I thought this new infographic is cool and worth sharing. I often wonder about stuff like this; regarding where some of my favorite movies and TV shows are actually filmed.
Many years ago, my wife and I visited New Zealand, the country where Lord of the Rings was filmed.
If you asked me now what my favorite TV show of all time is, I would say #3 would be The Office, #2 would be Lost, and #1 would be Breaking Bad.
The infographic shows the places in Albuquerque the show was filmed.
They believe that the characters, like Walter White, who began selling meth to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, should have no place in a “kids’” toy store.
Appropriately, or should I say inappropriately, the Walter White action figure comes with a bag of meth as one of his accessories.
I get it that that’s not something I would want my nearly 4 year-old son playing with.
However, I wanted to explore the situation to make sure there’s not a double standard in place here…
In other words, if certain parents are concerned over Breaking Bad action figures, does that mean they’re okay with other toys that are currently being sold there and have been being sold there?
Let’s take a look at what I found…
Near the front of the store are the video games. As you can see, several of them have the “M for Mature” rating, containing profanity, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, drugs, gore, and violence.
As far as other action figures, Toys “R” Us also sells The Walking Dead (which is another popular show from AMC) in which you can run over a zombie with a motorcycle, Game of Thrones (which I hear is full of nudity), Chucky (a violent, possessed doll) and Friday the 13th (featuring the popular serial killer, Jason Voorhies).
Notice all the weapons here too; all currently for sale at Toys “R” Us. Granted, there is an indicator on each of these packages to tell you what age is appropriate for a child to have the toy.
But still, if we are to find these toys offensive anyway, I suppose the age indicator is slightly irrelevant.
Please note that these toys are in the same aisle as WWE wrestling action figures and Ninja Turtles.
Which, speaking of…
I quickly saw the slippery slope here…
The age indicator tells me that Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and GI Joe are all appropriate for children under the age of 10.
So I suppose the weapons are excusable because they are used to fight the bad guys… though you can just as easily buy them too, along with their weapons.
I feel like I’m definitely seeing some double standards here. This is my understanding:
There are people who are upset about Breaking Bad action figures being carried at Toys “R” Us because that glorifies drugs and violence.
However, Toys “R” Us has been selling video games that contain profanity, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, drugs and violence that is easily arguably much worse that what is featured in the series Breaking Bad.
An action figure is just a representation; whereas a video game actually shows the content on the TV screen.
You can’t buy the Breaking Bad DVD series at Toys “R” Us, but you can buy these video games show here.
Not to mention, our society quickly dismisses the toy weapons of characters which cater towards children, in the name of self-defense and military.
If we should be offended Breaking Bad, shouldn’t we also be offended by the other stuff too, to some degree? Where do we cross the line? Apparently, with a bag of meth as an accessory… but not all this other stuff.
Spoiler Alert: Contains some minor revelations of how Breaking Bad ends.
Dear Jack,
This was a special week in the world of Netflix as people who are too cheap to pay for cable or satellite (or iTunes) were able to see the final 8 episodes of Breaking Bad.
I managed to watch them all over 3 nights; Wednesday night I only slept 4 hours in anticipation of seeing what happened, in the end, to Walter White, the terminally ill high school science teacher turned meth dealer who wanted to provide a living for his family after he was gone.
It is true I only slept for 4 hours last night, but as of 4 hours ago, I can now officially say I’ve seen every episode of Breaking Bad. #sleepinginthecarduringmylunchbreaktoday
One of the reasons this show is so captivating is that it capitalizes on the thin line between good and evil, as well as the gradual breakdown of a “good man’s” morals, under the guise of “doing something wrong but for the right reasons.”
It’s fascinating, as a spectator of the demise, to find myself rooting for the anti-hero up until nearly the final episode; despite the fact he literally destroyed (and ended) more lives than I would care to count.
The fact that I was privately hoping he didn’t get caught reveals something about my own damaged sense of morality. It shows me that even in the smallest, unidentifiable ways, I can be wrong and be convinced I’m right.
Ultimately, Breaking Bad is a story about a man who gains the whole world, yet loses his soul.
When I say that he loses his soul, what I mean is that what mattered to him more than anything (at least, at first) was his family, and he lost them:
In the end, Walter White’s teenage son outright hates him; even changing his name to Flynn, from Walt Jr.; a subtle way to detach himself from his father, as he watches his father become preoccupied with his work, compensating with gifts, but not regular quality time.
Walter White’s marriage remains in tact only in a legal and business sense. And his infant daughter will grow up knowing her father only as a murderous drug dealer.
That’s just the damage he did to his immediate family…
However, he did manage to (illegally and off the radar) leave his family (via his son) millions of dollars ($9.72 million, to be exact) to live off for the rest of their lives.
One question that the final episode proposed to me was, what kid would choose millions of “dirty” dollars from a father they despised… over having a father who truly cared about them and loved them with all his heart, though he didn’t leave them much money behind?
To me, it’s a no-brainer.
There’s a good chance I’ll never be able to leave you with millions of dollars, but I can love you with all my heart. I know that’s what you’d rather have anyway.
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 