\u201cBreaking Bad\u201d lead actor Bryan Cranston said he was humbled, delighted and slightly embarrassed to have statues of his character Walter White and supporting actor Aaron Paul\u2019s Jesse Pinkman unveiled inside the Albuquerque Convention Center last week.<\/p>\n
The actors were clearly in awe of the detailed work. Super fans warmly embraced these adopted favored sons, despite their fictional characters being methamphetamine makers and dealers.<\/p>\n
The show cuts close to New Mexico\u2019s real struggles with drug addiction, crime, poverty and unemployment. Too close for Republican state Rep. Rod Montoya of Farmington, who said the statues bring the wrong kind of attention. \u201cI\u2019m glad New Mexico got the business, but really?\u201d Montoya said. \u201cWe\u2019re going down the road of literally glorifying meth makers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Montoya\u2019s off on this one. The statues are not tributes to meth makers. The statues honor the people of Albuquerque. They represent the mutual benefit \u2013 the success of the show and the wide reach of its impact.<\/p>\n
Yes, gifts of statues are a little weird. But the statutes were well-received because New Mexicans lay claim to this show. And New Mexico became its own gritty, beautiful and complicated character in \u201cBreaking Bad.\u201d The state\u2019s cultures and bold, luminous colors were shared around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaking Bad\u201d follows White, a high school chemistry teacher who learns he has cancer. White teams with Pinkman, a former student, to make meth to provide a nest egg for White\u2019s family. The cinematography is artful, the writing masterful in the development of characters, especially protagonist White. Viewers are conditioned to empathize with him along the narrative arc that brings White to becoming irredeemable. White is like a sun with every other character affected by his light and shadows. Families become undone.<\/p>\n
Nothing there to glorify in this cautionary tale of consequences of choices, and murky lines of good and evil. White and Pinkman have deeply conflicting feelings for each other as business partners, friends and enemies. The characters are tragic figures.<\/p>\n
While the show is fictional, \u201cJobs are real every single day,\u201d said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.<\/p>\n
On Twitter, Keller wrote: \u201cThe positive impact that the cast and crew of \u2018Breaking Bad\u2019 have had on our economy and film industry can\u2019t be minimized. The franchise has had over $385 million in economic impact, helped elevate local businesses, and employed over 200 locals per episode.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t argue with this. Casting and production calls energized the city. Most everyone in Albuquerque knew someone who had a hand in \u201cBreaking Bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaking Bad\u201d was originally set to shoot in California, but New Mexico\u2019s film production rebate between 25% and 35% for in-state spending sealed the deal. For the fiscal year ending in June, that spending peaked at $855 million. Colorado offers 20%.<\/p>\n
Much of Netflix\u2019 \u201cStranger Things\u201d was filmed in New Mexico. B.J. Novak of \u201cThe Office\u201d fame filmed a lot of \u201cVengeance\u201d in New Mexico. That\u2019s not all Texas there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaking Bad\u201d is absurd and darkly funny, and locals were in on the joke. For example, \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d doughnuts at one bakery were topped with sugar resembling the show\u2019s fictional blue meth as a salute to the series ending. To each his own on taste and humor. Albuquerque loved \u201cBreaking Bad.\u201d \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d loved it right back.<\/p>\n
Now streaming on Netflix, the show aired on AMC from January 2008 to September 2013, with five seasons and 62 episodes.<\/p>\n
Series creator Vince Gilligan commissioned the statues with sculptor Trevor Grove and, along with Sony Pictures, donated the art as a thank you for the city\u2019s hospitality. And Albuquerqueans couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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