The other day my son explained the show Breaking Bad to me.
I hadn’t watched it, but I’d noticed the show’s logo featured the symbols for
bromine and barium from the periodic table, and I was curious. He said the protagonist
is a science teacher forced by dire circumstance into a life of crime. It reminded
me of something Alexander Pope (1688-1744) wrote: “Vice is a monster of so
frightful mien, as to be hated needs but to be seen; yet seen too oft, familiar
with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.” Pope went on to say
everyone knows in which direction sin lies, but no two people agree on its
boundaries. A Californian calls Oregon north, but someone from Seattle points
to Canada. Vice is like that. A lot depends on your moral geography. This is
why I avoid TV shows, movies, games and books like this. I’d rather not move
further north.
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