From Disincorporation to Rematerialization: Breaking Bad and the Life of Cash.
Global capitalism creates a culture of abstraction, described by Fredric Jameson as "a kind of cyberspace in which money capital has reached its ultimate dematerialization, as messages which pass instantaneously from one nodal point to another across the former material world." The "becoming informa...
| Publicado en: | Canadian Review of American Studies Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 196 - 213 |
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| Formato: | Film/TV Criticism and Review |
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University of Toronto Press
Winter2021
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=153092007&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 153092007 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00077720 CRA jtl: Canadian Review of American Studies issn: 00077720 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Winter2021 vid: 51 iid: 3 pid: 678 pub: University of Toronto Press artinfo: ui: 153092007 10.3138/cras-2020-011 ppf: 196 ppct: 17 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 185KB tig: atl: From Disincorporation to Rematerialization: Breaking Bad and the Life of Cash. aug: au: Conway, Joseph su: Breaking Bad (TV program) Television Television programs Capitalism Money Crime on television sug: subj: Breaking Bad (TV program) Television Television programs Capitalism Money Crime on television keyword: Breaking Bad capitalism cash Fredric Jameson Martin Shuster new television argent capitalisme nouvelle télévision ab: Global capitalism creates a culture of abstraction, described by Fredric Jameson as "a kind of cyberspace in which money capital has reached its ultimate dematerialization, as messages which pass instantaneously from one nodal point to another across the former material world." The "becoming information" of money has been celebrated by technophiles like David Wolman who contends paper money is now largely the stuff of "crooks and terrorists." And indeed, the capitalists at the centre of complex televisual crime sagas like Breaking Bad are continually frustrated by the recalcitrant materiality of their paper profits. Martin Shuster suggests that Breaking Bad amounts to a critique of Western science, specifically its tendency to "empty" the material world of meaning by prioritizing "instrumental" reason. I argue that the comical efforts of Walter White (the show's chemistry-teaching, drug-manufacturing protagonist) and other characters to control the unruly materialism of cash represents this failure of instrumental reason, whether expressed in chemical equations or prices, to achieve fully the "dematerialization," or what White calls the "disincorporation," of the world. Ultimately, the unmanageable corporeality of money allegorizes the persistence of non-capitalist, material desires in mass cultural products like Breaking Bad. Le capitalisme global crée une culture d'abstraction, décrite par Fredric Jameson comme étant « une sorte de cyberespace dans lequel le capital monétaire a atteint sa dématérialisation ultime, comme des messages qui passent instantanément d'un point nodal à un autre à travers le monde matériel antérieur ». L'« information en devenir » de l'argent a été célébrée par des technophiles comme David Wolman qui soutient que l'argent papier est maintenant surtout la matière « d'escroc et de terroristes ». Et, en effet, les capitalistes au centre de sagas criminelles télévisuelles complexes, comme Breaking Bad, sont continuellement frustrés par la matérialité récalcitrante de leurs profits papier. Martin Shuster suggère que Breaking Bad est une critique de la science occidentale, surtout sa tendance à « vider » le monde matériel de sens en priorisant la raison « instrumentale ». Je soutiens que les efforts comiques de Walter White (le protagoniste de l'émission qui enseigne la chimie et fabrique de la drogue) et d'autres personnages à contrôler le matérialisme indiscipliné de l'argent représentent cet échec de la raison instrumentale, qu'elle soit exprimée en équations chimiques ou en prix, pour entièrement atteindre la « dématérialisation », ou ce que White appelle la « dissolution » du monde. Au final, la corporalité ingérable de l'argent allégorise la persistance des désirs non capitalistes et matériaux de produits culturels de masse comme Breaking Bad. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Film/TV Criticism and Review src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Canadian Review of American Studies is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Canadian Review of American Studies holder: University of Toronto Press dt: @attributes: year: 2021 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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