#TeamWalt

An Antihero, according to the dictionary, is a protagonist who lacks traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage. While uncontroversially applied to Swearengen, Draper and, of course, Soprano, whether it fits Walter White (or whether he is a hero or villian) is a matter of vicious dispute.

As it is, of course, far from unusual that the bad-ass anti-hero has a fan club, it is the vigor of the haters that is unparalleled (literally desperately hoping WW's innocent CP son is killed to punish him). For them, there is disappointment in the ending, the perverse identification of psycopathic Todd with #TeamWalt, the longstanding, odd, demand that Walt recognize himself as they see him, followed by desperation to take Walt's ambiguous "admission" as an expression of unvarnished Truth. In part, this reflects a convert's zeal -- we all started out on #TeamWalt -- but it would also seem that he is more dangerous, seductive, than his parallels.

Or, what comes to mind is "Subversive": The Mr Chips into Scarface arc; The show's writing belying its creators' insistence that they condemn Walt -- as if they were afraid to acknowledge their allegiances openly. There is honesty in the confession scene -- Walter admits, despite appearances (and, well, how its all turned out), he feels great and that breaking bad gave him life. Re-reading early episodes reminds us of the degree to which he wasn't only performing when he snarled "You never believed in me!"

We are also reminded of the degree to which Walt is explicitly portrayed as re-masculating himself -- in the finale, at long last, he is allowed to die like a man. Rather than any modern sort of machismo (through it all, Walt basically stays sexually faithful to Skyler), it [ironically] almost feels classically heroic: He struggles for recognition; He eschews redemption, or second chances, instead accepting (embracing?) consquences; He evolves from belief in a scientific indeterminism (uncertainty?) to accepting Fate. And, of course, the settling of accounts -- leaving closure to Skyler and Marie, life to Jesse and an inheritance for Walt Jr. The last scene in the lab may have been less Gollum with Precious than Achilles with his Shield and Spear (or, maybe, Steve Jobs with his Macintosh). While it is impossible to write about Breaking Bad without acknowledging that Walt was, himself, a cancer, it's also worth mentioning Gilligan's suggestion that Walt became "irredeemable" the moment he refused to accept charity.

Women Lawyers and Gay Marriage

Vault.com's most recent survey of nearly 17,000 law associates found that women's satisfaction "lagged behind their male counterparts... Just as worrisome... for men, satisfaction rises quite a bit throughout the sixth and seventh years, while women remain stagnant at their fifth-year low point... why is it happening? First, many female associates feel that it is impossible to have a family and make partner... The male partners almost all have children."

There are two, obvious, reasons for this gender imbalance.

First, people who have children will often find that they far prefer to spend time with their children than their clients. Acting on that natural preference is far more socially acceptable -- and therefore viable -- for women than men. This naturally leads to greater dissatisfaction among women with children who find themselves compelled purely by economics to work. And it leads to women blessed with economic flexibility to prioritize family above the demands of big-law partnership.

Second, male associates are more willing (and able) to find spouses satisfied with the inequitable division of domestic labor that big-law partnerships demand. A male associate with children whose spouse demands an equitable division of domestic labor will face some of the same obstacles to partnership as his female colleagues. While there may be cultural influences directing ambitious men towards spouses that, practically, support their ambition, the reverse is likely true of ambitious women.

In other words, if, within our culture, the purpose of marriage was "refocused", away from "the emotional needs and desires of... adult couples" and to "the raising of children", talented and ambitious female law associates might have a much easier time finding spouses willing to assume an inequitable division of domestic labor, and so not have to make the choice between work and family, and find themselves far more satisfied than they are today.

Purim II

Another set of prominent themes in the Megilla is nature (there is nothing supernatural in the text) and subversion (9:1).

By nature, in the story, men use the power of government to oppress women (1:20) and minorities (3:8). The Megilla portrays this nature as being subverted by the power of love (of adopted father for daughter and husband for wife), family (4:14) faith/community (4:16) and, not incidentally -- it's the name of the holiday -- chance, or fortune. While the power of government can be used to oppress, it cannot, in the end, be used to protect. Only the assertion of something like "stand your ground"/second amendment rights (8:11) can do that.

The most subversive teachings of Purim come from the Rabbis of the Talmud. They teach that the story of Purim resulted in acceptance of Halachic Law. In other words, that fidelity to the Law is not properly ground in either miracles or rational reflection. And their teaching that Purim will be one of the few holidays celebrated after the ultimate redemption, may be a lesson less about Purim than the nature of redemption.