The bronze statues of the iconic characters of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman from the legendary show, Breaking Bad, have been gifted to the city of Albuquerque yesterday.
The statues that were meant as a gift and tribute to the city where the show was filmed has been subjected to much criticism and backlash.
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This backlash was acknowledged by the creator of the show who also sponsored the statues’ making as well, Vince Gilligan.
Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, And Bronze Statues
The bronze statues of the characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were issued by the show’s creator in 2019 and allotted to the talented sculptor, Trevor Grove.
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The statues, according to Vince Gilligan, were a thank you gift to the city of Albuquerque for posing as the hometown of the incredible show, Breaking Bad, and its sequel, Better Call Saul, for years.
Vince Gilligan then explained how the thought to create such a project came to him.
“It was so amazing that it just got me to thinking: What if Trevor could sculpt a life-sized version of Walter White in bronze, a medium new to him, and what if he could toss in Jesse Pinkman to boot, and then we donate to the two statues to the city of Albuquerque as a thank-you for your hospitality?”
Breaking Bad actors who play the roles of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul respectively, were also present during the unveiling ceremony of the statues and gave their insights on its creation as well.
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“We’re humbled by this. We’re delighted, slightly embarrassed to have statues of you. And when they first came to me and said we want to make two statues of you, and I thought, ‘Wow, fantastic, Heisenberg and Walter White!’ I’m really grateful….There’s no preparation for saying you’re getting a statue. I’m just rather grateful that it’s indoors so that the pigeons won’t crap on our heads.”
Breaking Bad And Controversies
Although Breaking Bad has been known to be an amazing show loved by many, the show’s plot has also been under the scrutiny of many fans as well as general audiences.
Many people have questioned why a series about drug abuse and selling has been approved to be on a public platform where it can influence people easily. Apart from this, many people even argued that shows like Breaking Bad tend to popularize criminal offenses by making the public feel empathic with the characters.
It was clear that the public was very much divided on the issues presented by the show.
Some believed that Breaking Bad was a bad influence on those who watched it while New Mexico, on the other hand, used this as an opportunity to learn new issues regarding drug control and issue a collection of 8 articles to propose a solution to the nationwide drug addiction problems.
So when the statues were revealed, it set the internet off like an explosive with the public expressing their dislike for the portrayal of drug abuse and abusers with an angelic halo.
Like breaking bad as much as the next guy but "welcome to our city, here's a statue of a couple of famous fictional drug dealers" is really something else
— Ryan O'Brien (@ryanobrien) July 29, 2022
Lol they built statues of 2 mythical crystal meth drug dealers who also murdered a few ppl along the way. That would be like Miami building a statue of Scarface in the middle of the city.
— intelligent l.ife (@JackiesOnlySon) July 29, 2022
People are saying "lol why are they making statues for fictional drug dealers" but like, I'd much rather have statues of two very morally questionable characters from an extremely popular and very well loved fictional series over some random old fart that owned slaves any day
— Biterix (@Biterix121) July 30, 2022
Insane the cultural impact Breaking Bad has had that politicians would even conceive of dedicating statues to fictional meth cooks.
This is waste of taxpayer money in a time where they really shouldn't spend on frivolous things, but if I'm ever in ABQ…yeah imma snag me a pic.
— EXCLMaker (@EXCLMaker) July 30, 2022
And I understand that London is considering a statue of “Jack the Ripper”…
— H Messec (@h_messechmessec) July 30, 2022
Nothing like a city with a bad meth problem celebrating meth cooks.
— Jack Fetch (@Jack_Fetch) July 30, 2022
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This reaction was expected, according to Vince Gilligan, and he explained why he didn’t agree with the public’s view even though he did acknowledge them.
“In all seriousness, some folks are going to say, ‘Wow, just what our city needed.’ I get that,” Gilligan added. “But let me tell you what I see when I look at these two works of art: I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced. I see them in character as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales, world-famous ones at that.”
It’s clear that great things often come with thorns but hey! At least we have a great show with some great characters we can fall back on after a long day, right?
Breaking Bad is currently streaming on Netflix.
SOURCE: Comicbook.
