Breaking Bad
Vince Gilligan, the man who gave us "Breaking Bad", did an interview, and I'm going to keep his statement on the issue of people rooting for the bad guy Walter White.
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"I’m certainly glad viewers did connect with Walter White. In the early days of the series -- when I was at my most foolish -- I deliberately tried to make Walter White so unlikeable that his behavior would shed viewers. In hindsight, I think that was extraordinarily dumb of me, but I have to admit that by the end of the series, I myself did not have a whole lot of sympathy for Walter White. For me, he had gotten too dark to empathize with, which is not to say viewers should all feel the same way I do. I’m glad viewers still rooted for him up till the end and wanted him to live. Hell, even my mom did! And if you knew her, you’d be pretty shocked she would root for a guy like that. I think Walter White was smart, active, willful -- and that’s what we look for in our heroes. The fact that he was engaged in some pretty heinous criminal behavior might have been a bit beside the point. He nonetheless had many other qualities that we deem heroic in fiction. Maybe that’s why people stuck with him. Certainly people stuck with Walter White because he was played by the astoundingly talented Bryan Cranston, who remains constantly watchable no matter what character he is playing."
-- Vince Gilligan
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Well, he was a cancer patient who, at first, just wanted to make some money for his family before he died. That is pretty fucking sympathetic. And he was highly intelligent - genius-level intelligent - which is always an impressive superpower. The dark side of his character seemed to grow gradually, and we were addicted to the show by the time he became somewhat monstrous.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
"I’m certainly glad viewers did connect with Walter White. In the early days of the series -- when I was at my most foolish -- I deliberately tried to make Walter White so unlikeable that his behavior would shed viewers. In hindsight, I think that was extraordinarily dumb of me, but I have to admit that by the end of the series, I myself did not have a whole lot of sympathy for Walter White. For me, he had gotten too dark to empathize with, which is not to say viewers should all feel the same way I do. I’m glad viewers still rooted for him up till the end and wanted him to live. Hell, even my mom did! And if you knew her, you’d be pretty shocked she would root for a guy like that. I think Walter White was smart, active, willful -- and that’s what we look for in our heroes. The fact that he was engaged in some pretty heinous criminal behavior might have been a bit beside the point. He nonetheless had many other qualities that we deem heroic in fiction. Maybe that’s why people stuck with him. Certainly people stuck with Walter White because he was played by the astoundingly talented Bryan Cranston, who remains constantly watchable no matter what character he is playing."
-- Vince Gilligan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, he was a cancer patient who, at first, just wanted to make some money for his family before he died. That is pretty fucking sympathetic. And he was highly intelligent - genius-level intelligent - which is always an impressive superpower. The dark side of his character seemed to grow gradually, and we were addicted to the show by the time he became somewhat monstrous.