Breaking Bad: Why We Follow Philanderers & Murderers But Hate Their Wives

One of the bonus pleasures of watching a great show the night it airs is the great conversations on the Internet in the aftermath. It is tremendous fun to go online immediately after the conclusion of Breaking Bad or Mad Men to react to and discuss the episode’s events or to theorize about what happens next. These discussions can provoke new perspectives or reveal complex meanings and connections not obvious on first viewing. The fans of these shows frequently reveal themselves to be intelligent, insightful and willing to engage intense, troubling dramas on intellectual and emotional levels.

Except for when it comes to the protagonists’ wives.

Yep, turns out that while many viewers have no problems following (or even rooting for) philanders, pathological liars, murderers, drug dealers, rapists and all-around toxic human beings, they suddenly lose all sense of compassion or interest when the focus turns to said Walking Garbage’s wife.

Don Draper lies, ignores, cheats on, and emotionally mindfucks with his wife for years? Eh.

Betty Draper contemplates an affair? Worst human being ever.

Walter White wantonly murders people who get in his way? He’s doing it for a good reason!

Skyler White can’t take living with a murderous drug lord and has an affair? How dare she!

It goes without saying that not everyone who watches these shows, or even a particularly large minority, has these feelings. But the ones who do feel this way, screech about it, and so it becomes an impossible subset of the audience to ignore. Reading Twitter and comments sections rapidly becomes wince-inducing as certain members of the audience seem determined to mis-read the show-runner’s intent. Or simply refuse to regard prominent female characters with any degree of empathy.

Worse, even if the emotions are not as strong as I’ve stated; if say, someone simply dislikes the characters but does not truly loathe them, the language they use to express that discontent tends to veer towards either the ignorant or the straight-up misogynistic.

Women aren’t just “annoying” or “unlikeable” which is the terminology that gets slung around about male characters. No, women are “bitches”, “whores”, “sluts” or worse. And if Skyler or Betty or another female character don’t actually do anything morally skewed, the hateful will steer the conversation away from the content of the show or the behavior of the character, and begin running off a checklist of physical faults in the actress.

Why does this disconnect happen? Why are people willing to follow male anti-heroes into the darkest reaches of humanity, while refusing to give women even the slightest bit of moral latitude?
I think it boils down to two major camps, one sort-of understandable, one very much not. Let’s start with “Not”.

Walt wants to continue cooking meth. I think next episode he moves away to work with those new guys.