I Have a Character Issue - NYT op-ed by Anna Gunn

[LittleBlue]

11. Walter is a hugely sympathetic character

Dying of cancer, the man who is stepped over his whole life, trying to make something of himself before the end. Not just to provide for his family after his death, but to complete his metamorphosis from beaten down little guy Walter to the powerful Heisenberg.

My sister watches the show and we discuss it. She gets angry watching Skyler, often telling me "what a b*tch". My sister thinks Walter should divorce her, kill off her character, and that Walter should find someone new. I go to great lengths to explain why she is so important to the show.

Skyler is a great character because she creates so much hatred for the way she treats Walter. Sometimes you have to take a step back and realize that the character is fueling emotion, and good characters create even negative emotions. One of the most hated movie characters of my era is Commodus from Gladiator. People absolutely despise him: cowardly, incestuous, treacherous. And it isn't just that he is these things, it's also because he torments such a noble character in Maximus. My friend told me that he hated Commodus, that Joaquin Phoenix almost ruined Gladiator for him. I had to tell him that Commodus made Gladiator the success that it is.

Really, it is a credit to the writers and also Ms Gun that she can create so much dislike for her character. I think Anna misinterprets the role that her writers set for her character. She isn't supposed to be sympathetic, or at least if that's what the writers originally had in mind, it backfired into something wonderful.