TV & Sociological Perspectives. Social Sciences Paper

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
TV & Sociological Perspectives
Currently, I am watching the TV show, Breaking Bad, directed by Vince Gilligan. The TV drama is about Walter Hartwell White, a high school chemistry teacher who has just discovered that he has lung cancer. Mr. White and his wife Skyler have son Walter Jr, who has cerebral palsy. Mr. White realizes that the meager earnings from his teaching job and moonlighting as a cashier at a carwash was not sufficient for his family considering his lifespan after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. For this fear, White formed an unlikely partnership with his former student Jesse Pinkman to manufacture and peddle methamphetamine, a drug that is highly prized. Mr. White transform from a local drug dealer to a dangerous drug baron under the nose of his brother-in-law, Hank, a DEA agent.
Analysis
Functionalism in refers to how different elements of the society and social institutions work together to contribute to the proper functioning of the society as a whole (Tudor 15). Dwelling on episode 1, season 1 of Breaking Bad, the film shows the inputs and the interconnections from social institutions such as the family, the school, and the government. The episode features two major families, Walter White’s family and Hank’s family who are also relatives as Hank was married to Skyler’s sister, Marie. Sociologically, a family has valuable functions that are helpful to other societal institutions. The family has four main functions namely, affectional, economic provision and recreational functions. For example, Mr. White’s family demonstrate affectional function by setting up a surprise birthday party as a gesture of love and appreciation for Walter White. The economic function of a family is evident where Mr. White moonlights as a cashier at a carwash to earn extra salary to sustain his family. Skyler also contemplates getting a job to boost the family income. Mr. White birthday celebration is also a recreational function of a family as well.
J.P. Wayne High school where Mr. White works as a chemistry teacher and where his son, Walter Jr. attends, symbolizes an important social institution whose contributions are necessary for the shaping of the society. The director introduces Jesse Pinkman, a former student of the school as well as Mr. White’s ex-student who turned out to be a notorious drug dealer peddling meth around Albuquerque. The school has a duty is to equip the young generation with knowledge and skills to help them become self-reliant and helpful to the society as well. On the contrary, Jesse is seen as a student who didn’t get the help of the school as he has turned out to be a notorious drug dealer and unruly to the society.
Another significant social institution is the government, which is notably represented by the Albuquerque DEA in the film. The government’s functions include enforcing law and order, establishing justice, security provision and promoting the general welfare. In the film, Hank and his team of the DEA agents runs drug bust as a way of combatting the encroaching manufacturing and consumption of meth, a drug that is illegal and dangerous to human health. In thi...