From the live chat on AMC:
[11:39:13 pm] <AMCtv.com> Roberta Lipp of Little Falls, NJ asks whether you have faith in all the characters on this show? So many of them have done awful things, or just don’t get it. Is there anyone who just won’t change, or do they all have the potential to grow?
[11:44:00 pm] <Matthew Weiner> That question is about how I feel about people rather than how i feel about the characters on the show. I think that people who want to change get as much credit from me as people who actually do. We do change, people do change, but it requires tremendous effort, and I feel that the characters on the show — some are trying and some aren’t. As I said before, everyone has a reason for what they do, has the potetntial to change, and I try not to put it in good or bad terms. Sometimes they don’t even know what they want. I think that all of us are lost, and we cling to our jobs, and our families, and our institutions, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. And you add the opportunities that come along historically, and it will be interesting to see where people end up.
5 Responses to “Matthew Weiner answered my question. Just now. I love him.”
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He is amazing.
My question was the one right before yours. I can't believe he answered it!
[11:36:24 pm] Zachary Snyder says that a recurring theme in Mad Men is how the next generation behaves. It seems to both be shown sometimes as a forward thinking and sometimes as disrespectful (i.e. the elevator scene tonight). How do you think today's generation compares to that of the 1960s?
[11:38:18 pm] In a general way, I think that, and it was said in Episode 4 last year, that older people always think younger people have lost their morals and manners, but I do think society has become cruder and that actually I'm hopeful that the young people I meet now, are more respectful than have been in a few generations. I know it makes me sound like an old person, but there is an experience you have as you get older that the rules are changing about what is acceptable between people, especially when it comes to sexual politics. And this is cyclical, so who knows where we are right now. But I definitely believe that for Don's generation, despite growing up int he uncivilized environment of the great depression, felt that their standards were being lowered as language changed, and the sexual revolution began.
They must have me confused with Karl … other than that, very kewl.
[11:23:10 pm] Dan Jaspers asks is there any overarching statement about the human condition that you are trying to make with the show?
[11:24:26 pm] It’s hard to simplify with something that is creatively this large, but I’ll try and say simply, everyone has a reason for what they do, good and bad.
[...] now, enjoy this latest viewer-driven interview. And lookey how he answers my question, as well as the question of Basketcase Zachary Snyder! Enjoy (and forgive my formatting [...]