Last week, I drew comparisons between Breaking Bad’s protagonist Walter White, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov and Albert Camus’ Meursault. This week, to touch on a different theme present in AMC’s hit drama, I want to examine Walt in relation to another one of my favorite fictional characters: Gordon Gekko.

Gekko is the antagonist of the film Wall Street, a vicious stockbroker known for his famous quote, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” In a manner similar to Walter White, Gordon Gekko instills fear in his enemies through his wealth, power, and confidence.

Both Gekko and White began their careers with some sort of setback- nothing was given to them; they had little money and little experience in the craft they would soon master. However, both through spurious and questionable morals, they became kings of their respective domains: White as a meth drug lord through robbery and murder, Gekko as a Wall Street king through insider trading.

Both men, once at the top, were never satisfied. They always wanted more. In one episode, Walt tells his assistant Jesse, “You asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I’m in the empire business.” Similarly, Gekko tells his assistant, Bud Fox, “It’s all about bucks, kid.”

Yes, both alpha males are struck by man’s two biggest curses: greed and the need for power. In the beginning of Breaking Bad, Walt justifies his meth cooking as a way to pay for his cancer treatment- a comparably petty sum of 700,000 dollars. By the fifth season, with fifty million dollars stored away in a safe house, Walt wants more, and more, and more. He acknowledges that there is no way to either spend or launder so much money, and thus the cash is rendered essentially useless. Still, the sense of power and control that money brings Walt is too much to turn down.

In one pivotal scene, he drives a truck full of millions of dollars into the desert- seemingly to be buried. The cinematography of Walt covering his money with dirt in the middle of nowhere suggests this act is comparable to a funeral. As such, the symbolism asserts that by burying his money, Walt is in fact throwing away his life, or saying goodbye to one he once had. While the truth of that statement is debatable, it effectively demonstrates the extent to which greed controls one’s life.

Last year, I read Albert Camus’ The Stranger. It’s a haunting novel demonstrating the philosophies of absurdism and nihilism through its main character Meursault. Meursault begins as a law-abiding citizen, but when his mother dies we witness his transformation into a man who kills, steals and lies with no second thoughts. However, he’s not a hardened criminal. In fact, far from it: he simply does as he pleases, with no second thoughts. By the climax of the novel, he sees no point or purpose in the world- he solely exists to exist.

I have witnessed many parallels between The Stranger and “Breaking Bad”, namely in Walt’s evolution from a passive high school chemistry teacher to a hardened meth kingpin. In both The Stranger and “Breaking Bad”, a singular event triggered this change. In Camus’ novel, Meursault’s mother died, leading him to question the purpose of his existence in the world. And in “Breaking Bad”, Walt is diagnosed with cancer and immediately begins cooking meth. But while Meursault’s evolution is fueled primarily by nihilistic sentiments- he feels that the laws of society are absurd, and simply fails to follow them- Walter White’s actions are driven by pragmatism, as he begins his drug operation to provide money for his family.

Still, both White and Meursault do exhibit nihilistic tendencies. In one instance Walt agrees when his coworker states that there are two types of crimes, those that break the law and those that hurt someone. Because cooking meth doesn’t directly hurt someone- though that could certainly be argued against- it’s not really breaking the law. He employs a utilitarian technique by reasoning that by “breaking” one law, he’s helping his entire family with financial support. With that justification, he finds himself above the law.

Similarly, in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the protagonist, Raskolnikov, warrants slaying his pawnbroker for a similar reason: she was unpopular, and thus he committed the murder for the greater good. Therefore, like the great literary heroes before him, Walter White demonstrates both nihilistic and utilitarian propensities in order to rationalize his highly illegal acts.

Lets talk about meth.

So far, I’ve watched almost three seasons of “Breaking Bad” in the past three weeks. If I continue, I should be able to catch up by the time of the season five – and series – finale.

My most profound observation through these first three seasons, other than the fact that this is a great show, is that drugs, particularly Crystal Meth, are not just popularized, but glorified.

Methamphetamine, or Crystal Meth, is a very dangerous drug. It can rapidly cause weight loss, brain damage, and even death. Meth is often produced in shady, makeshift “labs” using industrial and pharmaceutical products, the majority of which can be bought over the counter at your local CVS. Meth is a cheap drug, and thus appeals to lower income individuals and often correlates with high crime.

However, in the world of “Breaking Bad”, meth is presented entirely differently. The drug, especially that created by Walter White’s magical formula, seems to have no negative side effects- only a euphoric, sometimes weeklong high. By the half waypoint of season three, Walt is “cooking” from a technologically advanced, pristine, and state of the art lab- hardly the run down trailer park workrooms the drug frequently connotes.

The popularity of meth is also vastly overstated in the show. Only 502,000 Americans were using crystal in 2009, a number that is on the decline each year. In “Breaking Bad”, everyone in the greater Albuquerque area wants a piece of Walt’s product – from strung out addicts to teenage gas station clerks.

Because of these discrepancies, I feel that “Breaking Bad”, despite its secure spot as television’s most popular show, may be detrimental to the way society views harmful drugs, especially our youth. Meth is not pot: it’s an extremely dangerous, unnatural and proven killer. But, according to the show, it’s simply a way to make a lot of money. Walt’s lab assistant, Gale, even says, “there are crimes, and then there are crimes,” suggesting that cooking meth is simply a harmless pursuit of his libertarian lifestyle.

I don’t think “Breaking Bad” is giving the American people the wrong idea about drugs. The show is, after all, just that: a fictional show. But, to the uneducated and ignorant few, it seems possible that “Breaking Bad” paints an eerily inaccurate picture of a destructive product.