this post was submitted on 01 May 2024
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How is she criticized for not having courage to report Walt but also not having courage to stick with him?
Nope read again, I said alternately for that second bit. You couldn't think both of those at the same time, but thinking them separately is valid. Either she sticks with Walt or not, those are her two possible endings.
But, these should be different groups of people criticizing her for different reasons then, right?
Like, having courage to report Walt is specifically because reporting Walt is the right thing to do.
And, having courage to stick with him is because of a belief that loyalty (or submissiveness) matters more than one's obligation to the social good.
I think it's mostly related. People see her behavior as hypocritical. She says she cares about the moral aspect, but never follows through. She says she cares about her family's safety, but doesn't really act consistently with that. And she starts to manage Walt's business (willingly at first) but turns on him even when it might put the family in danger (like giving all their money to Ted).
She's inconsistent/hypocritical because she lacks courage and conviction
I am extremely confused by this.
The Ted situation had to be handled. Like, not handling it was not an option. Isn't trying to handle it, then, to keep the family's secrets out of the IRS's eyes, an example of her acting in the interest of the family's safety? Are there different examples of her being callous and reckless?
That's fair, I didn't put much thought into my response. I never said she was callous or reckless, though. The main thing is that she acted hypocritically and in a way that is inconsistent with her stated values. I think that's a big reason she is disliked other than just being an "unlikeable" character
Hm. Well, I guess I'll cap this off just by saying I disagree quite a bit about your take on Skylar. For one, I don't really value hypocrisy as a criticism, like on a fundamental level. Whether somebody follows through or not matters a lot less to me than whether their ideas are good. See the conservative/liberal criticism of hypocrisy toward Rage Against the Machine as an example. :p
My reading on her character is that there are times when she gave in, like when she told her divorce lawyer she didn't want to throw the book at her druglord husband (she's not blameless), but also that there was never a time she was enthusiastic about the criminal life Walt had pulled her and the family into; she's pretty consistent about wanting out, it's only the 'how' that gets muddled. I'm sure there are parallels to how abuse victims get stuck in there somewhere.
And, the knife that was pulled was a direct response to spoiler dying. I simply can't read that as manipulative; she was fending off a threat at that point. For all Walt's bluster about the work being perfectly safe and he's the one knocks, anyone who crosses him seems to end up in a ditch somehow.
βBut anyway, I'm not trying to drag you into a long debate about it. We can agree to disagree here. I held a lot back initially just because I didn't have the energy for the paragraph by paragraph reply thing. π
Whether you reply or not, I do hope you have a great day!