Movies and TV shows attract many viewers due to creativity in several areas such as plot and characters. Most views tend to concentrate on the heroes’ and heroines’ story line, however, just like the heroes, the villains play a critical role in shaping a protagonist story. The villains also facilitate the understanding of multiple aspects of the community such as cultural conflicts, drug use, and behavior of individuals. This essay compares two villains from two of the most popular movie of the 21st century namely Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones.
The two villains compared are Walter White from Breaking Bad and Cersei Lannister from the Game of Thrones. Both shows have high ratings due to the creativity of the story setting and the characters. According to IMDb, breaking bad is rated 9.5/10 while Game of Thrones is rated 9.3/10. Due to similar ratings and the fact that the shows ended; the comparison is appropriate. Game of Thrones is based on ancient history and mythology; while Breaking Bad is based on current societal norms such as drug use, conflicts, and family values. Although the settings of both shows are different, there are notable similarities between the two villains.
The major similarity is their cunning behavior. This behavior is indicated at the beginning of both shows where they are portrayed as innocent characters who have no interest in power and riches. However, as the film progresses, they become influential and accumulate enormous wealth. Another similarity is the desire to be good parents. For example, Walker, protects his child from school bullying, goes picking with him, and also considers Jesse (a fellow meth dealer and lab operator) as his son. Similarly, Cersei is also a good mother as indicated by her desire for her son to become a king (Ruf, 2020).
The theme of thirst for power is also a major attribute of the two casts. During the first episodes, Walker is portrayed as a character who is afraid and lacks confidence. For example, at one time he loses hope due to the diagnosis of terminal cancer. He even starts part-time work in a car wash to raise money to cover the treatment costs. However, after entry into meth production, he strives to become the major distributor; using ruthless methods such as elimination of rivals. Similarly, Cersei is also power-thirsty and uses sex and violence to gain power. She is prepared to kill anyone who gets in her way; even his close friends and counsel. Both characters also break from the established norms in the society, for example, Cersei is not hindered by her gender when focusing on her goals (KovĂĄcs, 2020). She was able to become a queen after the death of all her children, and just like previous kings she was able to rule with ruthlessness. Walker is also able to break from established norms that associate success in the drug trade to cartel affiliation. Specifically, he was able to break this stereotype and become one of the most successful meth manufacture and distributor.
Although both characters are regarded as violent; they have the capability to show mercy. For instance, Walker mainly decides to kill if he or his family is threatened; although this changes as he comes a powerful drug boss. Similarly, Cersei decided to participate in the killing of Ned Starkâs only after she realized that he tried to kill her. The similarity is also indicated by their ruthless-strategic decisions. Cersei forces his son Jeffrey to marry Margaery Tyrell with intention of gaining power and money. Just like Cersei, Walker thinks strategically by killing Gale Boetticher; a chemist employed by Gustavo Fring. He takes this action to remain the sole supplier of high-quality meth (Echart & GarcĂa, 2013). Another similarity is their disregard for the future after gaining power. Cersei eliminates friends and family without consideration of future repercussions. For example, she blew up the sept of bailor; an action which leads to the elimination of her enemies; but also indirectly results in the death of her last child. Similarly, Walker’s obsession with the drug trade causes him to ignore his health status. Specifically, most of his efforts are on the lucrative drug trade; forgetting his loved ones and the doctorâs appointments.
The two characters also have a high sense of pride. In the first episodes, Walker struggled financially, however, as he becomes familiar with the drug trade, he accumulates a lot of money which leads to pride. Pride is illustrated by his desire to seek recognition from his friends and rivals. The sense of pride did not begin after the accumulation of wealth, for instance, in the first season, he refuses financial aid to pay for his cancer treatment. Similarly, just like fellow members of the Lannister family, Cersei is motivated by pride when making decisions; which ultimately leads to the fall of the Lannister family. Another similarity between the two is introversion behavioral characteristics. Walker’s extraversion is indicated by his desire to work alone, not attending social events such as school occasions, birthdays and family-get together (Bowlby, 2020). Cersei also exhibits introversion attributes such as making decisions alone and stay alone for long periods.
Both characters also have Narcissistic personalities which are evident in some of the decisions that they make. For instance, Cersei slept with his cousin and twin brother, harmed a child by having him out of the window, blew up the sacred place of worship, and ensured that her mentally sick son become the king. According to her views, she did these things “for love; which indicates that she has a narcissism personality disorder. Just like Cersei, Walker also exhibits narcissistic behavior, for instance, to command admiration, he tells others to “say my nameâ; an indicator that he an intense feeling of authority. Both characters also exhibit megalomaniac tendencies. For example, Walker uses neo-Nazis criminals to eliminate witnesses to prevent police from getting information from them about his drug business. Like Walker, Cersei eliminates the threats to her power and dominance. Their delusion fantasies of power and influence lead them to make careless decisions. For instance, Walker is identified as Heisenberg due to careless behavior and also a delusional belief that no one can identify him. Just like Walker, Cersei’s delusional belief that she does not require the help of others when making decisions leads to bad decisions such as making Jeffrey a king despite symptoms of Sadistic Personality Disorder.
There are some differences between the two. Although they were able to become powerful individuals, Walker relies on his chemistry knowledge to become successful meth produce. During his engagement with dealers, he gains business skills such as negotiating and decision making. Contrary to Walker, Cersei uses her beauty, sex intelligence, and family connection for gaining power. The intelligence is indicated by her decision to assist in killing her abusive husband so that her son could become the king.
Sexual immorality is a key difference between Cersei and Walker. Cersei uses sex to gain power and he bears the children out of wedlock. For example, there are rumors that her children do not belong to King Robert, but Jaime, his twin brother. She continues to have sex with her twin brother, despite the relationship being no longer a secret. Her behavior is in direct contrast to Walker’s behavior, who despite engaging in drug trade and murders, he continues to be faithful to his wife. Cersei also lacks sympathy, for example, after her husband’s death, she was not devastated; instead focuses on putting her son on the throne (Sandqvist, n.d.). Walker on the other hand shows sympathy to her wife and child’s struggles and rejection by community due to the revelation that his a drug dealer. He also goes ahead to rescue Jesse from his captors; an indication that he is sympathetic to the suffering of others.
The comparison of both characters shows that they share a lot of similarities, which may be a contributor to why they have attracted numerous positive and critical reviews. The analysis has indicated that the beginning of the films portrays them as innocent characters; however, after exposure to various issues such as diseases, betrayal, and power, they begin to display many villain behaviors such as engaging in deplorable acts like murders. Despite these acts, many viewers sympathize with them; due to many suffering that they have to endure such as declining physical and mental health.
References
Bowlby, E. (2020). Drugs, death, denial and cancer care: Using breaking bad in the spiritual care of cancer patients.Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies, 15(3), 223â238. Web.
Echart, P., & GarcĂa, A. N. (2013). Crime and punishment: Greed, pride and guilt in breaking bad.A Critical Approach to the Apocalypse, 205â217. Web.
KovĂĄcs, G. (2020). âIâm all that stands between them and chaos:â a monstrous way of ruling in A song of ice and fire.Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7(1), 1â7. Web.
Ruf, A.-K. (2020). Representation of motherhood in game of thrones. Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 1, 2â10. Web.
Sandqvist, E. (n.d.). Politics, hidden agendas and a Game of Thrones. Web.