Breaking Bad --- Well Done?

With all the recent press on Breaking Bad I decided I should see what it is all about.  That led to some binge watching to fight recent jet lag.  I finished the first season.

Pepe Escobar gives and analysis of the series here.  Having watched only one season I can say that what he says is not a spoiler but a guide to what I should be sensitive to seeing in future episodes in order to comprehend the series and the meaning that Pepe sees.   Based on what Pepe has previously written I trust his assessment accuracy.

Pepe says:

"The genius of the Breaking Bad writers' room - with creator Vince Gilligan at the core - was to depict Walter White's descent into the maelstrom as primeval, intrinsically "most American". No wonder Gilligan defined Breaking Bad essentially as "a western". Clint Eastwood was fond of saying that the western and jazz were the only true American art forms (well, he forgot film noir and blues, rock'n roll, soul and funk, but we get the drift).

So call this warped western a masterful depiction of American exceptionalism. And mirror it with the soft pull of a dying, lone superpower which is still capable of turning the whole planet into junkies, addicted to the cinematically sumptuous spectacle of its own demise. "

I think that few people would "get it".  They don't get the reality either, just enjoyed the show.

The above quote is the last lines of Pepe's analysis.  Going back to it I feel the need to  add the first lines and update this entry.  This is critical comment at its finest:

"What if the US government actually shut down to mourn the passing of Breaking Bad, arguably the most astonishing show in the history of television? It would be nothing short of poetic justice - as Breaking Bad is infinitely more pertinent for the American psyche than predictable cheap shots at Capitol Hill."

More from Pepe on American Exceptionalism here

Pepe also writes for TomDispatch.  A true endorsement of his insightful skills.

Checking in on what Tom has to offer today resulted in this gem.  Written by Ann Jones.  The Forgotten War.  12 Years in Afghanistan Down the Memory Hole.

I think that there was no awareness of what was going on in the first place or why, not so much that what was known went down the memory hole.  Was not there to start with.  Never will be unless historians become big money makers telling us amazing things that we never knew.

Thank you again Tom.  It is time to write another personal email to you saying that.

Thank you Ann Jones.