Mad Men

I spent the 4th of July weekend (still not watching summer movies) but catching up on TV series that I've heard about. I was on the phone with Anne who'd been telling me how great this show Mad Men is. Her examples of two favorite moments were 1. a little girl is playing with a plastic bag and puts it over her head and all mom can say is that her daughter will be in a world of hurt of her dry cleaning is on the floor... and 2. a pregnant woman drinking a mint julep...

Then I found the TV series for rent at my local Blockbuster and after watching the first disc I couldn't wait until the next day to finish the series. Thankfully, I could finish the series because it was only 13 episodes. I'm all for short seasons if it allows the series to maintain a high level of quality. Immediately, I realized from the opening credits to the portrayal of 1960 America that this drama has some serious gravitas. The look and design have a strong nostalgic look with some modern sensibilities thrown in.

The first episode centered on smoking and how and ad company can market cigarettes which are for the first time being considered unhealthy by society. Little scenes of what life was like made me feel a kinship with the show. Oftentimes I wish life were a bit simpler, yet this show is far from simple... there exists a deep underlying tension that is slowly unfolding as you watch the series. A simple throwaway line in episode 1 plays into two characters interaction in episode 12... one that isn't obvious, but makes sense.

I think my favorite moment of the show was the final scene of "Shoot" which shows Betty, the dutiful housewife shooting her neighbors' pigeons. Beautifully done. Imagine her with the gun in this Blue Velvet suburban scene. Amazing.



Mad Men feels like Desperate Housewives done as a serious cable drama rather than a comedy trying to push a mystery. The mystery of Mad Men is not story/plot but character driven. The layers reveal themselves in ways true to the characters. The comic lines come across as serious in the course of the dialogue but hit with a quick jab. I like how history and 60s pop culture blend into the show. Sterling Cooper (the ad company) even becomes under the employ of Nixon's presidential campaign. It's one thing to read about it in history, but the show provides context especially for those who were Nixon supporters.

One of the more curious sentimental connections occurred for me while cleaning my office just today. I love the pitch Dom gives to Kodak for its slide projection wheel. I found two of those wheels in my office. Actually, I knew they were in there but I never bothered to look inside the box. I'm trying to make a stronger effort of throwing away anything that serves no purpose in my office and considering those wheels had been a part of my 11 years there I had never once looked inside made them good candidates for the dumpster. I hold a few slides up against the fluorescent ceiling lights and see people I know. I look at the slide's cardboard frame and it is dated 1990. The two wheels hold all pictures of my junior year in high school. I see people I haven't seen in nearly 20 years. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away knowing that I have a reunion to plan in a couple years. And I realize just how true the ad pitch was in the TV show. Now, I don't know if that's how the ad campaign really began for Kodak, but this show does an excellent job of framing things from the past in a way we can sentimentally appreciate how the items are viewed in today's society. Even the not so glorious aspects of our society, particularly the way women are treated, though sometimes shown for comedy, make an intriguing comment about where society has come from and where it still needs to go today.



Like I said, I love the opening credits. The score provides a nice complement to what the show ultimately reveals. Plus, writing this reminds me of the way my buddy Eric always examines new product labels...





Here's a clip from the first episode and you can get a taste of the social norms of the day.



This last clip is the one I mentioned about the Kodak wheel. Just watch this and imagine the power of stillness. The show moves at a pace that enhances its tensions. I love these moments that make you view your own world differently. Looking at the slides just doesn't feel quite the same as a slideshow on your laptop. There just seems to be so much more emotion in an activity we all take for granted.




I highly recommend this show. I really needed something like this after all the reality shows that surround me. In particular, all the MTV and E! channel shows my students seem to love. I am so disconnected from my students compared to when I first started teaching. Sad really, but in a good way. I'm glad to be where I am.



My next TV series to catch up on... either The Wire or Battlestar Gallactica... Lance gave me the wire for Christmas and I bought BSG when they were on sale at Costco. This could take up the remainder of my summer.