‘Breaking Down Breaking Bad’ hottest class on campus
By Deborah W. Morton
When it comes to audacious, complex, badass characters, Shakespeare reigns supreme. Or does he? Kenneth Schif , Ph.D., associate professor of English, used to think so. Mercutio, Lady Macbeth, Richard III, Henry V - they were a gnarly bunch. But along came Walter White, who took badass to a whole new level. Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan said his goal in creating Walter White was to turn Mr. Chips into Scarface. And it wasn’t just Walt whose character evolved so dramatically over the fv e seasons of AMC’s Breaking Bad . The same could be said of Jesse Pinkman, Skyler White, Saul Goodman, Mike, Gus… “The moral complexity of the characters and the plot development are as good as anything Shakespeare ever wrote,” Schif said . “ Breaking Bad is a new form of great, narrative art.” Who would have fgur ed that Walter White’s iconic “I am the one who knocks”* would be uttered in the same breath as Richard III’s “Now is the winter of our discontent”?
- narrative art; Fryling dissected the criminal justice thread throughout; and Jones taught the science piece. They took turns doing lectures and then each took a group for weekly break out sessions. Certainly Schif , who watched all 62 episodes, didn’t expect to be so “blown away” by this television genre, which is why he jumped when the opportunity arose to share his enthusiasm in the Mercyhurst classroom. He joined associate professor of criminal justice Tina Fryling, J.D., and chemistry/biochemistry department chair Clint Jones, Ph.D., in teaching what arguably was the hottest course on the Mercyhurst campus this fall: an interdisciplinary of ering called “Breaking Down Breaking Bad .” And it was just for freshmen – 75 in all. Schif e xamined the Emmy Award-winning series as a work of
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