SPOILERS-Breaking Bad and Fantasy Writing

[Philip Overby]

I recently posted a blog entry discussing what fantasy writers can learn from Breaking Bad. Philip Overby's Fantasy Free-for-All: Fantasy Writing: SPOILERS--What Fantasy Writers Can Learn From Breaking Bad

There are spoilers a plenty there, so don't go there unless you want things spoiled. Since I've put SPOILERS at the top of this thread, that means any and all discussion is open. So DO NOT view this thread if you don't want any spoilers.

If you don't want to check the blog entry above, what I basically discuss is why I think TV shows like Breaking Bad can actually teach us more about making awesome characters with intriguing plot lines than some fantasy fiction can. Not to say some fantasy fiction doesn't reach those heights, but I personally can't say I've ever cried reading a fantasy book. I've been shocked or surprised, but I've never actually cried. Breaking Bad has made me cry more than once. It's a credit not just to the writing, but the actors and direction as well. It really is the total package, especially these last several episodes.

So my main point of discussion is this: can you actually learn more about crafting believable, interesting characters from a TV show than you can reading? Have shows like Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos transcended simple TV and become high art?

This is something I've considered a lot. Will I ever find a fantasy book that evokes the same emotion from me as Breaking Bad has? I hope so.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I find the "goals" section intriguing. If you'll excuse me going on about my own work, I applied something pretty similar in Kids These Days.

Spoiler: Wall of self-indulgence

a. Price-a superhero with a personal grudge against strong people who prey on the weak. An avatar (monster-beyond-the-veil sort of dealio) is trying to eat her and her friends. Beyond survival, the reason she wants to kill it is that she sees it as a strong being and thinks Melody and Wolf are weak.
b. Melody-a magical girl who fashions herself as a liberator of humanity. She believes that if all avatars are dead, people will stop feeling negative emotions like hatred and jealousy.
c. Wolf-a werewolf who thinks he's a defender of nature. At first, he incorrectly thinks the avatar is unnatural. Later, he just wants to kill it because it's powerful and trying to kill him.

Price really, really likes Melody, but she realizes that Melody wants to control people and make everyone think and act the same--there can't be a Melody in Price's desired world of free beings with no power over each other. Melody has a crush on Wolf, but she wants to eliminate rage from the world--Wolf's powers are rage-based, and he can't exist in Melody's world. Price fundamentally changes Wolf's worldview, but he still believes in a world where might makes right and the strong rule--Price's little campaign against power is antithetical to his world.

These original goals don't directly impact the story, but the argument that results from them forces Price to think about what she's doing--does she care more about her goal itself, or about the people she's been fighting alongside? This ultimately pushes her to kill someone who should have been untouchable and drive the story in a direction none of the characters expected.

 

[DameiThiessen]

Those characters were so dynamic because the good guys did really bad things - just as bad as the bad guys.

Walt frustrated me because I knew, as the viewer, he had a good heart and loved his family. When he hurt them, like when he kidnapped Holly, I hated him. But even when he was screaming at Skyler on the phone he ended up crying, so you knew he was in pain too for being blamed for Hank's death. I think many authors can learn to make their main characters less lovable. They don't have to be evil, but if you see them do things at the expense of other characters you will only add a new level of humanity to them.

Also, when Jr. was screaming at Walt on the phone and Walt was crying I nearly lost it. It was so emotional because he's trying so hard but it is already to late for him to redeem himself. I know that I myself get so emotionally involved in my characters lives that I'm afraid to write anything really traumatizing. I need to learn to disconnect. ^^'

Gus was an awesome villain because you knew so little about him and what was motivating him to do things. The mystery made him scary. Less personable baddies become like an omnipotent force in the story, which I like.

Todd scared the crap out of me because he was the nicest guy. D: Threatening, torturing, and killing people wasn't personal - he could genuinely like and admire you and then shoot you in the face with a friendly smile.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

The genius in Breaking Bad, in my opinion, comes down to character arc. We have the case of a man, who early on creates so much sympathy in the audience. As the story progresses though, he changes. Going from good guy doing bad things for good reasons, to bad guy doing bad things and rationalizing they are for good reasons. That was powerful. It was a journey of self-discovery in a lot of ways, yet the reverse of the normal path of realizing what we're capable of. It was a twist on the character redemptive arc and the story where someone has to grow into something greater.

The early sympathy was so effective for me, I couldn't help but hope Walt would get away with it all somehow...that he'd win. Even in light of the atrocities committed, I still found myself rooting for him...now a bad guy.