This article argues that watching Breaking Bad (2008–13) could encourage people affected by cancer to recognise and reconsider damaging reactions to their condition. If viewers are invited to see the series’ antihero, Walter White, as an iconic ‘silhouette’ of a better path not taken, this can provoke them to entertain more honest, constructive attitudes to cancer and death. Using the theological concept of a ‘silhouette of goodness’ and Jung’s theory of the ego-life and true Self, this article suggests that symbolic moments in Walt’s descent into chaotic criminality could help caregivers to meet the ‘need for symbols’ in cancer care.

本文认为，观看《绝命毒师》（Breaking Bad，2008-13年）可能会鼓励受癌症影响的人们认识并重新考虑对其状况的破坏性反应。如果邀请观众观看该系列的“反英雄”沃尔特·怀特（Walter White），这是一条未走过的更好道路的标志性“剪影”，这可能会激发他们对癌症和死亡采取更诚实，建设性的态度。本文使用“善意剪影”的神学概念和荣格关于自我生活和真实自我的理论，认为沃尔特堕入混沌犯罪的象征性时刻可以帮助护理人员满足癌症护理中的“象征性需求”。