Dexter vs. Breaking Bad: The American Dream Ideal

The American Dream: Dexter vs. Breaking Bad

The concept of the American Dream has been around us since the foundation of America and is largely what forms it. This ideal embraces fundamental freedoms that are endowed to each person. It strives for freedom, opportunity, and entrepreneurship for all people. Two television series that incorporate this principle are Dexter and Breaking Bad. Dexter focuses on a blood splatter analyst named Dexter who works to find clues/evidence in crime scenes by day, and secretly is a vigilante serial killer by night. Breaking Bad encompasses a chemistry teacher named Walter White who finds out that he has contracted lung cancer and must find a way to pay for his medical bills. Given his expertise with chemical properties, he decides to cook and sell the illegal and hazardous drug, methamphetamine. Both television shows Breaking Bad and Dexter criticize and portray ideals of the American Dream in their sophisticated plots and character portrayals. A large aspect of the American Dream is to ‘dream big’. With both series, this concept is definitely represented well. In both circumstances, the protagonists in each show must cover up their devious ways to fit in and not be noticed by their surroundings. Walter does this by confining himself to his meth lab when he gets the free time in order to cook with his partner in crime, Jesse Pinkman. Dexter has to mask his acts of murder as well during his nighttime raids where he stalks his next malevolent victim. The average person just looking at Dexter and Walter from a general standpoint would not have a clue as to what their side jobs are. It is for this reason that the two shows do such worthy jobs of depicting the characters as underdogs with lifestyles that would go unseen by most individuals. The family life and its significance is another key component to look at in both of the series. The concept of a strong family is a vital part of