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"But I guess a show making that particular social critique isn’t going to get funded by a major studio or tech company." You've never heard of Breaking Bad? Mo

"But I guess a show making that particular social critique isn’t going to get funded by a major studio or tech company." You've never heard of Breaking Bad? More recently, Emily the Criminal is an absolutely superb movie and great example of exactly this - Aubrey Plaza's best role in fact. ""Saddled with student debt and unable to find work, a college graduate becomes involved in a credit card scam, acting as a dummy shopper and buying increasingly risky products with stolen credit cards."" For the medical debt angle, the macabre and outrageous 'Repo Man'(2010) is a pitch-dark and fascinating examination of the end-game of medical insurance. ""Set in the near future when artificial organs can be bought on credit, it revolves around a man who struggles to make the payments on a heart he has purchased.""

dragonwriter 2y ago
> You've never heard of Breaking Bad? Breaking Bad does not feature medical debt, or even medical costs that fhe character does not have ready access to funds to pay. It does feature hubris, the traditional central feature of tragedy, though.
- tarentel 2y ago
  It's been a while since I watched it and I'm pretty sure he wasn't in debt but I thought the reason he decided to do it was to help pay for the treatment so he didn't go in debt and to leave a nest egg behind for his family when he died. It may not be exactly what the OP stated but it's a pretty similar situation.
  - azemetre 2y ago
    That’s the reason he states but he was given multiple opportunities and chances to have his medical care covered for but opted for continually selling drugs instead. Every goal he wanted (getting enough money to pay for college for his children, paying living expenses for a decade, etc) he met and still continued. He even says so in the last episode, he did it because it made him feel alive.
    - croon 2y ago
      He absolutely becomes that person by the end, but it's unclear whether it would have happened were it not for mountainous medical expenses for treatment.
      - derektank 2y ago
        Elliot Schwartz offers to pay for all of Walter's medical treatments in episode 5 and Gretchen does the same in episode 6 of season 1. The show is about pride, not desperation
        Clamchop 2y ago
        I think it's about megalomania. Walter White is entertaining but deplorable.
        Tainnor 2y ago
        True, but government provided affordable healthcare is different from charity. Turning down your friends' donations out of pride is one thing, refusing your healthcare provider covering your expenses I would find hard to believe.
        croon 2y ago
        I'm not convinced that changes my point. Whether you look at it as an excuse to become that person or not, the excuse would not exist in an alternate version where healthcare was not ruinously expensive.
  - jccalhoun 2y ago
    I watched the first 4 or so episodes and got to the one where the rich friend offered to pay for everything but he declined. I was like "this guy's an ass." and didn't have any motivation to keep watching.
    - nancyminusone 2y ago
      You have understood the point correctly then.
  - dragonwriter 2y ago
    > but I thought the reason he decided to do it was to help pay for the treatment so he didn't go in debt and to leave a nest egg behind for his family The initial diagnosis is that it is terminal and without useful treatment options and his rationalization for cooking meth is to leave a nest egg. The high cost treatment comes up later and he immediately turns down an offer of no-strings payment in favor of cooking more meth to pay for it (Epsiodes 4-5). The only medical service he pays for out of drug money before turning down the offer to pay for all treatment is the initial evaluation with the highly-rated oncologists that his wife schedules on her own without a clear plan of how they’ll pay for it from which the treatment plan originates.
- rs999gti 2y ago
  > Breaking Bad does not feature medical debt, or even medical costs But it is the story of a father doing everything possible to make sure his family is taken care of after he is gone.
  - nilamo 2y ago
    "Everything" except allowing help from the people who want to help, I suppose.
  - triceratops 2y ago
    Found Gus Fring's account.
- brandall10 2y ago
  "Walter, diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, conspires with Jesse to cook crystal meth to pay for his treatment and provide financial security for his family." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
  - azemetre 2y ago
    Watch the show. He is given multiple opportunities to walk away while getting everything he wants but continues making meth because he is an arrogant man. All the despicable actions he did during the show (watching his partners GF OD and not intervening, running over two people with a car, poisoning a child, letting a child get murdered, collaborating with neo nazis, and selling Jesse into slavery) were not done to help his family but for his own selfish gains. That’s like the entire point of the show, selfish man wants his own nut at the cost of his loved ones.
    - lawn 2y ago
      He started out on that path because of the medical issues, but it's absolutely true that he continued it because of selfish reasons (that grow larger until the very end of the show). Admittedly, the focus on debt was very small. The Korean shows put a lot more emphasis on it.
    - brandall10 2y ago
      I've seen it three times beginning to end, most recently during the pandemic. I get his evolution as a character as that's the primary theme, but it never would even be a thing is he didn't have cancer. You remove this factor, no Heisenberg. Full stop.
      - azemetre 2y ago
        meh, you see this is where I disagree. We know how slighted Walter feels about leaving Gray Matter. A company that only succeeded due to his ideas. He wanted something himself to control, the cancer was just a catalyst. If it wasn't that it would have been something else.
throw_m239339 2y ago
> For the medical debt angle, the macabre and outrageous 'Repo Man'(2010) is a pitch-dark and fascinating examination of the end-game of medical insurance. I really hate the twist ending in that movie. Please, screenwriters stop doing that, it ceased to be original like 30 years ago. Aside from the ending, good movie.
sudosteph 2y ago
I'll have to check out Emily the Criminal, because I'm convinced her best role was as Lenny in Legion.
pavel_lishin 2y ago
Repo Men is the 2010 film; Repo Man is the 1984 one. To stay on topic, Repo! The Generic Opera (2008) is another film - a musical, even! - that covers a very similiar topic. Zydrate comes in a little glass vial...

dragonwriter 2y ago

> You've never heard of Breaking Bad? Breaking Bad does not feature medical debt, or even medical costs that fhe character does not have ready access to funds to pay. It does feature hubris, the traditional central feature of tragedy, though.

tarentel 2y ago
It's been a while since I watched it and I'm pretty sure he wasn't in debt but I thought the reason he decided to do it was to help pay for the treatment so he didn't go in debt and to leave a nest egg behind for his family when he died. It may not be exactly what the OP stated but it's a pretty similar situation.
- azemetre 2y ago
  That’s the reason he states but he was given multiple opportunities and chances to have his medical care covered for but opted for continually selling drugs instead. Every goal he wanted (getting enough money to pay for college for his children, paying living expenses for a decade, etc) he met and still continued. He even says so in the last episode, he did it because it made him feel alive.
  - croon 2y ago
    He absolutely becomes that person by the end, but it's unclear whether it would have happened were it not for mountainous medical expenses for treatment.
    - derektank 2y ago
      Elliot Schwartz offers to pay for all of Walter's medical treatments in episode 5 and Gretchen does the same in episode 6 of season 1. The show is about pride, not desperation
      - Clamchop 2y ago
        I think it's about megalomania. Walter White is entertaining but deplorable.
      - Tainnor 2y ago
        True, but government provided affordable healthcare is different from charity. Turning down your friends' donations out of pride is one thing, refusing your healthcare provider covering your expenses I would find hard to believe.
      - croon 2y ago
        I'm not convinced that changes my point. Whether you look at it as an excuse to become that person or not, the excuse would not exist in an alternate version where healthcare was not ruinously expensive.
- jccalhoun 2y ago
  I watched the first 4 or so episodes and got to the one where the rich friend offered to pay for everything but he declined. I was like "this guy's an ass." and didn't have any motivation to keep watching.
  - nancyminusone 2y ago
    You have understood the point correctly then.
- dragonwriter 2y ago
  > but I thought the reason he decided to do it was to help pay for the treatment so he didn't go in debt and to leave a nest egg behind for his family The initial diagnosis is that it is terminal and without useful treatment options and his rationalization for cooking meth is to leave a nest egg. The high cost treatment comes up later and he immediately turns down an offer of no-strings payment in favor of cooking more meth to pay for it (Epsiodes 4-5). The only medical service he pays for out of drug money before turning down the offer to pay for all treatment is the initial evaluation with the highly-rated oncologists that his wife schedules on her own without a clear plan of how they’ll pay for it from which the treatment plan originates.
rs999gti 2y ago
> Breaking Bad does not feature medical debt, or even medical costs But it is the story of a father doing everything possible to make sure his family is taken care of after he is gone.
- nilamo 2y ago
  "Everything" except allowing help from the people who want to help, I suppose.
- triceratops 2y ago
  Found Gus Fring's account.
brandall10 2y ago
"Walter, diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, conspires with Jesse to cook crystal meth to pay for his treatment and provide financial security for his family." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
- azemetre 2y ago
  Watch the show. He is given multiple opportunities to walk away while getting everything he wants but continues making meth because he is an arrogant man. All the despicable actions he did during the show (watching his partners GF OD and not intervening, running over two people with a car, poisoning a child, letting a child get murdered, collaborating with neo nazis, and selling Jesse into slavery) were not done to help his family but for his own selfish gains. That’s like the entire point of the show, selfish man wants his own nut at the cost of his loved ones.
  - lawn 2y ago
    He started out on that path because of the medical issues, but it's absolutely true that he continued it because of selfish reasons (that grow larger until the very end of the show). Admittedly, the focus on debt was very small. The Korean shows put a lot more emphasis on it.
  - brandall10 2y ago
    I've seen it three times beginning to end, most recently during the pandemic. I get his evolution as a character as that's the primary theme, but it never would even be a thing is he didn't have cancer. You remove this factor, no Heisenberg. Full stop.
    - azemetre 2y ago
      meh, you see this is where I disagree. We know how slighted Walter feels about leaving Gray Matter. A company that only succeeded due to his ideas. He wanted something himself to control, the cancer was just a catalyst. If it wasn't that it would have been something else.

throw_m239339 2y ago

> For the medical debt angle, the macabre and outrageous 'Repo Man'(2010) is a pitch-dark and fascinating examination of the end-game of medical insurance. I really hate the twist ending in that movie. Please, screenwriters stop doing that, it ceased to be original like 30 years ago. Aside from the ending, good movie.

sudosteph 2y ago

I'll have to check out Emily the Criminal, because I'm convinced her best role was as Lenny in Legion.

pavel_lishin 2y ago

Repo Men is the 2010 film; Repo Man is the 1984 one. To stay on topic, Repo! The Generic Opera (2008) is another film - a musical, even! - that covers a very similiar topic. Zydrate comes in a little glass vial...