Skyler-hating, bad fans i team Walt. Próby zrozumienia fanowskiej recepcji „Breaking Bad”

Mateusz  Katner

Titles

Skyler-hating, bad fans i team Walt. Próby zrozumienia fanowskiej recepcji „Breaking Bad”

Abstract

Skyler-Hating, Bad Fans and Team Walt. The Attempt to Understand
the Fandom Reception of “Breaking Bad” TV Series

The creators of “Breaking Bad” series reached for various genres, both film (western, gangster cinema, crime drama, black comedy), and television (newsreel, music video, tv advertising), thus constructing the story of extreme sophistication, negotiating and de-constructing the myths of the American culture. The series got to be the global phenomenon, but its public reception was ambivalent. The showrunner Vince Gilligan’s idea was to narrate the story of the man whom all viewers are supporting at the beginning just to hate him at the end. Still, many viewers reacted contrarily to the creator’s expectations. The fans supporting the evil main character became called The Bad Fans and The Team Walt, while the widespread hatred against his wife (sabotaging her husband’s actions) was deemed The Skyler-Hating. The author of the article attempts to analyze the reasons and ethical implications of ambiguous interpretations of the series among fans.

Skyler-Hating, Bad Fans and Team Walt. The Attempt to Understand
the Fandom Reception of “Breaking Bad” TV Series

The creators of “Breaking Bad” series reached for various genres, both film (western, gangster cinema, crime drama, black comedy), and television (newsreel, music video, tv advertising), thus constructing the story of extreme sophistication, negotiating and de-constructing the myths of the American culture. The series got to be the global phenomenon, but its public reception was ambivalent. The showrunner Vince Gilligan’s idea was to narrate the story of the man whom all viewers are supporting at the beginning just to hate him at the end. Still, many viewers reacted contrarily to the creator’s expectations. The fans supporting the evil main character became called The Bad Fans and The Team Walt, while the widespread hatred against his wife (sabotaging her husband’s actions) was deemed The Skyler-Hating. The author of the article attempts to analyze the reasons and ethical implications of ambiguous interpretations of the series among fans.

Keywords

axiology, fandom, intertextuality, script, reception (of media)

References

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Information

Information: Media Research Issues, 2016, Volume 59, Issue 1 (225), pp. 96 - 107

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/2299-6362PZ.16.007.5184

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

Skyler-hating, bad fans i team Walt. Próby zrozumienia fanowskiej recepcji „Breaking Bad”

English:

Skyler-Hating, Bad Fans and Team Walt. The Attempt to Understand the Fandom Reception of „Breaking Bad” TV Series

Authors

Mateusz Katner

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Institute of Audiovisual Arts, Kraków
Poland

Published at: 29.06.2016

Article status: Open

Licence: None

Percentage share of authors:

Mateusz Katner (Author) - 100%

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

Polish

View count: 2190

Number of downloads: 1661

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