A faux funeral was held last weekend for Breaking Bad character Walter White in Albuquerque, N.M., and while it raised money for charity, not everyone was pleased. Over 200 fans paid respects to the man who “brought people into Albuquerque, brought attention into Albuquerque, and brought money into Albuquerque.” The funeral, put together by Breaking Bad fans, raised $17,000 for a local charity, with mourners making donations to shovel dirt onto Walt’s (empty) coffin. Family members of actual people buried at Sunset Memorial Park, weren’t happy, though, given that the coffin, grave site and headstone are all real. “My son is buried just about 15 yards from where the makeshift grave site is,” says one upset father. “This is a place of mourning. It’s not a spectacle.” Officials at Sunset Memorial Park say they are aware of the complaints and will remove the Walt memorial if it becomes too much of a tourist attraction. “We are a cemetery first and foremost,” says the general manager. “Our allegiance lies with our families that have allowed us to bury their loved ones here.” According to the Albuquerque Journal, at least one petition is already calling for the gravesite to be taken down, but there are no imminent plans to do so. That same paper ran a fan-sponsored Walter White obituary this month. Clearly, he has left more of a mark than perhaps any TV character in history. Incidentally, the grave site accurately states that Walt died on his 52nd birthday, though it’s not clear why the fans chose 2011 as the date of death.
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Walter White Funeral Raises Money, Sparks Protests in Albuquerque
