Paul Johnson, one of our newest faculty members, publishes an article in Critical Studies in Media Communication Journal

Dr. Paul Johnson’s essay “Walter White(ness) Lashes: Breaking Bad and Male Victimage is out in the newest issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication. Examining the popular, award-winning television show and the media’s reception of it, Johnson demonstrates that the show’s popularity and acclaim derive in part from the way the show functioned as an allegory for American political upheaval underway during the show’s run. Part of the show’s appeal was that it could lionize and champion the idea of white, masculine labor at a safe distance from ongoing political events. With the 2008 financial crisis and a multi-racial president threatening white masculinity’s position of power, consumers and critics who praised the show tacitly helped rehabilitate white masculinity’s tarnished reputation.

Citation: Paul Elliott Johnson (2016): Walter White(ness) lashes out:Breaking Bad and male victimage, Critical Studies in Media Communication