N and I have started watching Mad Men. We have seen two episodes so far and, to be honest, we haven’t been able to get the point of the show. Yes, the 1950s in the US sucked. They sucked majorly. But you can’t really stretch this very self-evident point for 5 seasons without boring people to death.
Yes, the wife is a textbook case of the ailment described by Betty Friedan in Feminine Mystique. Yes, traditional gender roles make a profound relationship between a man and a woman completely impossible. Yes, everybody suffers as a result. Yes, thank God and feminism for laws against sexual harassment in the workplace.
I have a feeling that the goal of all this bashing of the 1950s is to experience a self-congratulatory sense of how much better, more enlightened and happier we are today than those poor schmucks of our parents’ / grandparents’ generations. This is the same tendency towards escapism that I’m seeing in the obsession with zombies and vampires.
The show brings to mind all of those instances when Oprah would show horrible things that happen to women in the Congo or Darfur and say, “Aren’t we, American gals, incredibly lucky to have our equal rights?” The message behind this was that the status quo was perfect and anybody who criticized it was not appreciative of the suffering of rape victims in Darfur.
Of course, it’s good that the two most popular shows of the recent years (Breaking Bad and Mad Men) have such an intensely feminist message. I’d just rather it was delivered in a less schematic and more nuanced way.
The intricacies of the ad business could save Mad Men and make it interesting but the problem here is that the nature of advertisement makes an ad campaign very dated within a couple of years. Several decades later, what might have been a genius advertising move at the time it was made sounds nothing short of weird. The two ad slogans that the protagonist comes up with in the first two episodes (“It’s toasted!” for cigarettes and “Women would do anything to get closer!” for men’s deodorant) made zero sense to me today. In comparison, the ad campaigns created by the protagonist of Queer as Folk are absolute genius.
If we continue watching, it will be solely because of the dresses. The dresses are beautiful. They are 100% my style, and I would wear them every day if they weren’t out of fashion. Beautiful, beautiful dresses.
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“I have a feeling that the goal of all this bashing of the 1950s is to experience a self-congratulatory sense of how much better, more enlightened and happier we are today…”
Maybe it’s also to combat the still prevalent belief that life in the 1950s was simply a golden happy time where no one quarreled and families were all loving, etc. and if we just turn back the clock to this magical time every societal ill will go away.
” and I would wear them every day if they weren’t out of fashion.”
Don’t let that stop you 🙂
I prefer more the 1940s and have a skirt suit in that style. Though yeah, I don’t wear it every day…
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“Maybe it’s also to combat the still prevalent belief that life in the 1950s was simply a golden happy time where no one quarreled and families were all loving, etc. and if we just turn back the clock to this magical time every societal ill will go away.”
– Do people who believe this even watch television? I thought their religion disallowed that. 🙂
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Perhaps most TV shows are too ungodly, but getting on TV is approved of 🙂 Like when you’re a certain kind of politician or preacher or reality TV show star…
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Well, I would like to point out that the show is set in the 1960s, not the 1950s, and this is important because one of the main themes of the show is social change. I will be interested to see your opinions if you continue to watch it.
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Early 1960s, right? I should have known that because the furniture is obviously not from the 1950s proper.
It’s good to know that the first episodes are simply setting the stage for showing later social transformations.
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Give it a few more episodes, it doesn’t start really working until about halfway through the first season.
On the other hand, episode three has the first “what the …..?” sequence where Don’s behavior defies any kind of rational behavior (but it makes much more sense in retrospect).
And the ad pitches are less about what seems original now and more about important cultural/advertising milestones in the 60’s.
I don’t think of the 1950s as either paradise lost or zombie hell on earth so I just take the 1960 beginning as a beginning point without reading too much into it.
And it keeps moving in time (and mores) the most recent season ended in 1968. The fashion peak for me was probably seasons 4 and 5 (pre hippy mid sixties chic is maybe my favorite look ever)
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What I really love are the men’s suits with vests. Nobody wears vests these days, which is a pity. But in what concerns women’s fashions, I’m much more into the hardcore 1950s look: puffy skirts, etc.
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Got a comment (with some links) in moderation
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“If we continue watching, it will be solely because of the dresses. The dresses are beautiful. They are 100% my style, and I would wear them every day if they weren’t out of fashion. Beautiful, beautiful dresses.”
And this is why I watched 5 seasons of that show, only becase of the furniture and the architecture. And also because of Peggy and Joan…
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I know I sound like a disco rayado, but watch The Wire.
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The Wire is still not available for streaming on Netflix. I’m hoping it will be there soon.
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I love communicating with you through your blog!
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The blog is seriously the best way to keep in touch with me. 🙂 🙂
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It works for me too!
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