Misc.

a casual essay on breaking bad as a piece of queer media

its safe to say that the breaking bad cinematic universe is one of the most successful pieces of storytelling in film we have ever come across. all three parts of the story, breaking bad, better call saul and el camino are well known to have all gotten very successful ratings and have been well received by the majority of its viewers. something incredibly fascinating about all three of these pieces of media is the theme of love, and how love doesn't take a place as a B plot, but is rather tightly woven in to the main idea. on top of that, it's execution on screen diverts from the typical imagery we frequently see in film and tv. love and affection is tailored to the characters themselves, and sex is not included unless it's absolutely necessary, or if it furthers the plot. none of the love and affection is gratuitous which makes it all the more meaningful when it does happen, because you know theres an inherent intention behind it. 

more specifically, the writing team of the breaking bad cinematic universe don't approach their story with a heteronormative perspective, and not limiting their ideas on gender expression when it comes to the characters. by observing specific instances of this occurring (in no particular order), a greater understanding of not only the characters, but their relationships with others can be obtained. 

something that can easily be observed occurring in all breaking bad, better call saul and el camino is the sheer amount of homoeroticism the respective stories contain. homoeroticism is portrayed differently depending on who's doing the writing and filming. for example, kathryn bigelow is well known for her portrayal of homoeroticism typically shot in tandem with violence, with men fighting each other, but very intimately. vince gilligan and co take a different approach, including homoerotic, or same sex affection that is really quite gentle in many occasions. el camino is a good guide for this. over and over we get instances of men being gentle and close with one another, adjusting the action to fit the tone, regardless of if it deviates from the gender stereotype. jesse leaning his nose against the back of casey's head, panicked, allows the viewer to gather just how desperate jesse is, opposed to something heteronormative and stereotypical, like jesse fighting his way out of the situation. and it's not just that instance we see that intimacy between men. other notable scenes include todd lifting jesse's chin up, or neil staring casey down mere inches from his face. in the case of el camino, gentle and quiet intimacy is used as a vessel for control, contrasted to the modern mainstream stereotype that men have to be strong, loud and rather angry all of the time. badger and skinny pete provide a good example as well. they live together in a house and they just vibe. there's a trampoline outside in their yard, and they're clearly happy being around each other all the time. the idea that "boys don't cry" is almost non-existent in the breaking bad universe. 

if we look at better call saul, we see this idea of homoeroticism being perpetuated. we see it a little bit, albeit in a slightly different light with amber, nikki and jo. what's interesting about the three girls is that it's never verbally confirmed the state of their relationship both with each other and with nacho. for all we know, they could just be friends, and it's the open endedness of their relationship that reinforces the representation of gender stereotypes and homoeroticism in the story. by that logic, you could assume badger and skinny pete were together too, because there's no qualifiers that inherently say for certain that they are or aren't together romantically. even in the light that the girls and nacho are dating, the point still stands, because it makes it representation for polyamory. the beautiful thing about nacho and his two to three weed smoking girlfriends is the gentility that accompanies them. falling back onto the point of sex not being a gratuitous device, we never see nacho or the girls doing anything remotely sexual. they are simply together in the most literal sense possible.

perhaps the most biting example of homoeroticism being prevalent though, has to do with lalo salamanca and howard hamlin. these two characters, who meet exactly once, and who have little to nothing in common, upon being murdered are lowered into a pit where they will spend eternity together. the thing is, the characters who cleaned up after the murders arguably didnt have to do this. they didn't have to bury lalo and howard together, but they did. the concept is almost laughable because of how absurd it is in nature, but i think that's what makes it so good. not only are they buried together, but their positions mimic real photos of male skeletons being found together holding one another, leading the public to theorize that they may have been gay lovers. it's both beautiful and sad, but also funny because conceivably, the skeletons of howard hamlin and lalo salamanca could be found and assumed to be gay lovers. if that doesn't scream "homoeroticism" i don't know what does.