Introduction
Social involves various influences that are crucial for personal development and decision-making. Every society has norms and ideologies, which are fundamental when community members interact at personal and group levels. Socialization agents help individuals make decisions and choices that can either be detrimental or positive to them. Therefore, individuals must weigh the positives and negatives of interacting with others at various social levels.
El-Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is a 2019 American crime thriller featuring Jesse Pinkman as the starring actor. The movie is a narration of the actor’s past based on his choice to sell crystal meth. Socialization is depicted in El-Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie since Jesse Pinkman made decisions under the influence of those around him.
Selected Character Description
Roles
El-Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie continues the Breaking Bad series. Jesse Pinkman is the central character in the movie since it tells a continuation of his story. The pseudonym of Cap’n Cook is a former meth seller.
The actor partnered with Walter White, his former teacher. Additionally, he partnered with other meth dealers, including Skinny Pete, Brandon “Badger” Mayhew, Mike Ehrmantraut, and Todd Alquist (Gilligan, 2019). Jesse Pinkman used to cook meth with his former teacher, Walter White, until his capture by Todd Alquist and members of his uncle’s gang. In El-Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, the main character’s role is to recount his experiences as a meth cook and seller in Albuquerque.
Statuses
In El-Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Jesse Pinkman’s social and psychological statuses are exhibited. Residents in Albuquerque consider him a criminal who deserves to be arrested. His criminal status is portrayed when his parents, in the news, beg him to surrender to the police (Jørgensen & Reichenberger, 2022).
While he is financially well off from the proceeds of selling meth, his financial status is poor. His association with Walter White earned him a lot of money, raising his social status. Therefore, he could afford expensive lawyers and cars of his liking. Although his financial status is good, he has a poor psychological status (Gilligan, 2019). His involvement in the meth business and the consequent repercussion of being captured haunt him, making him psychologically vulnerable.
Group Membership
Jesse Pinkman, in the movie, is a member of two distinct groups based on his relationship with others. He belongs to an “unknown” gang that has been terrorizing the city of Albuquerque with meth. Walter White, Todd Alquist, Mike Ehrmantraut, and Kyle are his group mates.
The groupmates are brought in many of Jesse Pinkman’s flashbacks. The group is purely based on the meth business, and others, except for him and Todd Alquist, survive. His second group is that of his childhood friends, Skinny Pete and Brandon “Badger” Mayhew (Gilligan, 2019). The latter group is based on friendship and brotherhood since they take part in helping Jesse Pinkman escape from the police officers.
Agents of Socialization Impacting Jesse Pinkman
Peer Groups
Jesse Pinkman’s peer groups have influenced his interactions and decisions in the movie. He is about to give up and hand himself to the police, who are in pursuit of him. However, Skinny Pete and Brandon “Badger” Mayhew plot an escape plan for him. The plan succeeds as Jesse gets his way out of Albuquerque. Another peer influence is when Jesse Pinkman remembers failing to attend college under theinfluence to sell meth for Skinny Pete and Brandon “Badger” Mayhew. The evil influence of Skinny Pete and Brandon “Badger” Mayhew causes Jesse Pinkman to meth use and engage in a business that destroys his life.
Family
In some of Jesse Pinkman’s flashbacks, he remembers how his family members would have positively influenced his life. The main character has a mother and father who care about him. Upon being identified as one of the most dangerous meth sellers, the parents try to convince him to present himself to the police. Another instance where Jesse’s life was about to be positively impacted by a family member is when her former girlfriend, Jane Margolis, advised him to stop selling meth and live in the city with her. Although his family members tried to give him pieces of advice, Jesse Pinkman ignored them, causing him trouble with the police.
Penal System
Meth is an illegal drug, and its sale is criminalized in Albuquerque. In the movie, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the local police collaborated to bring the main character to justice. He remembers his collaboration with the DEA to capture his former teacher, Walter White (Gilligan, 2019).
The fear of the DEA and the police made him escape from Albuquerque. While Jesse Pinkman had been arrested on several occasions, including seeing some of his business partners killed, he continued selling meth. The failure of the Albuquerque penal system to effectively punish Jesse Pinkman exacerbates his involvement in the meth business.
Community
Most of Albuquerque’s residents, especially those holding crucial institutional positions, have failed to play their roles. In one of his flashbacks, he remembers his former chemistry teacher, Walter White, who taught him how to cook blue meth. Another instance where the Albuquerque community has failed is when a lawyer, Saul Goodman, corrupts the system to have him get away scot-free. The community further negatively influences his decision by agreeing to buy meth from him. The morally reckless Albuquerque community exacerbates Jesse Pinkman’s situation by supporting his criminal activities.
Socialization Concepts and Theories
Social Control Theory
The main character’s interactions in the movie can be described using the social control theory. The character’s parents are against drug and substance use and are terrified about their son. Meanwhile, he believes that no one should be killed or exploited in the meth business. The social control theory holds that moral internalization of moral codes in the community makes individuals voluntarily limit their propensity to commit deviant acts (Fitouchi & Singh, 2022). Similarly, he limits himself to selling meth due to the morals instilled in him by his parents and the common virtue of not involving children in the meth business.
Group Socialization Theory
Jesse Pinkman’s decisions are influenced by the people he associates with. His interactions with Skinny Pete and Brandon “Badger” Mayhew led him to abuse substances and drugs. Additionally, his association with Walter White introduces him to a million-dollar meth business. The group socialization concept propounds that the relationship between the group and the individual systematically changes over time, and both parties are viewed as active social influence agents (Susanti & Luthfi, 2022). In the movie, Walter White, Skinny Pete, Brandon “Badger” Mayhew, and Todd Alquist negatively influence Jesse Pinkman’s social interactions and decisions.
Collective Behavior Theory
Group behaviors can be detrimental to members, affecting their personal and social development. The collective behavior theory posits that individual group members adopt a common behavior from their peers (Palomo-Briones et al., 2022). Primarily, public institutions do not regulate the collective behavior adopted (Wikström & Kroneberg, 2021).
In the movie, the main character’s substance use and meth-selling behaviors are developed upon his interactions with Walter White and his childhood friends. The behavior can be observed in his friends who are meth addicts and routinely sell meth to their neighborhood under Jesse Pinkman’s instruction. Therefore, his behavior is collective since he developed it from his friends and business partner, Walter White.
Moral Development Theory
Jesse Pinkman conflicts with his parents due to his involvement in the drug business. The moral development theory propounds that moral behaviors and reasoning occur in different stages as one progresses to adulthood (Walker, 2020). Given his age and behaviors, the main character is at the post-conventional morality stage (Nainggolan & Naibaho, 2022).
The theory suggests that adults account for their differing values and principles on an individual rights basis during this stage. In the movie, the main character regrets his involvement in the meth business that led to the death of many people, including his girlfriend. He believes that they should never have died since they have the right to life and dignity. Jesse Pinkman’s internalization of principles of justice and his past actions make him regretful and mentally unstable.
Conclusion
Socialization promotes personal success and development and may undermine one’s moral behaviors. Community, family, peer groups, and penal system members are agents of socialization that influenced Jesse Pinkman’s behavior in the movie El-Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. While his family members tend to have a positive influence on him, his peer groups and community members encourage his immoral behaviors. The moral development, social control, collective behavior, and group socialization theories can explain Jesse Pinkman’s deviant behavior development.
References
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Gilligan, V. (Director). (2019). El Camino: A breaking bad movie [Film] (S. Macdonald, Ed.). Netflix.
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Palomo-Briones, G. A., Siller, M., & Grignard, A. (2022). An agent-based model of the dual causality between individual and collective behaviors in an epidemic. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 141, 104995. Web.
Susanti, M., & Luthfi, M. N. (2022). Deviance of Young people in the era of modernization. Proceeding Conference on Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 1(1), 24–27. Web.
Walker, D. I. (2020). Sociological contributions for researching morality and cultivating states of moral character. Journal of Moral Education, 51(1), 1–11. Web.
Wikström, P.-O. H., & Kroneberg, C. (2021). Analytic criminology: Mechanisms and methods in the explanation of crime and its causes. Annual Review of Criminology, 5(1). Web.