Emma Seidl
Professor Sumpter
ENG 300W
21 June 2015
Narcissism: Frank Underwood’s and Walter White’s rejection of human nature
In our modern world of war, disease, and poverty it can be hard to find a sense of hope for humanity. During times of suffering people are constantly looking for some type of understanding, some way to relate to another individual and not feel so alone. This longing is often rectified through fictional characters. We are living in an anti-heroic age of television. Instead of tuning in every week to watch characters that possess strong moral codes and ethicalness, we have become increasingly devoted to those who do not. We long to find an escape from, not only reality, but sometimes from our own ethical structures. Yet, many of these characters dangerously deny all and every sense of morality and in response reject their own human nature. The anti-heroes of Frank Underwood in House of Cards and Walter White in Breaking Bad are no exception to the rejection of one’s own intrinsically good nature. While viewers initially identify much more with Walter than Frank, eventually both men allow pride to destroy any hope for redemption. How can viewers continue to look up to characters that willingly turn from human goodness to human depravity? Both House of Cards and Breaking Bad allow the audience to reflect upon their own morality and clearly show how a world lacking in any sense of moral ethics can lead to an individual’s narcissistic downfall. If the
The essay, “No Sympathy for the Devil”, written by Heather Havrilesky, is about the concept of antiheroes, and how much of an impact they have made on modern media and the characters hollywood choose to create. For many years, most of the TV and movies made had a cookie cutter, almost perfect hero(s). But as of late, the entertainment industry has come to the realization that people with pros and vices, are much easier for the audience to relate to. Heather’s goal is to dive further into these antihero characters, and unravel what exactly makes them so relatable. In the process of explaining to us all of these different, complex characters, Havrilesky seems to get lost in her topic from time to time. However, the evidence she uses to back all of her claims is both plentiful, and very strong. The overall tone of the essay is not excessively opinionated, yet she does not sound
We have a tendency to block out the things that we do not agree with in the world. As the years pass, our society has drastically molded into a primarily selfish, disappointing species of humans that does little more than promote slander and hatred towards one another. Nevertheless, we are not hopeless. There remain millions of individuals who seek out the favorable facets in the world and strive to not only nourish themselves, but to nourish the world around them. Although Barbara Ehrenreich believes that television inaccurately portrays the day-to-day lives that Americans live, the reality is that there are devastating truths behind the brainwashing images that plague our minds.
We are not like that … We have our own virtues. We have our rigid code of behavior, of honor. Why do they never show these on the screen? Why should we always scheme, rob, kill?”
Walter White is the main character in the TV series "Breaking Bad" as a family man and high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer. He doesn’t have much time to live so he takes it upon himself to make sure he leaves his wife, son, and new born daughter enough money so they don’t have to work after his passing. To do this, he teams up with a former high school student, Jessie Pinkman. Jessie is a meth addict and falls quickly into the idea of making millions with White. Together, White and Pinkman create one of the biggest meth empires in the Southwest, and eventually the whole country, under the name of "Heisenberg".
“People are honest as long as they can afford to be.” Although American mob boss Benny Binion lived in a different era, his words on human’s morality continue to ring true in modern day. Honesty is a virtue that is widely valued; in spite of this, it can be abandoned depending on the direness of the scenario. The decency and integrity of people varies based on their situation. This is because man is not innately righteous.
Aside from being one in every one of the points of interest of yankee writing, Mark Twain 's great story,
The tremendous moral decline in America is startling, but not sudden. America has suffered from a bankruptcy of ethics for decades. This lack of morality is very evident in such ubiquitous mediums as the entertainment industry, and the beliefs concerning this topic are as varied as the people who hold them.
Most people would prefer to watch Mean Girls, or Big Brother over a documentary about nature because they find it more entertaining. Novels, television programs, and films are largely made to reflect what the majority of people find entertaining and don’t teach many valuable lessons. Writers can write great stories that move us emotionally and confirm our deepest moral convictions but they choose not to because a large number of (many, numerous) people prefer them to entertain us only because they see dollar signs as more than moral signs.
Everyone within a society has his or her own individual concerns in life. Some people, however, are occasionally looked down more by others, depending on if their problems are seriously destructive to the society or not. An often time in doing so, these people are manipulated into a dominant ideology which represents arguments about whether things are of optimistic or pessimistic standards in our civilization. This set of central principles, ideology, produces particular manners and offer ethical regulations by which one’s dealings can be evaluated. In fact, the media production business appears to be the focal resource that utilizes the governing beliefs by constructing imaginary medium contacts, appealing to massive audiences to reflect
In most non-existential media, characters often receive consequences that are fitting for their actions. While objective, morality and consequences have a direct relationship in non-existential films, television shows, books, and video games; good characters are often rewarded in the end for their heroic actions, while the evil is punished. This, however, is not the case in existential media. This kind of media focuses around the idea that there is no outside witness determining our fate based on the morality of our actions. Characters make their own choices, thus shaping their own interpretation of morality. In this type of media, good and evil is not only objective and open to interpretation, it is also accessible. Every character has the
Lyden describes the protagonist in gangster films as a “ruthless criminal who rises to the top of an organization through his unstoppable desire for success at any price.” Walter White fits this description, maybe not so much in the first season of Breaking Bad but as the series progresses we see his moral compass become increasingly skewed and his actions grow worse and worse. At the beginning of the series he is family man, a high school teacher, a pretty good guy but as his involvement in the drug world continues he becomes a hardened criminal who commits morally despicable acts such as murder.
The norm on has sunk to an incomprehensible level when it comes to character and morals. Where the art of deception, flattery, lying and cheating has become our new normalcy. Where has the moral fiber or the Godly character of a man gone? Character has become such an old frame of mind that no one really knows what true character even means anymore. Every individual has a different perceptive and outlook on the delineation of character and their own thoughts on what Godly character looks like. Abraham Lincoln stated, “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing” (Linclon, n.d.). Character is not merely making the best choices when everyone is looking or when no one else
The world today wants us to believe that beneath that rough exterior, there exists a good person. This “good person” is more evident in some, but others need a bit more polishing before it comes out. Ultimately, however, “there is good in all of us” - as it is so often said on TV and in the movies.
wrong (Williams & Arrigo, 2012, p. 5). The role of morality in this film is not how moral values are used to guide a population in the direction of a "good life" but instead how moral values can be interpreted and exploited through various forms of rhetoric and propaganda to allow a justification for an act that is fundamentally understood to be immoral.
when you have to compromise your morals for the people around you, change the people around you. For instance, in God's Not Dead a teacher spoke to a student about her christian beliefs. The school has a rule about not speaking about religious beliefs. So, another student told on the teacher and, the court got involved. The teacher lawyer wanted her to apologize for her speaking about her beliefs but, taking back what she said would be going against her morals. The teacher tried and tied to convince a jury that what she did wasn't bad. In the end. The teacher won't and she went back to teaching. No one is perfect but, don't change who you are for other people.