SANTA FE, NM (AP) — Bronze statues of legendary meth cooks Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were installed Friday at an Albuquerque convention center to celebrate the television series “Breaking Bad” and its entertainment legacy, earning plaudits in a city that played its own gritty supporting role.
Local politicians, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, mingled with “Breaking Bad” stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and director Vince Gilligan to help reveal the artwork, donated by Gilligan and Sony Pictures.
The 2008-2013 show and its ongoing prequel “Better Call Saul” helped fuel a renaissance in filmmaking in New Mexico, while also drawing closer to Albuquerque’s real-life struggles with drug addiction and the crime.
Gilligan said he recognized that the statues of “two infamous, fictional methamphetamine dealers” will not be universally appreciated in New Mexico.
“In all seriousness, no doubt some people are going to say, ‘Wow, just what our city needed.’ And I get it,” Gillian said. “I see two of the best actors America has ever produced. I see them, in character, as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales.”
Still on Netflix, AMC’s “Breaking Bad” follows the fictional underworld journey of a high school science teacher, played by Cranston, and an alumnus, played by Paul, as they team up to produce and distribute methamphetamine amid cliffhanger violent. plot twists.
The show and its iconic lead characters are already depicted on airport t-shirts and merchandise, while tour guides in Albuquerque take fans to former filming locations in a replica of the show’s RV that doubled as a meth lab. .
New Mexico has long struggled with the cost of addiction, with more than 43,000 drug and alcohol overdose-related deaths in the past three decades. Albuquerque is also currently facing a record number of homicides.
The rise in methamphetamine and fentanyl overdose deaths overtook heroin and prescription opioids as the leading causes of drug overdose deaths statewide in 2020.
Keller heralded the positive economic impact of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” on Albuquerque, acknowledging the dollars and delight it brings to a city he jokingly called “Tamale-wood.”
“While the stories may be fictional … the jobs are real every day,” Keller said. “The city is also a character. … We see ourselves in many ways, good and bad.”
Republican state Rep. Rod Montoya of Farmington said he admires Cranston as an actor, but the statues draw the wrong attention.
“I’m glad New Mexico has the business, but really?” Montoya said. “Are we going down the path of literally glorifying meth manufacturers?”
He also questioned the logic of the tribute after Albuquerque in June 2020 removed a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate.
Protesters attempted to tear down the bronze work of art in denouncement of Oñate’s brutal treatment of Native Americans approximately 500 years ago. A fight that broke out at the protest resulted in shots being fired, injuring one man.
New Mexico politicians, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, have pinned their hopes on the film industry to boost economic opportunity in a state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
New Mexico’s film and television industry recently hit a new production peak, with record state spending of $855 million for the fiscal year ending in June. Recent video projects attracted to the state include the Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
New Mexico offers a 25%-35% reimbursement of state expenses for video production that helps filmmakers large and small finance their work. Incentive payments peaked at $148 million in 2019.