NATURE VS. NURTURE IN ALBUQUERQUE: WHAT BREAKING BAD AND BETTER CALL SAUL TEACH US ABOUT HOW WE TALK ABOUT CRIMINALS

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dc.contributor.authorRomanowski, Max
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-30T09:43:39Z
dc.date.available2022-06-30T09:43:39Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractBreaking Bad and Better Call Saul focus on the criminal transformation of their two main characters, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). While quite similar on the surface, Walter and Jimmy’s narratives represent two different criminal transitions, evoking the classic nature vs nurture conversation. Both of these shows bring the conversation to the idea of inevitability. The nature vs. nurture argument is a popular one because it acts as a teaching tool for how we think and talk about criminal behavior. At first, it follows that since criminality was in Walter White’s nature the whole time, his transition should feel the most inevitable, with the inverse being true of Jimmy. However, since Better Call Saul is a prequel to Breaking Bad, the opposite ends up happening. Even though Jimmy may only need the right people around him to be saved from his descent, his presence as Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad reminds the audience that it is Jimmy who is already fated to become a criminal. This dichotomy highlights the distinctive pedagogical opportunity present in both of these shows. Through their subversion of the concepts of nature and nurture, they allow for a unique teaching opportunity regarding how we talk about criminals. This article explores what they teach us and how their commentary can be used as a pedagogical tool for learning about criminal behavior in more nuanced ways. Keywords: Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Nature, Nurture, Social Learning Theory, Classical Conditioningen_US
dc.identifier.citationRomanowski, M. (2019). Nature vs. Nurture in Albuquerque: What Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul teach us about how we talk about criminals. 6(2). Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy. http://journaldialogue.org/issues/v6-issue-2/nature-vs-nurture-in-albuquerque-what-breaking-bad-and-better-call-saul-teach-us-about-how-we-talk-about-criminals/en_US
dc.identifier.issn2378-2331
dc.identifier.urihttp://journaldialogue.org/issues/v6-issue-2/nature-vs-nurture-in-albuquerque-what-breaking-bad-and-better-call-saul-teach-us-about-how-we-talk-about-criminals/
dc.identifier.urihttp://nur.nu.edu.kz/handle/123456789/6334
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherDialogue, 6(2)en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesDialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy;Volume 6, Issue 2 — Criminals as Heroes: Problems and Pedagogy in Popular Culture
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectType of access: Open Accessen_US
dc.titleNATURE VS. NURTURE IN ALBUQUERQUE: WHAT BREAKING BAD AND BETTER CALL SAUL TEACH US ABOUT HOW WE TALK ABOUT CRIMINALSen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
workflow.import.sourcescience

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