorial vision. Contemporary US TV dramas extol authorial vision, too, but in the form of the showrunner – the head writer-producer who creates the series and develops the main story arcs. The showrunner leads a team of writers who write individual episodes which are passed to different directors to realise on screen. </p>
<p>The experience of both creating and watching long-form TV drama is therefore very different to the traditional BBC model of one writer and one director. </p>
<h2>The best of British</h2>
<p>America’s success with long-form drama has meant British TV drama has struggled to keep up in recent years. Potter’s closest British successor is probably <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0689081/">Stephen Poliakoff</a>, writer-director behind the likes of <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/523425/">Shooting the Past</a> and <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/523442/">Perfect Strangers</a>. </p>
<p>Poliakoff is given considerable freedom at the BBC to choose his own subjects and sculpt well-crafted dramas, often exploring forgotten or suppressed aspects of British history. His current drama, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b082sy3q">Close to the Enemy</a> (BBC Two), is interestingly set in the same immediate post-war time period as The Singing Detective. Yet Poliakoff’s dramas tend to lack the passion that animated Potter’s best works – and do not have the same popular reach. </p>
<p>Nor is there much to recommend recent occupants of the BBC’s Sunday night 9pm drama slot. This autumn has featured season two of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07pn8mz">Poldark</a>, a ratings hit – but basically safe period fare; and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08302gm">My Mother and Other Strangers</a>, which revolves around GIs arriving in Northern Ireland during World War II. It is “an incredibly hackneyed premise”, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/nov/20/week-in-tv-planet-earth-ii-nw-my-mother-and-other-strangers-kids-on-the-edge-grand-tour-review">according to</a> The Guardian. This is typical of the reviews. Both dramas are in the tradition of escapist feel-good British drama on Sunday nights against which The Singing Detective was bucking the trend even in 1986. </p>
<p>Far more interesting is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07xt09g">The Missing</a>, whose second series will shortly end on BBC One. It has gripped viewers on Wednesday nights and won praise for its depiction of detective Julien Baptiste (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001409/">Tchéky Karyo</a>) trying to solve the riddle of two missing schoolgirls in Germany a decade earlier, after one suddenly reappears. Critics <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3945140/The-Missing-fans-forget-mystery-Alice-Webster-panic-fate-Julian-Baptiste-health-dramatically-deteriorates.html">have praised</a> the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/oct/13/the-missing-review-a-missing-persons-reboot-with-more-than-one-way-to-keep-you-awake">complexity</a> of its storytelling and the narrative’s fluid shifts between past and present. </p>
<p>Here, then, is a legacy of The Singing Detective. Potter’s experiments 30 years ago with interweaving narratives and timelines have become part of the accepted grammar of television drama today. Yet in the case of The Missing, these innovations are principally being used to refresh well-worn TV crime staples – child abduction and serial killers. </p>
<p>This is very different from how Potter escaped fixed genre to play freely with the conventions of the hospital drama, detective story, childhood drama and so on. More than 20 years after Potter’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dennis-potter-1421167.html">untimely death</a> at the age of 59, it is hard to find anything on British TV today that is truly the artistic peer of The Singing Detective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69170/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Cook has received funding in the past from AHRC. </span></em></p>Dennis Potter’s 1986 story of a writer in need of psychological renewal rewrote the TV drama rulebook.John Cook, Professor in Media, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/629892016-08-01T09:03:37Z2016-08-01T09:03:37ZFive ways to reboot your brain this summer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132233/original/image-20160727-21591-1qka6ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?searchterm=video%20game&prev_sort_method=relevance2&prev_sort_method=undiscovered&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=134414039&keyword_search=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=popular&page=1">Minerva Studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the summer school holidays, the social rhythm of life can become as crazed as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT5uAIPFft8">Keith Moon drum solo</a>. So it’s important to remember to switch off from time to time. Indeed, this is much more important to us than we may think, and science has some surprising things to say about which activities are best to help us recharge in the often limited time we have available.</p>
<p>Here’s my rating of a number of popular restorative activities.</p>
<h2>Video gaming</h2>
<p>Just because we like something, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for us. While playing video games is tremendous fun and can enhance <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698911002872">certain neurological processes</a>, it can also <a href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v12/n12/full/nrn3135.html">drain them</a>. Our capacity to focus on a given task is what psychologists call <a href="http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-79948-3_1290">“directed attention”</a>. </p>
<p>Directed attention, or concentration, is a little bit like a muscle. Through constant use, it gets tired and must be rested to be restored. Over time, as directed attention depletes, your ability to think, make good decisions and calculate, will also decline until you can restore some of your energy. If you’re already mentally tired, playing a few hours of a hyper-stimulating shoot-‘em-up will suck up your mental energy like milkshake up a straw, leaving your brain as mushy as the ice-cream they whizzed to make it.</p>
<p>** Video-gaming – great fun, but 2/10 for mental restoration.
** </p>
<h2>Reading & TV</h2>
<p>I’ve just <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1108162/footnotes/">published a book about this stuff</a>, so you might expect me to sell the idea of reading as restorative. But, just like watching TV, the attention required to read 200 pages of War and Peace is heightened by the extra mental work, not only of following the plot and remembering your Bolkonskys from your Rostovs, but also of weeding out all of the distractions that compete for your attention as you turn the pages: screaming children, traffic noise, tweets, humming radiators, squawking seagulls. All take mental work to ignore. Eventually, this leads to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed_attention_fatigue">directed attention fatigue</a> – that feeling you have when you’ve watched ten straight hours of Breaking Bad, and you just … can’t … take … any more.</p>
<p>** Reading & TV – informative, educational, pleasurable, but only 4/10 if you want to be mentally restored.
**</p>
<h2>Competitive sports</h2>
<p>A wide variety of sports are effective at restoring us mentally. Psychologists have begun to theorise about why sports such as tennis are so good at relieving symptoms of stress. The human brain’s resources are competitive. If you’re at home, stressed and worried, the fact that you are doing nothing means that those stress signals pumping out of your limbic system (the brain’s emotional core) are given free reign over access to your mental resources. </p>
<p>So anything like tennis, that requires you to focus, concentrate and synchronise your body’s movement across all four dimensions will – among other things – drain energy from the limbic system because it is required in, say, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_motor_cortex">primary motor cortex</a>. Feelings of stress and anxiety will struggle to compete for resources in the brain, and as such will diminish. The work will still require your mental focus, but your brain will be flooded with so many great neurotransmitters, you probably won’t notice.</p>
<p>** Tennis, football etc. Restorative function 6/10 – but who cares, you’ll feel great, anyway.
**</p>
<h2>Walking</h2>
<p>In recent years, the field of environmental psychology has blazed a trail in our understanding of what <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-being-in-nature-makes-us-appreciate-our-bodies-and-reject-unrealistic-beauty-standards-63145">exposure to green spaces can give us</a>. There have been hundreds of trials over the years that demonstrate everything from the effectiveness of having <a href="http://willsull.net/resources/270-Readings/ChangChen2005.pdf">indoor plants in your workplace</a>, to how access to green spaces can <a href="http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf/EnvironmentAndCrime.pdf">lower crime rates</a>, as well as the extraordinary discovery that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21431424">walking in a forest can lower your blood pressure</a>. </p>
<p>A famous trial in 2008, actually tested the speed and depth of restoration among <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/19/12/1207">walkers in urban and rural areas</a>. The result comes as little surprise: the subjects who had access to green environments were more mentally restored and were able to tackle more complex cognitive tasks. The effect was so potent that even when the trial subjects only looked at pictures of natural environments, the results were the same.</p>
<p>** Walking in a green space, allowing your mind to wander, restores directed attention quickly and effectively. 8/10.
**</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132237/original/image-20160727-21558-1s8nhab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The king of exercise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?people_number=&commercial_ok=&search_cat=&searchterm=jogging&people_ethnicity=&anyorall=all&searchtermx=&color=&media_type=images&photographer_name=&search_source=search_form&use_local_boost=1&language=en&lang=en&version=llv1&ref_site=photo&autocomplete_id=&orient=&people_gender=&show_color_wheel=1&people_age=&safesearch=1&prev_sort_method=relevance2&sort_method=popular&page=5&inline=359568020">lzf/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Running</h2>
<p>Bruce Lee called running <a href="http://www.workoutlikebrucelee.com/bruce-lee-fitness/">“the king of exercise”</a>. He was not wrong. Runners can get all the “green space” benefits of walking, coupled with the neurological benefits of competitive sports. But the benefits continue: running is included among the kinds of exercise that actually <a href="https://theconversation.com/running-makes-you-smarter-heres-how-61454">make you smarter</a>. Runners’ highs are, unsurprisingly given their name, most potent for runners (as opposed to cyclists, say). </p>
<p>Finally, endurance running is believed to effect a process in the brain called <a href="http://bscw.rediris.es/pub/bscw.cgi/d4434612/Dietrich-Functional_neuroanatomy_altered_states_consciousness.pdf">“transient hypofrontality”</a> whereby portions of the prefrontal cortex basically deactivate, meaning brain function slows down. As a result, one’s sense of time, self and consciousness all melt away as other neural circuits fire up. This extreme flow state is the kind of mental reboot that cannot be bought anywhere at any price.</p>
<p>** Learn to run, for about an hour in a green space, and you’ll achieve 10/10 for restoration, stress relief, improved intelligence and zen-like levels of calm. You might even enjoy it as much as slaying some baddies in Call of Duty.
**</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vybarr Cregan-Reid receives funding from Arts Council England. </span></em></p>Five popular activities rated for their restorative power.Vybarr Cregan-Reid, Reader in Environmental Humanities and Author of 'Footnotes: How running makes us human', University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/486602015-10-06T19:27:31Z2015-10-06T19:27:31ZMad Men, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the ‘Golden Age’ of television<p>An enormous amount of digital column inches are dedicated to discussing American television. This week one of the more prominent articles is about television and academia. </p>
<p>The Atlantic’s <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/10/the-rise-of-buffy-studies/407020/">“The Rise of Buffy Studies”</a> by Katharine Schwab has been popping up all over the place on Facebook, Twitter and has even been republished by <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/10/04/why-academics-love-buffy-vampire-slayer">SBS</a>. </p>
<p>Schwab’s article contends that Joss Whedon’s genre bending cult-show <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118276/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> (1997-2003) paved “the way for scholars to treat television shows like The Wire, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad as sprawling works of art to be dissected and analysed alongside the greatest works of literature.”</p>
<p>But this isn’t entirely true - television has been the subject of serious academic inquiry for decades - long before Buffy, let alone <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306414/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Wire</a> (2002-2008), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804503/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Mad Men</a> (2007-2015) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Breaking Bad</a> (2008-2013).</p>
<p>This is not to challenge the phenomenon of Buffy; I have published on Buffy myself and it is by far the <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/06/11/pop_culture_studies_why_do_academics_study_buffy_the_vampire_slayer_more_than_the_wire_the_matrix_alien_and_the_simpsons_.html">most written about television series in academia</a>. However it is not the beginning of academic television studies and it is misleading to think about it in those terms. </p>
<p>Buffy has the distinction of capturing the imagination of many English literature and cultural studies academics who had previously not examined television. The show’s use of metaphor, allegory and literary allusion makes it particularly appealing for longform analysis.</p>
<p>As Schwab outlines, academic examinations of Buffy range from the philosophical to the peculiar. Philosophical approaches to the series are aplenty, including James B. South’s <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31912.Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_and_Philosophy">Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy</a> (2003) and Dean Kowalksi and S. Evan Kreider’s <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11248506-the-philosophy-of-joss-whedon">The Philosophy of Joss Whedon</a> (2011). </p>
<p>At times Buffy scholarship gets very niche. Personal favourites of mine include Stevie Simkins’ <a href="http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage11_12/Simkin_Gun.htm">“You Hold Your Gun Like A Sissy Girl”: Firearms And Anxious Masculinity In Buffy The Vampire Slayer</a> (2004), Patricia Pender’s <a href="http://slayageonline.com/PDF/pender.pdf">“Kicking Ass is Comfort Food”: Buffy as Third Wave Feminist Icon</a> (2004) and Leigh Clemons’ <a href="http://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/clemons.pdf">Real Vampires Don’t Wear Shorts: The Aesthetics of Fashion in Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> (2006).</p>
<p>There is even academic writing on the academic writing on Buffy, thanks to David Lavery’s <a href="http://www.slayageonline.com/PDF/lavery4.pdf">“I wrote my thesis on you!”: Buffy Studies as an
Academic Cult</a> (2004).</p>
<h2>Before Buffy</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97337/original/image-20151006-29257-1extfbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lucille Ball and Tennessee Ernie Ford in a 1956 episode of I Love Lucy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tennessee_Ernie_Ford_Lucille_Ball_I_Love_Lucy.jpg">Bureau of Industrial Service/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Television studies has existed as a coherent area of academic study since the 1970s, often a sub-discipline of film studies, media studies and/or cultural studies. </p>
<p>An enormous amount of academic scholarship has been written on the industry of American television and the cultural significance of series such as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043208/">I Love Lucy</a> (1951-1957), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054533/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Dick Van Dyke Show</a> (1961-1966), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065314/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Mary Tyler Moore Show</a> (1970-1977) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083395/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Cagney & Lacey</a> (1981-1988) amongst others. </p>
<p>Feminist, industrial and thematic analysis dominates early television studies. </p>
<p>Entire monographs and anthologies are dedicated to individual series. One of my favourites is Julie D'Acci’s <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1515443.Defining_Women">Defining Women: The Case of Cagney & Lacey</a> (1994). D'Acci charts the different ways that Cagney & Lacey negotiated the women’s liberation movement, feminism and the changing television industry. </p>
<p>Before HBO, “quality television” was most closely associated with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065314/">The Mary Tyler Moore Show</a> (1970–1977) and Moore’s production company MTM Enterprises, thanks in part to Jane Feuer, Paul Kerr and Tise Vahimagi’s book <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/811312.M_T_M_?from_search=true&search_version=service">MTM: Quality Television</a> (1984). </p>
<p>But The Atlantic article is representative of a broader trend in contemporary journalism and popular media to forget this history. And as the history is forgotten, so too is the valuable scholarship that goes with it. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97340/original/image-20151006-29243-hydki5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke and Larry Mathews in a 1963 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dick_Van_Dyke_Petrie_family_1963.JPG">CBS Television/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One case in point is an article published in The Huffington Post in June 2015 by Zeba Blay, entitled <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2015/06/18/how-feminist-tv-became-the-new-normal_n_7567898.html?ir=Australia">“How Feminist TV became the New Normal.”</a> This article charted the rise of so-called “feminist TV” without any discussions of television series before <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159206/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Sex and the City</a> (1998-2004). </p>
<p>American television has a rich and complex history with feminism that extends back to its early years with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043208/">I Love Lucy</a> (1951–1957) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020555/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Gracie Allen and George Burns Show</a> (1950-1964). Seminal television scholar Patricia Mellencamp has written about these series and their importance at length. <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED293537">Mellencamp</a> provides a framework for reading these series as feminist, arguing that Gracie and Lucy operate as feminist figures who outsmart or outmanoeuvre their inevitable containment. </p>
<h2>The “Golden Age” of television?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97343/original/image-20151006-29248-15x5o44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1977 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show featuring Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman and Mary Tyler Moore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scene_2_from_the_Mary_Tyler_Moore_Show_1977.jpg">CBS Television/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why are we so reticent to remember this history and those who wrote it? </p>
<p>Why the reluctance to acknowledge that before Buffy or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141842/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Sopranos</a> (1999-2007) changed American television irrevocably, so too did I Love Lucy and The Mary Tyler Moore Show?</p>
<p>And what about <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066626/?ref_=nv_sr_1">All in the Family</a> (1971-1979), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068098/?ref_=nv_sr_1">M✵A✵S✵H</a> (1972-1983), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075572/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Roots</a> (1977), Cagney & Lacey, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Roseanne</a> (1988-1997), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Simpsons</a> (1989-present), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106079/?ref_=nv_sr_1">NYPD Blue</a> (1993-2005) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108757/?ref_=nv_sr_3">ER</a> (1994-2009)? </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1090&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1090&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97353/original/image-20151006-29227-nkijz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1090&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lynne Moody and Georg Stanford Brown in the 1977 television miniseries Roots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georg_Stanford_Brown_Lynne_Moody_1977.jpg">ABC Television/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In part, the forgetting of television history is fuelled by books that chart the rise of the so-called “Golden Age of Television” including <a href="http://brettmartin.org/difficultmen/">Brett Martin</a>’s <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16158518-difficult-men">Difficult Men</a> (2013) and <a href="http://www.alansepinwall.com/">Alan Sepinwall</a>’s <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16137527-the-revolution-was-televised">The Revolution was Televised</a> (2012).</p>
<p>But there are those who consider this “Golden Age” something of a myth. When Mad Men creator-showrunner Matthew Weiner visited Australia for the <a href="http://www.vividsydney.com/ideas">Vivid Ideas</a> festival in June, he said he didn’t believe American television was “better” now than it was when he was growing up. </p>
<p>I would argue the “Golden Age” idea is exclusionary; it not only encourages an elitist attitude towards contemporary television, but also fails to acknowledge the extraordinary work that informs television today. </p>
<p>It’s important to remember our history, because we don’t get Tony Soprano, Walter White and Don Draper without the crude, offensive and difficult Archie Bunker of All in the Family. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2372162/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Orange is the New Black</a> (2013-present) likewise owes as much to I Love Lucy and M✵A✵S✵H as it does to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411008/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Lost</a> (2004-2010) and The Wire.</p>
<p>We don’t forget the great film and literature of the past, so why do we forget iconic television series and their history?</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s because television’s history is relatively short compared to other mediums. Or because we don’t think television’s history is worth remembering. Is it because television only became worthy of “serious” academic and historical examination when it became “cinematic”? Or perhaps when movie stars began to appear in it? </p>
<p>Maybe TV has just given us shorter memories and even shorter attention spans - an ailment perhaps best remedied by watching another episode of Buffy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Ford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Before Buffy The Vampire Slayer intrigued academics, shows like I Love Lucy dominated the cultural conversation. This is worth remembering, because Mad Men and The Wire didn’t emerge from nowhere.Jessica Ford, PhD Candiate in Gender and Television Studies and Postgraduate Teaching Fellow in Film and Media, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/400822015-04-15T20:38:25Z2015-04-15T20:38:25ZTrue Detective, Breaking Bad – the simple truth about complexity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77885/original/image-20150414-24635-1u1lioa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Matthew McConaughey as Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson as Martin Hart in True Detective.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of FOXTEL</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nothing is produced in a cultural or social vacuum. All forms of representation intersect and interact with our contemporary world, whether we like it or not. This includes recently acclaimed television programs such as True Detective, Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Game of Thrones.</p>
<p>The fantasy elements of Game of Thrones enhance its images of a brutal world driven by the will to control. This is highly relevant when conflicts in pursuit of power – often underpinned by violence – continue to take place across the globe.</p>
<p>Medieval costuming, settings and magic may seem distant. Yet even Julia Gillard, a fan of the series, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/apr/07/game-of-thrones-parallels-prime-minister">linked Game of Thrones</a> to her impending doom as prime minister and the Rudd sword that would eventually slay her.</p>
<p>It is surprising, then, that Jason Jacobs’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/breathtaking-television-why-game-of-thrones-leaves-the-rest-behind-39908">recent Conversation article</a> on Game of Thrones claims that social and political context has little if any bearing on its success. Instead, the show is elevated for resisting what he calls the tendency to exhibit “boutique contemporary issues”.</p>
<p>Gender inequality is offered as one example of an issue commonly woven into cultural narratives in a didactic manner. Setting aside his unsettling broad-brush treatment of contemporary feminism it is unfortunate that Jacobs conceives of discrimination as a “boutique” matter.</p>
<p>On the contrary, such collective problems demand critical inspection in cultural settings. Social content is something neither authors nor viewers can avoid. In the words of Duke University academic <a href="http://literature.duke.edu/people?Gurl=&Uil=812&subpage=profile">Fredric Jameson</a>, we are each “condemned to history” in the inherent sociability of our lives.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77887/original/image-20150414-24656-v5lkio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood and Robin Wright as Claire Underwood in House of Cards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of FOXTEL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jacobs goes on to argue that Game of Thrones is the best form of entertainment chiefly because it avoids complexity. Such complexity – lauded in an <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-has-tv-storytelling-become-so-complex-37442">earlier Conversation piece</a> by Jason Mittell – is instead seen as largely negative in the programs Mad Men and Breaking Bad.</p>
<p>But complexity is not the same as complication. Narrative power is produced through sophisticated storytelling. This enables many perspectives to emerge and audience pleasure to be heightened. Moreover, without complexity there is no simplicity: each relies on the other for meaning.</p>
<p>In the same way as other aesthetic forms such as literature and painting, a quality television series can ask important ethical questions. This involves making compromising and morally messy decisions, because the world we live in is difficult and complex. Television that responds to the urgent need for self-questioning cannot be so easily written off as convoluted.</p>
<h2>The myth of the cultural divide</h2>
<p>Well written and produced programs such as House of Cards and The Wire provide levels of meaning accessible to some, though not necessarily to all. That does not mean that they are less worthy. On the contrary, what is revealed is a wide assortment of narratives that respond to a diversity of viewers. </p>
<p>Audiences are not a uniform mass of receivers interpreting televisual texts in the same way. We are a varied lot, an unpredictable array of individual consumers. Appeals to “entertainment” value may seem to renew the division between purportedly complex cultural artifacts of limited audience reach, and the allegedly modest, accessible-to-all variety – the old “high versus popular” debate.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bryan Cranston as Walter and Aaron Paul as Jesse in Breaking Bad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of FOXTEL.</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>That argument is long dead. When Man Booker prize winner Eleanor Catton <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/sep/07/eleanor-catton-interview">speaks of</a> being influenced by the The Wire and Breaking Bad in writing <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333230-the-luminaries">The Luminaries</a> (2013), this only helps confirm the waning of any boundary between high and low culture. Reception can also change over time, with “difficult” art evolving into popular.</p>
<p>Television, once considered by many as the exclusive location of mostly worthless diversion, is home to much that may be seen as important art. Jacobs reasonably calls for judgements of taste to be a part of the academic’s critical arsenal. Yet his evident distaste for all matters contextual (social and historical) risks reviving a culture war that is a relic of the 20th century.</p>
<p>Further, raising a single television program above “most other contemporary cultural output” takes the process of cultural evaluation to an unhealthy level of precision. The almost infinite vista of cultural forms available to audiences in the 21st century – in television, film, music, literature, and elsewhere – surely demands more cautious language on the part of scholars and critics.</p>
<h2>Generic complexity</h2>
<p>There is no such thing as generic or aesthetic purity. Breaking Bad’s sharp indictment of US health care does not prevent moments of experimental fantasy. A cinematographic style that might at first appear incongruous can in fact tap into questions fundamental to our existence.</p>
<p>True Detective, arguably <a href="https://theconversation.com/true-detective-lassos-the-yellow-king-in-hollywood-south-24113">the most literary series</a> of all, depicts an astonishingly dark realm of violence and despair. Its film noir elements, including ghostly crime scenes, exposes audiences to nightmarish gothic moments where the divisions between reality and fantasy begin to blur.</p>
<p>Genres are almost always intertwined, which means that all kinds of narratives adopt different styles of storytelling. These can be both escapist but also strangely familiar. What makes these contemporary television programs particularly successful is their ability to skirt the boundaries between simplicity and complexity, fantasy and reality.</p>
<p><br>
<strong>See also:</strong><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/breathtaking-television-why-game-of-thrones-leaves-the-rest-behind-39908">Breathtaking television: why Game of Thrones leaves the rest behind</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Narrative power is produced through sophisticated storytelling, as evidenced by Breaking Bad, House of Cards, The Wire, Mad Men and many others.Suzie Gibson, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt UniversityDean Biron, PhD in Cultural Studies; teaches in criminology and justice studies, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/395792015-04-01T00:48:58Z2015-04-01T00:48:58ZThree reasons Better Call Saul works: a scriptwriter’s perspective<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76690/original/image-20150331-1274-6xmq0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Writer Vince Gilligan has much to teach us about the human animal and about life.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit:Ben Leuner/AMC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How do we become the people we are?</p>
<p>In AMC’s Breaking Bad we saw how Walter White ended up Heisenberg, how Jesse Pinkman ended up more broken than he began. But what about Saul Goodman, Mike Ehrmantraut, Tuco Salamanca?</p>
<p>Many successful shows spawn sequels. Producers and networks, keen to capitalise on having hit the jackpot, are loath to let go of the winning formula even after the final episode of a high-rating, well-loved show, and they follow the inevitable path of What Comes Next? This thinking gave us Joey, Frasier, and Joanie loves Chachi. Some are successful; some leave us wishing we’d never set eyes on them.</p>
<p>Vince Gilligan – who is repeatedly proving himself to be an inventive story-telling mind – chose the other direction: How Did We Get Here? Building on the success of Breaking Bad, which he wrote and produced, and rewarding its devoted viewers, he’s spun off a prequel: Better Call Saul. And it’s excellent.</p>
<p>We’re a week away from the finale of season one. The debut episode became the most-watched TV series premiere (for a key demographic) <a href="http://variety.com/2015/tv/ratings/amcs-walking-dead-returns-with-15-6-million-viewers-saul-premiere-solid-behind-it-1201428816/">in US cable history</a>, with 6.9 million viewers, when it aired in February. It has claimed <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/02/better-call-saul-ratings-live-3-the-walking-dead-1201375123/">further viewing records</a> since. </p>
<p>Why does it work so well? Three reasons: character, character, and character. </p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Leuner/AMC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gilligan understands that story comes from character, so he develops characters who give endless story, who have enough complexity and internal logic that they can twist and turn and baffle and surprise and still remain in character.</p>
<p>Well-conceived characters are icebergs – we the viewers see about 10% of the whole. Most of what the writer knows about them lies beneath the surface, and it’s these histories and drives that cause complex, interesting characters to act the way they do, to surprise and confound us, to compel us to watch them in every episode they appear.</p>
<p>Saul Goodman is one such creation. He exploded onto our screens fully formed as the fast hustling, ambulance chasing lawyer inhabiting a brilliantly, bafflingly over-the-top office. Who decorates like that? How on earth did this creature emerge? In Better Call Saul we find out.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lewis Jacobs/AMC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also discover how he met his fixer, Mike Ehrmantraut. And where he first crossed paths with crazy Mexican drug-lord Tuco Salamanca. Better Call Saul is a series of meet-cutes, but not of the romcom kind, more the deeper-into-trouble variety. Saul’s world is being built and, in however many seasons Better Call Saul runs for, we’ll avidly watch Jimmy McGill transform into Saul Goodman, the man Walter White better call.</p>
<p>Another of Gilligan’s talents as a writer is raising the stakes. We saw this repeatedly in Breaking Bad when he put Walter and Jesse under ever-increasing pressure, in seemingly impossible life and death scenarios, and they continually survived. </p>
<p>And not through some random act of god, but from seeing an opportunity where no one else did, through deal making and fast thinking, through chemistry. </p>
<p>Solutions came from character and story logic. They surprised us but they didn’t perplex us. In the world Gilligan had created they made sense. I once heard Gilligan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_-aniHJ6g0">say in an interview</a> that he strives to have seven surprises in every hour of television he writes, and surprise us he does. Repeatedly. Satisfyingly.</p>
<p>And the stakes were not only raised for Walt and Jesse, but for Skylar, and Walt Jnr, for Hank the DEA brother-in-law. Thorough and complex characterisation plus tight, surprising plotting equalled devoted fan viewing. </p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AMC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gilligan has chosen to go back six years with Better Call Saul, to 2002. To a time when Walter White was a law-abiding chemistry teacher, and Jesse Pinkman was still at high school, most likely paying no attention to Walt’s teaching and failing his chemistry exams. </p>
<p>One of the great joys of this choice of 2002 is that at the end of the 10 episodes of season one, we’ve still got five years of Saul’s evolution to explore. A second season of 13 episodes <a href="http://www.fortitudemagazine.co.uk/entertainment/breaking-bad-spin-better-call-saul-already-commissioned-second-season/19823/">had already been commissioned</a> before the first season aired. Plus the opening scenes of series one promise even more than six years of prequel – could there be life for Slippin’ Jimmy post-Breaking Bad? </p>
<p>In those opening scenes, Jimmy then Saul now Gene is living undercover in Omaha, Nebraska managing a Cinnabon store and looking mighty nervous that his old life is going to find him. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76684/original/image-20150331-1240-30ou1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill and Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ursula Coyote/AMC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The viewers are more nervous that it won’t. Here’s one sequel I would have complete confidence in.</p>
<p>When we’ve finished watching Better Call Saul I’m betting many of us will turn back to watch Breaking Bad again, from beginning to end. Saul is a spin-off series that adds layers and richness to its parent show. Where so many spinoffs leave us with regrets and the wish we’d never fallen into their arms with so many hopes, Better Call Saul is so far giving us exactly what we want – familiar characters involved in great stories with an added frisson of knowing where it’s all going to end. </p>
<p>Vince Gilligan, please don’t ever stop writing. You’ve got a lot to teach us about storytelling, about the human animal and about life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39579/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philippa Burne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many successful shows spawn sequels. In Better Call Saul, writer Vince Gilligan has created a prequel to his phenomenally successful series Breaking Bad. And it works. So how has he done it?Philippa Burne, Teacher and co-ordinator, 3rd year BFA Screenwriting, Victorian College of the Arts,, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/203072013-12-27T12:05:27Z2013-12-27T12:05:27ZIn defence of the box set binge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38402/original/bggj9b97-1387812676.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Go on ...</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Idhren</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In David Foster Wallace’s epic Infinite Jest, a major conceit is a film so good it reduces any and all who see it into a quivering pulp, physically unable to stop watching, wasting away into utter uselessness in their own excrement, blabbering like babies. </p>
<p>As I tore through the entire season of Netflix’s incredible House of Cards this year, I recalled The Entertainment as the film in Wallace’s book is called, and felt pangs of guilt. Yet I am an avid defender of popular culture. I renounce the Harold Blooms (he hates Wallace) who elevate some privileged canon above the rest of our culture. I regard it as a terrible mistake to disdain or elevate some part of our current culture above another. There are gems at nearly every level, and sure, there’s lots of dregs. </p>
<p>But of course I worry, queueing up the fourth episode in a row of Game of Thrones, that perhaps we are sliding into some sort of dystopia such as Wallace envisioned, consumed by our own entertainment, stifled, pacified, and ultimately useless. So how can we approach this brave new world of readily available, downloadable, easily consumable multi-season packs of our favorite shows without guilt, without falling prey to The Entertainment? Can we become responsible consumers of popular culture, acknowledge its value, and benefit from this emerging new form of entertainment consumption: the binge? I believe we can.</p>
<h2>Accidents of history</h2>
<p>It is accidents of history alone that cause us to elevate some culture above others. Is Chaucer high or low culture? Surely he is part of Bloom’s “western canon”, but The Canterbury Tales abounds with fart jokes and low humour reminiscent of any episode of South Park. I agree with philosopher John Searle, <a href="http://www.ditext.com/searle/searle1.html">who argues</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In my experience there never was, in fact, a fixed ‘canon’; there was rather a certain set of tentative judgments about what had importance and quality. Such judgments are always subject to revision, and in fact they were constantly being revised.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Chaucer, or Tom Jones (not the curly-headed singer, but the novel by Fielding – though maybe the singer too), and even Shakespeare mix culture both “high” and “low”, appealing to audiences at various levels of appreciation. It is likely, as in every age, that the vast majority of our popular culture, much of which now comes to us in our living rooms through television, will be forgotten. It will not become part of any canon for serious study in the future, nor will it affect broader culture in any lasting way. But there are surely exceptions. Some will. Some have.</p>
<p>Star Trek was conceived as “Wagon Train” in space, an interstellar western that would serve as a vehicle for Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a hopeful future and his commentary on then-current events. It endures to this day, slightly darkened by J.J. Abrams, a current master of pop-cultural entertainment. </p>
<p>But Star Trek is now part of the canon. Spock and Kirk are as familiar, or more so, as many historical heroes. Everyone everywhere now understands what you mean when you say “beam me up” or suggest moving at warp speed. And this is the most hopeful point. The pop-cultural canon is no longer “western”. Spock and Kirk are known in Asia, and Godzilla and Pokemon are known in Kirk’s home state of Iowa. Popular culture now moves effortlessly across borders, suffusing us with icons and vocabularies that are now common everywhere. This is a great thing. It is a New Canon.</p>
<p>I live and work in a multi-cultural milieu, teaching and living part of the year in The Netherlands, at an international university, surrounded by people from nearly every corner of the world – mostly students. I live the rest of the year in Mexico. Yet everywhere I travel and teach, I can slip in a “they killed Kenny!” reference, or allude to Walter White or Dexter in my discussions of ethics, and everyone (nearly) gets the point - they catch the reference. It is mainly through the popular culture that people of every class and background are able to form some common frame of reference, a vocabulary that can overcome local knowledge and prejudice, and allow ideas to be conveyed more meaningfully and successfully. </p>
<p>Of course, much popular culture still comes from the US, but this is so far mainly because that’s where much of the wealth and tools of production (and intellectual property protection) are. This won’t always be the case. Media production is being democratised by new tools, cheaper HD cameras, and readily available editing suites on PCs. These new technologies are making it possible to enter the popular culture with lower overhead. </p>
<p>In Japan, China, and India, this is already becoming the case and we are already seeing some of these sources of entertainment entering a broader market. The rest of the world will follow. We are all quite addicted to media, everywhere, and the internet now both satisfies and increases demand. This will lead us back to binging, and close up the loop in my argument for responsibly doing so this holiday season.</p>
<h2>Saved by the internet</h2>
<p>The internet is the medium for our entertainment salvation. Looming as a spectre to the media empires of America’s left coast, it promises to break down the final barriers to the great liberator that popular culture can be, if we let it. Time was, isolated from my ancestral land of 500 cable channels and abundant Walmarts, my access to English language popular culture would have been severely limited. In general, only the blockbusters get to cinema in The Netherlands, and television tends to be limited in its supply of current American shows. </p>
<p>Luckily, downloading a torrent of a season of Weeds in The Netherlands is legal (or tolerated), for personal use … much like the plant after which the show is named. People are able to catch up on shows right up to the present episode, no matter where they are, as long as they have access to the internet. Popular culture has truly been liberated. </p>
<p>Even authors and producers of shows that are frequently pirated realise, as Wilde might have put it, that is it better to be seen than to not be seen, regardless of the “legitimacy” of the avenue of consumption. George R. R. Martin, the author of the books on which the show Game of Thrones is based, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/21/4131644/game-of-thrones-author-george-r-r-martin-on-piracy-video-games-new-shows-hbo">has said</a>, “I have nothing against piracy, [the] majority of those people wouldn’t buy it anyway. And there are many pirates who will end up buying Blu-ray release because they want to support us.” His is the most pirated show on earth. </p>
<p>After House of Cards, it was Game of Thrones I devoured, catching up on three seasons, prodded by friends and a peculiar article in The Atlantic. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/the-white-house-used-the-same-trick-as-tyrion-lannister-to-out-a-leaker/280845/">That article</a> noted that the U.S. White House had employed a trick to catch a leaker (@natsecwonk on Twitter), and said trick was the one used by Tyrion Lannister. I was sick of being out of the loop, as most of my friends were already fans of Game of Thrones, and now with the imprimatur of The Atlantic, I had to catch up, and fast. And I could. I exercised my legal prerogative of downloaded all three seasons and binged. I am glad I did. </p>
<p>While in the past, I might have felt trapped by having missed the first three seasons, unlikely to try to lock into the next and begin mid-story, I could quickly come up to speed with something that is clearly now an important part of our culture. The New Canon is both unhindered by geography and unrestrained by time. Binging is a legitimate and sometimes necessary way for us to join the broader culture, engage with fans around the world, and perform a new form of communion. </p>
<p>So as the holidays approach, and going to the cinema becomes too expensive for some families, take solace that your binge-viewing of Arrested Development, or whatever part of the New Canon you want to catch up on, is doing great good. You are building your cultural vocabulary, and joining a larger community bound together by characters, themes, and stories both small and epic, lowbrow and high-concept. We can responsibly consume The Entertainment, and put it to good ends, rather than let it consume us. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Koepsell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In David Foster Wallace’s epic Infinite Jest, a major conceit is a film so good it reduces any and all who see it into a quivering pulp, physically unable to stop watching, wasting away into utter uselessness…David Koepsell, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Delft University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187082013-09-30T05:11:37Z2013-09-30T05:11:37ZWhy meth hasn’t broken bad in the UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32095/original/fn7x5rb4-1380299203.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C1024%2C763&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lack of British chemistry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">sally_monster</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The final episode of the award-winning American TV show Breaking Bad aired last night. Set against the backdrop of illicit crystal methamphetamine production, the series highlights <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/north-america-has-a-massive-meth-problem-2013-6">the huge problem</a> parts of the US have with this particular drug.</p>
<p>In the UK, methamphetamine remains largely unrecognised when compared to other illicit drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine and for most fans of the series, the DVD box set is as close as they are likely to get to a hit of “crystal meth”.</p>
<p>So, is methamphetamine a problem in the UK? And if not, why not? To answer this we need to look at levels of drug use and compare this between different countries. Population surveys suggest that the US and parts of Eastern Europe have established methamphetamine problems <a href="http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_213154_EN_TDAT13001ENN1.pdf">along with other countries</a> including South Africa and Australia. </p>
<p>It’s an established drug of misuse in countries such as the Czech Republic, where it is manufactured in “meth labs” similar to the one portrayed in Breaking Bad. Despite this, methamphetamine accounts for only 1% of the total drug seizures across Europe.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32075/original/jvrhcmhr-1380278149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Powder meth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">United States Drug Enforcement Administration</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A very different pattern is seen here in the UK. Despite the UK often being described as the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23913818">drug capital of Europe</a>, methamphetamine hardly registers as a problem. A recent <a href="http://www.crimesurvey.co.uk/">Home Office population survey</a> suggested dramatic differences in the different drugs used last year. It suggested there were 2m cannabis users, 627,000 powder cocaine users, 415,000 Ecstasy users, 120,000 ketamine users, 27,000 heroin users - but just 17,000 methamphetamine users.</p>
<p>Population surveys provide an estimate of the number of people using a particular drug but do not tell us anything about the harm resulting from use. The UK is fortunate in having a well developed system which records the number of people attending drug treatment services, the drugs they are using and <a href="https://www.ndtms.net/default.aspx">the problems they experience</a>. Last year there were around 50,000 new presentations for heroin and crack combined compared to just a few hundred for methamphetamine.</p>
<p>But there appears to be only one sub-population in the UK where methamphetamine use is a current concern; a small part of the gay community has rapidly adopted the drug. Unlike the rest of the world, where methamphetamine is used to “get high” and is strongly associated with deprivation, in the UK it is being used by a small proportion of, usually affluent, <a href="http://bit.ly/Xmxvdl">gay men living in metropolitan</a> areas. In this sub-population, the drug is particularly used to enhance sexual performance often in combination with other drugs and often by injection.</p>
<p>With a diverse and well-established drug market, it may be that there is simply no room for methamphetamine in the UK, other than in particular sub-populations. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32073/original/n6cwygd6-1380277299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No more room in here.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">thenerdpatrol</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Drugs with similar stimulant effects such as powder cocaine, crack cocaine and amphetamine have all been established in the UK for many years. Even the relatively new drug mephedrone - initially a cheap legal stimulant which was subsequently banned - rapidly overtook methamphetamine, with an estimated use by 174,000 people last year.</p>
<p>Another issue is cost. While most of the stimulants mentioned above can be bought for between £20-50 a gramme, methamphetamine usually cost well over £100 for the same amount, although its effects are strikingly long lasting. Such high prices are likely to reduce its appeal outside more affluent users.</p>
<p>So while audiences are glued to their televisions for the climax of Breaking Bad, it seems that at present, outside a small part of the gay community, UK drug users have shunned methamphetamine. It remains to be seen if the drug will gain a foothold in mainstream drug using populations, but given the terrible cost that methamphetamine inflicts on the user, their family and wider community, clinicians like myself, are hoping it is one drug the UK will avoid.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Owen Bowden-Jones works in both the NHS and private practice. He is Chair of the Faculty of Addiction at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is co-recipient of two NIHR grants. In 2010, he founded the Club Drug Clinic, the UK’s largest multi-disciplinary service for people using ‘legal highs’ and ‘club drugs’.</span></em></p>The final episode of the award-winning American TV show Breaking Bad aired last night. Set against the backdrop of illicit crystal methamphetamine production, the series highlights the huge problem parts…Owen Bowden-Jones, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Imperial College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187152013-09-29T20:54:11Z2013-09-29T20:54:11ZWhy the time was right for Breaking Bad guy Walter White<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32113/original/zddchmvm-1380482556.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is it that we admired?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">bj_hale</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW</em></p>
<p>Walter White came to us just when we needed him. Breaking Bad offered a world reeling from the effects of lengthy recession some glimmer of hope, but more importantly it now offers us a potential lesson in values and about ourselves. The cultural impact of the show will be more meaningfully assessed 10 years from now, when we will know if, as it seems, this is an era drawing to a close, or whether the story of the rise and fall of Heisenberg – to give White his alias – is just a blip in our popular consciousness.</p>
<p>We are used to epic protagonists rising from obscurity, taking the hero’s quest led by virtue and wits. We are supposed to cheer them as they triumph over adversity and evil. From Homer to Star Wars, we know the distinction between the good and the bad, the hero and the villain. Villains are defeated, and heroes prevail. But heroes don’t become villains, and we’re not supposed to cheer for the bad guy.</p>
<p>The genius of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/">Breaking Bad</a> has been the transformation. This has been the story-telling obsession of Vince Gilligan since the start, to examine the possibility that our characters aren’t etched in stone, that the transformation of an ordinary person can happen in increments, and in the very worst possible way. Unlike most modern anti-heroes, we didn’t know Walt would become a complete villain. It happened so subtly, and we have had to undertake some serious introspection along the way as we cheered, then eventually loathed, then hoped for redemption of the character at the center of this epic - the Lucifer of this not-exactly-Paradise Lost, who has fallen so far and brought so many down with him.</p>
<p>For many of us, the nature of our reactions to Walt and the overarching story has changed dramatically. Walt served for us as a fantasy, a dream: the geek who prevails over the bad and the brawny with wits and science. The failed father and flailing teacher who finds a niche in a world full of money and violence. The mythos of Heisenberg that reigns over the southwest corner of the land of opportunity. We were drawn in, cheering, even as the horrors began to accumulate and the body-count grew. Our basic assumptions about the utilitarian calculus justifying Walt’s every move are finally undercut as the victims of Walter’s transformation become more innocent, more sympathetic, and Walt’s ego storms forth in frightening outbursts. In this past season, the lie that Walt has used conveniently to justify his descent into evil has finally come apart. It was never about his family. It was always about him.</p>
<h2>So now who do we cheer for?</h2>
<p>Many have pointed out that the show would have been very short indeed had Walt made some simple decisions early on, foremost among these would have been to take the offer of employment back at Grey Matter. With it would have come a health plan, and no need for Walt’s embrace of his criminal life. But the rise of Heisenberg fed Walt’s ego, and crawling back to Grey Matter would have undermined it, so he choose the former. He could have done everything he needed to do for his family by subverting his own selfish need to prove something. We see now, poised at the end of the series, that it all comes back somehow to Grey Matter. He is set on exacting his wrath, whomever it is now aimed at, in the worst way possible.</p>
<p>And so now, who do we cheer for? Hank is dead, the innocents are suffering, and we hope against hope that before he goes down Walt will at least save Jesse. His family no longer need him. With fear and loathing we tensely wait for some final act to justify the madness, to redeem the man we once rooted for. This is the final lesson. That ego that drove him so deeply down into the depths must now be set aside if there is any hope. The legacy he will leave to his family, if it is to be worth anything at all, must not be in 55 gallon barrels, but in deeds. If Walt Jr. is to forgive his father, and if in death Walt is to mean anything positive to Skyler and his daughter, then the plan all along to leave some fortune must finally be forgotten, and some greater good must materialise. Money will no longer suffice, it barely matters. Walt’s calculus was wrong all along.</p>
<p>We will know a lot more about ourselves by our reactions to the final chapter. What is it about Walter White that compelled us, that we admired, and does any core of decency remain? Will we embrace an act of selflessness, or will we despise some final outburst of vengeance and ego? This is a moment when, as we watch the end of Breaking Bad collectively, hoping as we must for some meaning, the lesson we take reveals as much about us as the explicit expression of the artists. It is a Rorschach test of sorts, a mirror into our souls: what part of Walt is us, and has been all along? Can we use this tale to transform ourselves? What values matter in the end? Please Walt, give us some reason, don’t make this all just sound and fury, signifying nothing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Koepsell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW Walter White came to us just when we needed him. Breaking Bad offered a world reeling from the effects of lengthy recession some glimmer of hope, but more importantly it now offers…David Koepsell, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Delft University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/186802013-09-27T12:31:18Z2013-09-27T12:31:18ZTwitter app stops you Breaking Bad news to good people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32071/original/8mkmz3qd-1380270633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Walt and Jesse prepare for their red wedding in the final episode.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">deviantART</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>WARNING: This article contains a spoiler. Don’t worry though, it’s not what happens in the final episode of Breaking Bad. Even academics don’t get early access.</strong></p>
<p>This week, Netflix has created a handy service called the <a href="http://www.spoilerfoiler.com/">Spoiler Foiler</a>, which blocks out any tweets that might reveal details of the finale of Breaking Bad, to be aired this Sunday and Monday.</p>
<p>This seemingly nifty innovation allows the average Twitter user to block tweets with certain words from their stream so they can avoid posts about the plot from other users who already know what will happen to Walt, Jesse and that charming chap Uncle Jack. </p>
<p>The premise is to avoid the so-called internet nasties who have either secured an illegal copy of the episode, or had access to insider knowledge about the plot. This would effectively ruin the surprise and will dilute the anxiety effect that has built over five series of watching a bumbling high school chemistry teacher metamorphose into a ruthless drug baron by way of a meth lab started in the back of a camper van.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32080/original/8zssb24r-1380280223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We BOTH die? Get the hell out of my feed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">thenerdpatrol</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There has already been a significant amount of chat online about the plot of the final episode and the reaction to it has been unique to say the least. The digital community has put its foot firmly down and said no to spoilers. With the Spoiler Foiler, Netflix appears to have responded to this call.</p>
<p>The service reflects the new way we now watch television. We no longer have to plant ourselves in the living room at a certain time on a certain day to watch must-see shows. </p>
<p>Netflix is one of many services that allow us to access “box set” TV at our own pace. Hardcore Breaking Bad fans have just one hour of viewing left to go but others are a long way behind. Some are still on season one or season two. They don’t even know about that terrible thing that happened to that pivotal character after that other shocking event occurred that we really can’t talk about right now. </p>
<p>While this does have the appearance of empowering the everyday consumer who wants to watch their favourite show in their own time, the real winners are AMC and Netflix. The TV watching world is demanding protection from the modern threat of spoilers but, in doing so, it has also revealed that it is hopelessly locked in and open to a distinctly old-fashioned trick.</p>
<p>Those most rigorously rubbing their hands with glee will be the marketing teams who are no doubt charging eye watering premiums for the advertising space on either side of the final episode. Breaking Badders have shown they are willing to take any amount of advertising thrown at them in their dedication to following Walt’s every calamity. It’s a timeless business model that makes Gus Fring look like an amateur.</p>
<p>Still, no harm in adding to well-established revenue streams with a few innovations. With the increase of digital TV services and the number of web-enabled devices per household, the concept of “dual-screening” has now become commonplace on sitting room couches across the globe.</p>
<p>We are beginning to see clever methods by media outlets capitalising on this flow of online conversation before during and after a show has been aired. Take a look at <a href="http://zeebox.com/uk/">Zeebox</a> for an example of this. You could say that the TV show itself is becoming secondary to the conversation with the consumer.</p>
<p>This is not a new concept however. Cast your mind back to the infamous “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” episodes of The Simpsons. Matt Groenig and co had to produce multiple endings to stop the now legendary whodunit from becoming public knowledge. To trick the show’s writing and producing team, alternative endings with Moe, Apu, Barney and Tito doing the deed were created and the real assassin was only revealed when the episode was aired (SPOILER - it was Maggie!). At the time, bookmakers in Las Vegas had thousands riding on the result, the media was all over it and millions of viewers across the globe tuned in to find out the truth. These days, everyone involved could have made even more money using social media.</p>
<p>Excluding tweets can be a valuable tool in stemming the flow of clutter. It is not an easy task and is, at the moment, reserved for the avid technophile but the Breaking Bad Spoiler Foiler may lead the way for future applications which might allow us to block out internet activity that spoils our fun in other parts of our lives. There is already a service that allows you to replace pictures of your friend’s babies on your Facebook feed with images of <a href="http://www.unbaby.me/">bacon</a> and who knows, maybe we will soon get a spam clamper, a troll trap or a homophobia halter.</p>
<p>I know I will be watching the episode on Monday evening and will have two firm digital fingers in my ears until that time. I have already had the infamous Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones ruined for me; I hope my digital inner circle will keep schtum until then.</p>
<p>We watch on in nervous anticipation.</p>
<p>PS: Please don’t kill Jesse!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan James Keegan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>WARNING: This article contains a spoiler. Don’t worry though, it’s not what happens in the final episode of Breaking Bad. Even academics don’t get early access. This week, Netflix has created a handy service…Brendan James Keegan, Lecturer in Digital Marketing, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/174772013-08-26T03:47:33Z2013-08-26T03:47:33ZBreaking Bad and crystal meth – a chemical reaction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29884/original/96z6mff6-1377480887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C188%2C1967%2C1295&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crystal meth forms the basis of fictional TV show Breaking Bad, but its effects are very real.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">YVRBCbro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Crystal meth has at least two faces, in common with those people unfortunate enough to succumb to its charms, as these <a href="http://www.rehabs.com/explore/meth-before-and-after-drugs/infographic.html#.Uhqxf2RNt90">horrific before-and-after pics</a> show. I’d like to look at the drug chemically, to shine a light on what it does. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-methamphetamine-use-and-addiction-in-australia-13280">written about previously</a> on The Conversation, Australia has a <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=32212254712">particularly strong</a> relationship to the drug. Approximately 2.5% of people over the age of 14 have used the drug in the last year, a rate <a href="http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/scientists/ats-global-assessment-2011.html">far higher</a> than in the US, Canada or the UK. </p>
<p>Far from being glorified, the drug also plays a starring role – alongside <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad/cast/walter-white/bryan-cranston">Bryan Cranston</a> and <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad/cast/jesse-pinkman/aaron-paul">Aaron Paul</a> – in AMC’s critically-acclaimed television series <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad">Breaking Bad</a>, currently airing its fifth and final season. </p>
<p>Crystal meth – also known as ice – is a form of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/health/library/stories/2007/11/01/2075229.htm">methamphetamine</a> or, to give it its technical name, n-methyl-1-phenyl-propan-2-amine. Instead of being produced as a powder (as <a href="http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/drug-facts/amphetamines">amphetamine</a>, or speed, is) it’s made as large chunks that look like crystals (as per the image below). Producing it as a solid lump can change the way methamphetamine is absorbed by our bodies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29888/original/tfz53yt7-1377481936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Methamphetamine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Methamphetamine is a stimulant, with common side-effects including euphoria, increased alertness, talkativeness, panic, excessive sweating and – as portrayed in the following video – compulsive fascination with repetitive tasks:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NmA_1yObbWk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Nerves and chemicals</h2>
<p>Amphetamines in general produce their stimulant action by acting on nerves that secrete biogenic amines. </p>
<p>Nerves conduct electrical signals through the body, almost, but not quite, like wires. Unlike wires, the nerves aren’t physically connected to their targets, be they a muscle cell, a glandular cell or another nerve. There is a gap the signal must jump.</p>
<p>Nerves get the signal across this gap by secreting chemicals, neurotransmitters, and there are a wide range of chemicals that are used:</p>
<ul>
<li>the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11035/">biogenic amines</a>, including <a href="http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/heart-and-blood/medicines/noradrenaline.html">norepinephrine</a> and <a href="http://www.udel.edu/chem/C465/senior/fall00/Performance1/epinephrine.htm.html">epinephrine</a> (more commonly known as noradrenaline and adrenaline outside the US)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/aa/aa.html">amino acids</a> (such as <a href="http://flipper.diff.org/app/pathways/info/4602">glutamate</a>, which you can find in your miso soup)</li>
<li>a gas, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitric_oxide">nitric oxide</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The huge variety of physiological processes that the nervous system coordinates is made possible by these varying neurotransmitters. The <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/sympathetic_nervous_system.htm">sympathetic nervous system</a>, which speeds up our hearts in preparation for running away from danger, using <a href="http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/heart-and-blood/medicines/noradrenaline.html">noradrenaline</a> (often referred to as the fight or flight chemical). The <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/p/parasympathetic_nervous_system.htm">parasympathetic nervous system</a>, which opposes the sympathetic nervous system, uses <a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/g/acetylcholine.htm">acetylcholine</a>, the most common neurotransmitter.</p>
<p>Once the chemicals are released by a nerve impulse, they can’t keep hanging around or we would be in a state of permanent activation (or inhibition). They have to be gotten rid of quickly before the next nerve impulse arrives. Some of the chemicals, such as acetylcholine, are broken down by enzymes.</p>
<p>The biogenic amines are removed by protein structures known as monoamine transporters (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_transporter">MATs</a>) in the nerve membranes.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vUaUFIPYzUQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A closer look at the Breaking Bad “meth lab”.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What meth does</h2>
<p>Amphetamines, like methamphetamine, look sufficiently like the biogenic amines that they block these pumps. But that’s not all: amphetamines that do get taken up into the nerve cells get put into the nerves stores of the biogenic amines, and push the real neurotransmitters out of the nerves.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29902/original/88w3ptqg-1377484387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jenn and Tony Bot</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The net result is that you end up with <em>a lot</em> of biogenic amine neurotransmitter hanging around and stimulating cells.</p>
<p>In the heart, noradrenaline released from nerves will stimulate the heart to beat faster and stronger, increasing your pulse and blood pressure. In the brain, a whole range of biogenic amines are released that can increase alertness, concentration, and energy. </p>
<p>Higher concentrations of methamphetamine can cause mania and euphoria through to paranoia and hallucinations through the higher levels of these same biogenic amines.</p>
<p>Because this stew of biogenic amines (noradrenaline, <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232248.php">serotonin</a> and <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/dopamine">dopamine</a>) is being released in an uncontrolled manner you also get potentially dangerous rises in blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature (all physiological processes controlled by biogenic amines in the body).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29905/original/dr7jnjf2-1377484781.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jenn and Tony Bot</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And because dopamine, a critical link in the psychological reward pathway, is released (to <em>ten times</em> its normal levels) it produces addiction - powerful addiction. Methamphetamine is one of the most addictive substances we know of.</p>
<p>The crystal form is smokeable. The rush a user gets depends on how fast it gets into the body: swallowing it takes longer, injection is the fastest but of course carries risks from injection. </p>
<p>Smoking crystal meth gives a very rapid high without the risks of injection.</p>
<p>Also, orally-ingested methamphetamine goes straight to the liver, where it is metabolised, so less gets into the bloodstream than via smoking.</p>
<h2>Withdrawal</h2>
<p>Withdrawal from methamphetamine produces effects including depression, intense craving and anxiety – much of which can be explained in chemical terms.</p>
<p>The stew of biogenic amines released while using the drug has multiple effects: they increase metabolism and decrease appetite in the short-term (amphetamines used to be <a href="http://www.wellcorps.com/Mothers-Little-Helper-The-History-of-Amphetamine-and-Anti-Depressant-Use-in-America.html">used for weight loss</a>). </p>
<p>Long-term behavioral problems result in malnutrition. Then there are chronic sleep problems and of course there is the increased probability of disease for those users who inject methamphetamine. All this combines to produce physical deterioration.</p>
<p>And let’s not forget “<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/#3">meth mouth</a>”, the abnormal loss of teeth and accelerated tooth decay:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29903/original/7243w3y9-1377484479.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">D.C.Atty</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sympathetic stimulation causes all sorts of secretion to stop (drugs which mimic noradrenaline are in our cold and flu medicines to stop runny noses), including saliva secretion. </p>
<p>This results in an increased risk of tooth decay that, combined with behavioural problems (meth addicts, we might assume, don’t prioritise brushing their teeth) and poor eating habits, means teeth are rapidly lost.</p>
<p>The high levels of biogenic amine release can also damage the heart and blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular problems; and high levels of dopamine release can damage the dopamine containing nerves that control movement, with a high risk of Parkinson’s disease.</p>
<p>There are other adverse effects – (suicide, psychosis) – but I think you get the idea.</p>
<p>Breaking Bad has put crystal meth use at the front and centre of the TV-watching public’s minds – both the fleeting highs and almost unimaginable lows. In this we have a case of art, quite disturbingly, mimicking life. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Musgrave receives funding from Australian Research Council, and has previously been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.</span></em></p>Crystal meth has at least two faces, in common with those people unfortunate enough to succumb to its charms, as these horrific before-and-after pics show. I’d like to look at the drug chemically, to shine…Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/169892013-08-16T02:53:37Z2013-08-16T02:53:37ZBig TV and our small screen vernacular<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29290/original/m426cy3n-1376534163.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">TV gives even the most disconnected and apathetic of us a shared language, a shared experience.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/HBO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Slobodan Milosevic went to trial. Bali got bombed. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001545/?ref_=sr_1">Dudley Moore</a> died and right up there with the memorable moments of 2002 was that 2.8 million Australians sat down and watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330976/">The National IQ Test</a>. Because - mind-bogglingly – apparently a fair few of us cared to have our smarts assessed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570195/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Eddie McGuire</a>.</p>
<p>Mock it I shall, but The National IQ test is an example of event TV. An outlier one too: event TV in Australia more commonly involves <a href="http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/archwftvtopprog.aspx">men and their balls</a>. </p>
<p>Defined as that must-watch show we’ll blather about incessantly afterwards, event TV - by its very nature - is something that not only a good majority of us sit down for, but much more so, it’s the TV that becomes part of our collective experience. <em>Our culture</em>.</p>
<p>Event TV is a reference point, a source for speech patterns, for colloquialisms, and is a fall-back conversation topic when everything fails. Class, race, and education are each irrelevant when we’re all in the same predicament of fearing life post-meth once <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRTSxJwq5dA">Breaking Bad</a> wraps.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29289/original/tbpdtjtv-1376534053.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Class, race, and education are each irrelevant when we’re watching Breaking Bad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Paul Bucki</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>I’ve recently been spending time with a man whose <a href="https://theconversation.com/bad-medicine-and-bad-desires-16910">belief systems challenge my own</a>. Normally I try to be tolerant of wayward views on things like faith or politics. This relationship however, proffers a challenge far beyond my anything-goes liberalism. He. Does. Not. Own. A. Television. And never has.</p>
<p>I went to school with Exclusive Brethrens who didn’t have TVs. With that one Jehovah’s Witness who didn’t have a TV. I once worked with a lovely hippie who didn’t watch TV. Sure, it all seemed strange at the time, but when folks are only passing acquaintances their perverted lifestyles seem less concerning.</p>
<p>Getting to really know someone who doesn’t watch TV hasn’t quite prompted me to dwell on how much I watch - I’m rarely fussed about such things – but it has forced me to acknowledge just how much of a reference point it is for me and how extensively I use it to make sense of the world.</p>
<p>One of the characters in Gillian Flynn’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/sweating-the-really-small-stuff-12730">Gone Girl</a> makes a worth-repeating point about how, since the advent of TV, we’ve all grown up in a culture where nothing is ever really new anymore. Where everything has been mediated to us by The Box. That even if we get the chance to, say, see the Mona Lisa up close, that the experience is shaped – <em>narrated</em> – by every single TV show that has ever made reference to it. </p>
<p>Ditto for every emotion, every life-stage, every bad date and awkward family dinner. It’s all been played out before us on the small screen. That nothing gets experienced in isolation from all the TV chatter around it.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29288/original/nwmrqvn3-1376533952.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Seinfeld never gets old.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Essl</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In my current predicament, I haven’t stopped referencing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg-TqEFYcfM">Seinfeld</a> or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL35da4x0D0">Curb Your Enthusiasm</a>. I have however, annoyingly started prefacing sentences with, “I know you have no idea what I’m talking about, but…”. Because this man - brought up in the same country as me, having attended the same university as me - seemingly does not have the same set of cultural references. And it’s becoming a problem.</p>
<p>While dwelling on this, I thought back to some <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3353504/Black-and-white-TV-generation-have-monochrome-dreams.html">UK research</a>. About how the black-and-white TV generation apparently dream in black and white and the rest of us do so in colour.</p>
<p>On one hand I readily acknowledge that all of the big world events for me – Princess Diana’s death, September 11, Hurricane Katrina, Obama’s inauguration - I experienced through TV. I need no convincing of its impact on my life, my memories.</p>
<p>But the idea that it affects the look and feel of our very dreams - that TV is impacting on us even while we’re all tucked up and asleep in our beds - is fascinating, perhaps scary, and for me validation that it’s quite okay, nay even <em>normal</em>, to be in so deep.</p>
<p>The manner we watch TV today has changed since that simpler time of yore when we cared about Channel 9’s take on our intelligence. Nowadays however, our anticipation of quality TV is so feverish that we’ll download it before waiting for it to be “fast-tracked” and when we do we’ll also be multi-tasking, <em>multi-screening</em>, and expressing our fervor to the world in real time via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/laurenrosewarne">Twitter</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29292/original/nhwxb35f-1376535011.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The manner we watch TV today has changed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>It’s too easy to look to the good number of us salivatingly drawn to contemporary event TV of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULwUzF1q5w4">House of Cards</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ixEWrTLiZg">Game of Thrones</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nryWkAaWjKg">Orange is the New Black</a> kind and dismiss us as bad postured, astigmatic TV junkies who’ll watch anything. </p>
<p>Better writing, better production and better TV than ever before aside, we’re living a world where we’re less likely to be joiners. We’re less likely to go to church and join political parties and sporting clubs and unions. TV gives even the most disconnected and apathetic of us a shared language, a shared experience.</p>
<p>I wasn’t born early enough to have a moon-landing or JFK assassination story. I was however, on the treadmill for the last episode of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoHoxQTLcdE">Six Feet Under</a>. And cried so hard I slipped off. I’m confident I wasn’t alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/16989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Rosewarne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Slobodan Milosevic went to trial. Bali got bombed. Dudley Moore died and right up there with the memorable moments of 2002 was that 2.8 million Australians sat down and watched The National IQ Test. Because…Lauren Rosewarne, Senior Lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.