Paul F Burgueño

Perito Politólogo - Smugglers series are models for society?

One lawyer who also is a political scientist (the Professional Association of Political Scientists and Sociologists of Madrid), just as expert help in preparing a report (cathode Dealers 'PrimeTime') for the daily 20 minutes on the role played by drug traffickers in the drama series like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Weeds, and Lost. The reason for my intervention was none other than analyze from a social point of view the political influence that these characters have on society and in particular on young or adolescent stratum. "They are becoming role models?

My conclusion is rather more elaborate than what the newspaper has seen fit to publish, which has censored-with very good reason-all these strange and ugly-sounding words that we use the guild. Try to follow the example of 20 minutes to explain in very few lines and clearly the most interesting part of the reasoning:

The pursuit of the forbidden by the experience of others' experiences is one of the main reasons that is leading society to worship and idolize characters who use or traffic in drugs in certain sets of TV, no simple conversion of these in mere models, far from it. It is more mystical and if you'll let me, at once more human. Is the search for the transgression, the breaking of rules and, ultimately, the flight of the establishment.

Those who you have studied philosophy you will remember Thomas Hobbes he articulated one of the Latin phrases that have recurred over the course of time: "Homo homini lupus" (man is a wolf to man). The phrase has its origin, however, in the work Asinaria of Titus Marcius Plautus, but it was Hobbs who is over allocated by the sociopolitical construction work he did in his Leviathan about the selfish nature of man. Human beings are born free but engaged in a constant struggle with their peers about the lack of rules and laws governing, moderate and orderly their peaceful coexistence. To avoid this fight, the man signed a "social pact" with the State, before which becomes submissive citizen under the laws of society. The characters of these series offenders somehow break the social pact and released from the shackles of the state, imposing its own regime of free coexistence with society.

Through this series, the viewer becomes part of those experiences and feelings that in real life could not, would not or would not dare to live, either on the legal consequences they entail, either by affecting the health or well due to proper structuring of ethical and moral values. The appearance of these characters somehow frees the tendency to be prohibited, but at the same time, control and mitigate their risk of occurrence. The spectator who might have been attracted to the breaking of the covenant, ceases to be, as the series makes him live sensory experience and is satisfied. It is true that for part of the population these experiences can become initiation rites and be driven to follow the behavior of the characters, making them role models to follow, but is a marginal trend that only affects, in general, individuals weak personality or antisocial tendencies. Average citizens experienced as a form of mystical abstract of your daily routine for a few minutes and jump to the adventure and risk offered by peak experiences.

Luckily I have asked for Dexter, because there they cut fabric there ...

You can read the full article at the website 20 minutes daily or download here in pdf.

Image: Promotional poster for the 4th season of Weeds