While pondering a topic for this week’s See Jane Clack, I was struck by the number of shows featuring characters who turn to unscrupulous or illegal means to make a living. These are tough times, but would I turn to selling pot, prostituting myself, or becoming a drug kingpin to make a living? Probably not. I’m too much of a chicken.
Still … with a family to feed, and no other immediate way to pay the mortgage and buy groceries, some of these options do have their appeal.
These folks are not that much different from the rest of us. Their connecting link is that they’ve all experienced a life trauma that’s made them desperate, and/or fearless. It’s stuff that could happen to any one of us. Lives and luck can turn in a split second.
Breaking Bad‘s Walter White started out as a chemistry teacher, who was given two years to live, thanks to a diagnosis of Stage III cancer. Maybe he figured he wasn’t going to live anyway, so why not just dive into a life of crime and make sure his family is secure after his death?
Hung‘s Ray Drecker is a down-and-out high school basketball coach. After his wife leaves him, and his house burns down, he figures, what the heck? Why not use his best asset to try and turn things around? Blame it on a self-help seminar where he starts to view that particular body part differently. It’s not just a cool thing for a guy to have; it could be a moneymaking machine.
And then there’s Weeds‘ Nancy Botwin. When her husband dies, leaving her to raise her kids alone in suburbia, selling pot seems like a viable option. Sure, she’s gone down a path of no return now, having burned her house down, moved south, and gotten herself impregnated with a Mexican drug lord’s baby. But let’s face it. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Check out my Weeds reviews over at TV Squad.
I look forward to your thoughts on these shows and characters. Would YOU turn to illegal means to support your family? And what other shows am I missing with similar storylines?
Clacked by Jane Boursaw 
on Jul 16, 2009 @ 18:00 EST5EDT
Not a question. Prostitute myself to high end clients. They never seem to spend much time in jail. No drug sales for me.
I to would be a whore. You can sleep with the politicians and blackmail them. :)
Hehe… I knew you’d write this. I was biking yesterday and thinking about writing this and thought if I’m not doing it, Jane will :-D
*POST AUTHOR*
Sebastian – Oh, you know me so well! :-)