The first Mad Men aired this week. It looked like it was going to be good. The pilot was terrific. It’s full of attitudes we have left behind in our cultural history. The characters were very simplified, maybe as an introduction they need to be. I guest I most enjoyed the advertising agency (staff?) research psychologist. She has a German /Austrian accent (of course) and is as cold as ice. We know that cliché. In reality she would’ve been a temporarily hired team of geeks in white coats probably all male. That still might be giving Madison Avenue too much science cred. Probably her role would’ve been filled by a survey conducted with a cross-section of types who would have been rewarded for the their time. I’m not complaining. The women researcher has greater story potential. Maybe we will learn in future episodes the accent isn’t real.
Then there is a seemingly closeted gay Italian graphic artist who works closely with the lead ad-man. The artist’s life-choice is so telegraphed, how he talks about his enjoyment at using his relaxed male neighbor for his artist model in a drawing for a future Lucky’s billboard. The joke seems to be everyone around him is “gay” blind. His gay remarks go un-noticed except by a stray women in a strip club and by us the TV audience. Maybe in future episodes we will find that lots of people know about his secret. Maybe only the junior executives will be caught unawares. They are the college boys running amok like a pack of wolfs.
All in all I am hooked already. I really think this period was way cool. Maybe in one episode they will show someone watching an old Dick Van Dyke Show. They did mentioned, in a condescending fashion, the Danny Thomas Show as a good advertising position for their new Jewish client.
It’s a battle of the sexes, but Madmen would collapse very fast if the writers did not create a balance. The balance seemed only to be implied in this introduction. The women have knowledge of and power over one another, and indirectly their bosses careers. The only women who maybe somewhat powerless to begin with is the lead ad-man’s wife. She is a surprise reveal at the end, as the lead ad-man’s actions do not indicate a married man with children. He seems to have been away from home for days not merely during office hours in the city. If the clichés hold true, his wife will start a drug habit of barbiturates and maybe lose one of their 2.5 children. I don’t know if I will still be watching if that happens. We shall see.
I recently heard a podcast from The Big Red Podcast where they discussed Mad Men. They found the premise and the retro setting bordering on disgusting and somewhat unnecessary. They guessed the setting might only be an excuse for the producers to display sexist or racist scenes.
ReplyDeleteThat maybe. I don't want to defend the show too strongly. I only watched the first two episodes and then YouTub-ed some highlights. That maybe the way to experience this program. I also didn't want to get caught up in the soap opera of the character arcs. However, I think there is value in visiting a world from the past. Though it is an artist’s take on the past, you may intellectually understand how screwed up things were, but you probably didn't experience it. If you lived through it that would be different. But if, like me, you were a child, you probably didn't “feel” it. There is a value in feeling as well as knowing.
I didn't adopt regular viewing the show. I think the best thing about it was the art direction and the behind-the-scenes of the ad campaigns. You should find the “carousel” clip. It was only a few minutes cut out of a show, but I felt myself welling up.
——My Comment to the Big Red Podcast’s Show “#91 Plumbed Depths Edition”——
ReplyDeleteWere your comments about Madmen strictly on account of the show’s current buzz? Award nominations?
I ask, because I thought you were finished with the show after viewing the pilot.
I enjoyed the period setting. I do not watch the series because it looked like it was a soap opera with a gimmick.
But the setting seems to be what you enjoyed least! I think your criticism that the period was dealt with better already is a bit silly.
Your examples of art made during the period may indeed be a better source about the historic mores, but that has nothing to do with the idea of reexamining the period with perspective. It may not even need to be an intellectual process. The few Madmen I have seen produced an emotion in me about racism and equality beyond what I knew from my own experience, or what I believe to be accepted fact. (Racism bad. Equality Good.)
That sounds valuable.
My guess is Madmen plots cannot live up to the great setting it has chosen. It cannot go on for long without becoming tiresome. Although M.A.S.H. did go forever.
That might be a good comparison for a podcast.
——The Big Red Podcast Response——
# Blogger Alyssa | 4:35 AM |
Rich - you are totally right. We are frequently silly. And thank you for listening to our show!
We brought up Mad Men because we've had an influx of new listeners since last summer when we last talked about the show and some people were interested.
I think your point about examining the era with perspective is interesting because as far as I can tell there is no examination or perspective. It's all reader-response criticism - we the viewer have to do all the work.
But you're right, I never really liked the show and have wandered to more interesting things like Food Network Challenges. How many giant birthday cakes does a person need?