Comments on: Mad News, January 2-6, 2009

By: Basket of Kisses | How do they stand it?

Basket of Kisses | How do they stand it? — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:04:58 +0000

[...] Anne B. said: I have figured out that I’m watching the show for the same reason Matt has said he’s making [...]

By: Roberta Lipp

Roberta Lipp — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:56:54 +0000

Jules, thanks so much!

By: Jules

Jules — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:40:18 +0000

I watch Mad Men because it’s so compelling. I love the characters and an unashamed to admit that I wonder about them during the week before a new episode airs. They feel very real to me. The writing is superb, the acting great, and oh yeah, the clothes and cultural references are very cool.

I don’t get into all of the political ramifications, because that’s not what makes me watch. I laughed when Sally came out with the dry cleaning bag draped over her head and Betty’s immediate thought was the condition of the dress that had been contained in the bag. It was supposed to be funny!

Sal is so obviously gay to us viewers, with our frame of reference and perspective, that it’s almost laughable that his co-workers don’t see it. But with their frame of reference, there’s no way a manly Italian could possibly be anything except a *real* man.

I’m going way off topic here, but am so excited to find a serious, fun blog dedicated to one of my favorite t.v. shows of all time, that I can’t seem to contain myself.

By: portiaslegacy

portiaslegacy — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:13:29 +0000

Brenda, even for the white males I am not sure. I just finished reading Alex Ross’ The Rest is Noise – Listening to the Twentieth Century and the chapter that focuses on this part of history was mostly about how the early years of the cold war affected the artistic mentality. It focused on Aaron Copland, who had a history of flirting with extreme left politics, though was never a communist, nor musically inclined towards the communist line (Charles Seager, father of Pete Seager was an example of someone who did). He was also gay, and J Edgar Hoover was profiling homosexuals as easy defectors to the Soviet Union. It sounds like a joke, and it is about as funny as Hitler worrying about having Jewish ancestry.

As much gays, members and former members of the communist party, people of color, etc were all minorities, they were in fear and oppression. That many people everyone will have an effect on everybody.

More universally we were in a real George Orwell situation where almost immediate after a war our enemies became allies and allies enemies. It makes it hard to believe that the fighting was for anything. People would notice it even if they could not talk about it.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:15:13 +0000

Portiaslegacy, it depends who you were in the late 1950s-early 1960s. If you were black or a working woman, I doubt there would be much nostalgia for that era. But if you were a white male, you would probably look back on that time as the way things ought to be, before everybody else demanded a place at the table.

By: Anne B

Anne B — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:51:02 +0000

I think there may be people who watch Mad Men because they like the clothes and the sets. To them, the subversive nature of the show must be extremely off-putting. I can’t imagine how often they would have to keep turning away from it.

I have figured out that I’m watching the show for the same reason Matt has said he’s making it: to get to the thing about my parents. Matt Weiner and I are around the same age (he’s a year older than I), and there’s this thing about people the age of our parents: how did they stand it?

I am very serious about learning more about their world — more so lately, as my father’s memories flee him, as my mother conitnues to claim that she does not remember what those early years were like.

But she she does. She must. There’s a reason why she left the United States in 1957, clearly intending never to come back. There’s a reason why she went as far away as Africa, married a broken war survivior from the Old World, and had two kids in that completely different place, with its different promises. She did come back here, in the late 60’s, and this time she stayed … but something about this place had pushed her out.

What was it?

I never wondered about this until I started watching Mad Men. I owe Matt Weiner a great deal — starting with that.

By: Deborah Lipp

Deborah Lipp — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:51:37 +0000

Dreher is actually the only conservative I've read who gets it about Mad Men. Every other conservative reviewer is either angry at the "liberal agenda" to criticize the "golden age" of the 50s, or is nostalgic for the 50s. Some of them actually wax poetic on the joys of sexism and racism; that's what they're nostalgic for. This is not a political blog. Roberta and I are both very liberal, but we have many conservative Basketcases, and that's great. Still, if you watch Mad Men because you think the way the women and minorities were treated is awesome, and you think Sal belongs in the closet, and you agree with Dennis Prager that Joan has nothing to complain about when Greg rapes her, then truly, you're welcome to leave.

By: portiaslegacy

portiaslegacy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:29:40 +0000

The more I think about it the more it does not make any sense to me – why would any one ever get nostalgic for the 1950s- early 60s? Sure the clothes looked great but if the late 60s were a reaction against the conformity of the 50s then the 50s were a backlash against all the varieties of populist movements and communities in the 30s (another period that was too restless to be considered a “Golden Age”)

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:02:26 +0000

Just saw how redundant what I wrote was. But still, the guy took the dry-cleaning-bag-over-daughter’s-head scene seriously?

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:36:34 +0000

Naw, just ones who go out of their way to be blind, like that guy. The type too blind to get that Mad Men is as much a satire as a drama…