...he didn’t misspell “narcissistic.”

This is a long-winded piece wherein Juzwiak tries to squeeze something juicy out of an artist who’d like to talk about her music.

In my mind, Ndegeocello occupies a zone that is so cool, so individuated, so aesthetically nuanced, that listening to her music, her words in interviews, seeing her performances, is a kind of master class in artistic authenticity. Meshell, you are flat-out sublime.

Great article. I freelance but I’m occasionally offered longer-term contract jobs and, when it comes to discussing salary, I sometimes have a hard time figuring out that point at which I’m willing to walk away.

I remember having this argument with my boyfriend at the time, Walt can say he’s doing this for his family all he wants, but he’s lying. He’s doing this for himself, in some misguided attempt to reclaim power he felt was taken from him in that Gray Matter situation. I felt so vindicated in that kitchen scene in the…

I’m shocked that this is even something you’d need to argue with people. I sort of felt like the WHOLE POINT of the series is that Walt really isn’t a great guy even before he’s a meth dealer. Finding out he has cancer just gives him an excuse to live like the raging narcissist he’s always been on the inside.

Yeah, I think you misunderstood “Breaking Bad”. Maybe look up the definition ‘anti-hero’.

Agreed - Carmela was complicit from the beginning, her and Tony grew up one another and she enjoyed the spoils of mob life as much as he did. Skylar married a school teacher who morphed into a drug kingpin behind her back.

I can’t count how many times I’ve pointed out to people that Breaking Bad could have ended after Episode 2 if Walt actually gave a shit about his family. It’s amazing how many fans completely missed the “I did it for me” part.

In no way does Breaking Bad want you to see Walt as a hero. Pride and selfishness are behind every decision he makes practically and they have no problem making the audience aware of that. All the illness did was free his darker impulses under the guise of having nothing left to lose.

Total agreement on Skylar White but you lost me with Carmela Soprano. She’s not Tony levels of immoral obviously but the show was pretty great at showing varying degrees of culpability in its non-Mob characters. Carmela had the opportunity to do the right thing on numerous occasions and chose not too. The most blunt…

We never even got past episode 2 of Breaking Bad because of Skyler. Wait, so she wants you to get cancer treatment and stop selling drugs? THAT BITCH.

The mom from My So Called Life. She is running the family business even though it’s maybe not her calling. Letting her lame-assed husband flail around trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up even though he’s already fucking grown up and has two kids that will need some financial support as they…

I never understood the hate for her. I thought she was freaking amazing - doing what she has to do to survive... She was the only character that I didn’t hate.

Carmela was complicit in the whole thing, don’t compare Skyler to her. Carmela knew what Tony was when she met him, when she started dating him, when she married him, when she had kids with him. She knew where the money and the house and the cars and all of that came from. She was right there for everything, and when…

From what I’ve read, Vince Gilligan and the writers were shocked people thought Walter was a hero and demonized Skylar- we were supposed to hate him and support her! Sure Skylar waffled a bit on whether to enable him or reject him but damn, give a woman a break.

I never thought of Walter as a hero. Part of that was that he may have been initially motivated by the right things but he never acted with any sort of decisiveness or resolve. The other part was definitely that he was an asshole to his wife and son, the people who were supposedly benefiting from his actions. He’s the…

I know. I have only been able to convince one person of this. Like he could have had cancer treatment paid for by his friend but he was too “proud” to accept it. He just wanted to sell drugs because he was like fuck it, I’m dying now I can just be the bastard I have always wanted to be.

Anna Gunn who played her was reviled by fans.

I could not get into breaking bad because of how White treated his wife. He was a garbage person from the jump, and we’re supposed to see him as this hero who takes on the burden of illness by himself by selling drugs. Fuck off Walter. Sorry you got cancer but you’re not an awesome husband(or even decent) for lying to…