Comments on: Mad Men's 10 Most Shocking Moments

By: TR

TR — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:25:30 +0000

Not a comment about shocking moments. Love that part in the video when Jon Hamm talks about kids today needing to wear helmets in the bath. Hee!

By: Let Harry Crane Not Spoil Mad Menâ€™s Third Season For You | News Fu

Let Harry Crane Not Spoil Mad Menâ€™s Third Season For You | News Fu — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:19:49 +0000

[...] 1963, as if it were Lost or something. Does Mad Men even lend itself to easy spoiling? Despite the marketing, our enjoyment of the show has always come from appreciating its subtleties and the overall shape [...]

By: meghan

meghan — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:46:18 +0000

Joan's rape left me sick to my stomach for days afterward. I'm stunned that it didn't even make the list.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:32:07 +0000

Lifetime has made a fortune showing women in danger movies, and often the ones endangering the women are spouses or significant others. Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman, and a host of other big movies stars have done films about being in abusive relationships.
Right, but in those cases the abuser is portrayed as pure evil and our protagonist is the woman trying to get away or fighting back.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:29:08 +0000

Oh, the hunting story scene! That was one of my all-time favorite moments.

I think it's appealing to both Pete and Peggy because it IS fantasy. It's as far from their everyday personalities and roles in life as they can get.

By: hullaballoo

hullaballoo — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:56:37 +0000

*I guess it says something for our culture that physical violence against women has become an unpardonable sin pop culture-wise. The only instance I can recall of a protagonist hitting a woman in anger was Bud hitting Lynn in L.A. Confidential, but that took place in the 1940s, and unfortunately prostitutes (even high class ones) arenâ€™t allowed the same indignation as regular women when they meet with violence since the culture already views them as â€œfallen womenâ€.

Well, L.A. Confidential is a movie; movies don't have the same constraints as television programs. They can show more, there's generally more leeway in terms of what we get to see and what we in the audience will accept from the characters — even with TV movies. Lifetime has made a fortune showing women in danger movies, and often the ones endangering the women are spouses or significant others. Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman, and a host of other big movies stars have done films about being in abusive relationships.

But episodic television is different — even cable and premium channel shows, as well as soap operas, which are notorious for testing boundaries and stretching the limits of TV behavior, tend to shy away from the topic where the main characters are concerned.

I think the shoving match was so shocking because the main characters were engaging in violence toward each other, but also because it's such a real emotional response in strained relationships like that.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:55:04 +0000

The threat of physical violence is sometimes implied during domestic disputes, but I donâ€™t ever remember seeing a showâ€™s *protagonist* actually lay hands on his spouse in the midst of an argument. You see bad guys do it, they may hint that creepy neighbors like Carlton do it, but NOT the main character of the showâ€¦
Right. I was watching The Sopranos over the weekend, and thinking about that show in relation to this post. Tony punched the wall right next to Carmela's head during their fight in "Whitecaps", but I don't think even he would hit his, wife as morally ambiguous a character as he is.

I guess it says something for our culture that physical violence against women has become an unpardonable sin pop culture-wise. The only instance I can recall of a protagonist hitting a woman in anger was Bud hitting Lynn in L.A. Confidential, but that took place in the 1940s, and unfortunately prostitutes (even high class ones) aren't allowed the same indignation as regular women when they meet with violence since the culture already views them as "fallen women".

By: Ms. Darkly

Ms. Darkly — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:41:52 +0000

Hmmm, I don't know. They're available on YouTube.

In season 1, I thought Pete and Peggy could have an interesting BDSM relationship — but now I'm not sure which one would be the top and which one would be the bottom.

Peggy was clearly aroused during Pete's hunting story in season 1 — I wonder if it would have had that effect in season 2. I know her romantic feelings had waned, but would it work for her on a fantasy level — or had she moved beyond that?

By: hullaballoo

hullaballoo — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:27:33 +0000

Oh, right, Ms. D. But do they even air those scenes any more? I think they've been edited so you never actually see the hand coming down. She's over his knee, and the hand is raised, but then the scene fades to black or something. Like you, I remember seeing the complete scenes, but I think the show got a lot of criticism about it in the 80s, so they chopped them.

By: Ms. Darkly

Ms. Darkly — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:09:48 +0000

There are three or four episodes in which Ricky spanks Lucy. One time, he literally played Babalu on her ass. For the most part it was both fake-y looking and played for comedy with, of course, the subtext of it being his right.

There was also an eppie where the Mertz's think he's beating her and — since there were no Very Special Episodes of I Love Lucy — was played as funny.