Becoming the One Who Knocks
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correct a previous subordinating social Situation (M esserschm idt, Nine
Lives 13).
For many men that feel disenfranchised by their position in
society, criminality may provide an outlet for reclaiming power and
Status. Individuals that engage in criminal activities, especially those
associated with Street culture, are inculcated with “a set o f informal rules
governing interpersonal public behavior, particularly violence [;]” a
socializing process Elijah Anderson defines as the “code o f the Street”
(33). Anderson argues that “at the heart o f the code is the issue o f
respect— loosely defined as being treated ‘right’ or being granted one’s
‘props’ (or proper dues) or the deference one deserves” (33). Many
individuals that are prohibited from the veneration they desire
circumvent the institutionalized means for conventional success and
appropriate respect and Status through violence. In this sense, the code o f
the Street is implemented as a methodology for alleviating strain and
alienation effectuated by various social structures that impede an
individual’s ambition. The drug trade indubitably reinforces the code o f
the Street and constructs a deviant masculinity authenticated by
aggression. Fiona Hutton suggests that drug dealing “can be considered
as located within a distinct subcultural world o f meaning and
interactions, underpinned by the concept o f ‘hegemonic masculinity”
(546). These illegal activities, Hutton argues, invent a masculine ideal
“stressing toughness, machismo, aggression and smartness. In the
cultural setting o f drug dealing, this is the accepted masculine ideal; to be
tough, aggressive and smart” (546).
Unable to achieve the dominant notions o f conventional
masculinity— i.e., wealth, appreciation and eminence— W alter enters the
drug trade and embraces deviant constructions o f masculinity that
demand Status through violence. Anderson argues that conceptions o f
criminal masculinity derive from the “widespread belief that one o f the
most effective ways o f gaining respect is to manifest nerve. A man
shows nerve by taking another person’s possessions, messing with
someone’s woman, throwing the first punch, ‘getting in someone’s face,’
or pulling a trigger” (92). M uch o f Breaking Bad presents W alter with a
task o f manifesting such nerve in adveree environments, which, in tum,
allow him to reclaim his lost masculinity and find a sense o f gratification
by overpowering and outsmarting individuals that maintain a higher
Status. In “A Crazy Handful o f Nothin,” for example, the audience
witnesses W alter achieve a seemingly orgasmic release after bombing