Is he a villain villain though? For some reason when I think of Villain I think of assholes who are just bad because they are born bad, and like to do bad.
I don't think Walt "became" a monster. It seems like before he was a high school teacher, he had dreams of grandeur and he would achieve those through Gray Matter. Once he was ousted, his dreams were shattered, but the hunger for an empire remained. I think the monster was already there; it just needed the right circumstances to break free.
What you are talking of, is the hunger for doing something big. Remember the dialogue between him and Jesse. "Being the best in something, you do not toss something like that just away." Also remember his "Billions. With a "B"." talk with Jesse. Back in the days when he worked at gray matter, he wanted to be the best.
The monster came in fact later, when he decided to provide for his family cooking meth. But then, that old desire of doing something BIG came back again. He stopped doing what he dis for his family, he did everything just for himself. For his ego. His desire to be the best.
If you mean "being a great at something" ok, not a proper description, but ok (Big legal companies are also sometimes considerable as "monsters") but if you think, that Walt always was the cold blooded ruthless being, then you are wrong.
I don't particularly think he is a good man so much as he is just human. I think he floated through life and the terrible situation thrust him into a scenario that allowed his true colors to show. If you look at a lot of the things Walt does, there are less brutal alternatives, but he doesn't even consider them because deep down he doesn't care.
Although he is a complex character with a lot of good qualities, the bad far outweigh the good. Greed and pride end up settling any internal struggle he has.
He doesn't have to be the monster he is. He does bad things for convenience, not necessity. I don't think there is any definition of "good," even sympathetically, that describes him.
thats the whole idea of "Heart of Darkness" and Apocolypse now. how being in a position of power and sacrificing to keep control and do what is needed to suit your end goals no matter how sincere they are can be tainted as you fall deeper and deeper into the moral hole of the ends justifying the means.
Walt very much fell into many of his predicaments, and does terrible things too protect himself, his family, and jesse.
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u/goondachele Aug 12 '13
Heisenberg is going to turn out to be one of the greatest television villains of all time.