Why Breaking Bad Became A Meme

Breaking Bad is widely renowned as one of the greatest television dramas of all time, yet the sudden influx of memes sourced from this series may be cause for some confusion. In this video essay, I give my take on how this series became a meme and why I think this was always inevitable.

Music (All Songs Were Sourced From Artlist)
1. Down The Rabbit Hole by Jeremy Chontow
2. Waltz Sentimental by Amos Ever Hadani
3. The Beat Detector by Novembers
4. Solitude by Michael Drake

#breakingbad #memes #breakingbadmemes #videoessay #walterwhite #bryancranston #jessepinkman #aaronpaul #hankschrader #sussybaka #vincegilligan #minecraft #minecraftmemes #thewalkingdead #bladerunner2049 #gta

[ryan-jamison]

Thank you everyone who watched and enjoyed the video! I really appreciate all of the feedback and it’s kinda wild to see how many people ended up watching the show BECAUSE of the memes. I never expected that.

🚨 Also, for those of you who have NOT finished the show yet, there are SPOILERS in this comment section. Proceed at your own discretion 🚨

Thanks again 🙏🏻

[Ijariaofficial]

I like how a single moving 3D Saul Goodman got me into Breaking Bad

[lukepaterlini]

As someone who watched it AFTER the memes became popular, i gotta say that absolutely DIDN'T ruin it, its still a masterpiece and its virtually impossible to change that

[gopet]

I was a senior in HS when the finale came out. I remember the Friday before it came out everybody was dressing up as breaking bad characters and wearing merchandise from the show. The best part was how we didn’t discuss it as a school, everybody just did it like we telepathically agreed to do it. This wasn’t just a show for us, this was an event and one of my favorite memories from HS

[tothebatman]

As an aspiring writer and director, I dream of making something that even comes close to being as good as Breaking Bad, this show is seriously iconic

[MetaDHedge]

I'm going through Breaking Bad for the first time myself. I just finished season 4, and I'll say the tension is just fine even with all the meme knowledge

[st_orlie]

Dont forget that Breaking Bad isn't just a straight drama. At its core it's a dark comedy, even the darkest episodes you'll be laughing a few times. That only enhances the drama though because it opens up a larger range of emotions to work from. This is something a lot of shows don't seem to understand.

[rpandya]

It’s honestly a testament on how good it is that younger generations are keeping it relevant in their own unique way. I remember the first time I saw something like this was the “breaking good” video where someone did voices over screenshots of Discord, and I thought that was funny and nice to see a Breaking Bad meme. Little did I know that was the beginning of an avalanche of memes lmao

[miratulmemalik]

As a person watched breaking bad after the memes. The show was perfect and the drama was so intense. It was really a weird experience to saw scenes that once make me laugh in memes, now make me wanna cry and breaking my heart really bad.

[riffraff.]

In one year, the Breaking Bad universe turned from a single meme to a part of my life.

[bounce]

When I was watching BB for the first time recently, I kinda described it to my friends who already have as like “meme checkpoints” as a way to gauge how far I was in. But the further I got in, the less I started to care about the funny moments and the more I got wrapped up in the drama. I thought I’d laugh when I got to Ozymandias (best episode imo), but I was on the verge of tears when I actually did.

[BlazerManiacNumber]

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul also have a terrific sense of humor about them that feel completely in line with the show. That it can be so funny without undermining the drama and character work of the show is only one of the incredible feats of writing in Breaking Bad

[stoopybutt]

Me and my friends quote Mike's "We had a Good thing" speech for almost every topic that comes in our conversations or any interesting event that occurs in any of our days. It's gotten to the point where I can quote the whole speech effortlessly.

[v]

Honestly these memes made me dicover breaking bad, so for people like me its done a benefit of telling a still amazing story.



Edit: Figured I’d put my reply here to those confused by my wording.
Being born in the early 2000s it’s not like we were able to watch it when it aired on television, as most parents wouldn’t let 6-10 year olds watch it. I think all of us knew about breaking bad, but watching it and getting interested in the show took initiative. I see a few people apparently peeved in the comments by it and it’s pretty funny how gatekeepey others can be.

[bismman]

I can definitely say, when I saw Walt react to Hank's death, the memes had not effect on me. Still a striking moment. Felt the world was crumbling around me, it was great.

[kingofanxiety]

I couldn’t escape the breaking bad memes that have been swarming the internet in the past year, so I finally caved and watched it and I am absolutely obsessed. It didn’t take the tension away for me, and after I told my grandfather about it, he watched it and finished both breaking bad and better call Saul within a month! We never really talked before, but now we have a much greater connection all because of the trend.

[Zeroshiki]

Everything good becomes a meme, honestly. It's become a way to show love for a series. Spongebob, GTA San Andreas, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, etc, etc. Most of what made my childhood great became memes as social medias started popping up and getting more popular, YouTube especially.

[DJFNaFMan]

The memes don’t ruin the show they make it even more famous

[fooperfarvey]

Watching Jesse play video games and ride go-carts by himself is the saddest moments in the show.

[suburbanvibes]

I watched the show after the memes, and I still found myself sobbing during the moments that have been memed to death, like Hank's death