Mad Men: Disc 1

MAD MEN

“A term coined in the late 1950s to describe the advertising executives of Madison Avenue.”

(...pause...)

“They coined it.”

So begins the pilot episode of Mad Men.

I’ve been anxious to watch since the buzz first hit the blogger waves. But I would turn on AMC (yeah…AMC…wtf??) and get so wrapped up in the beautiful hair and clothing that 15 minutes would pass and all I could remember was how deep red the actress marrying Fred Armisen’s dress was. Then came the Golden Globes and, like Arrested Development before it, I felt left out of a really special club. (Plus with all the Sopranos mojo, it's gotta be good.)

Netflix is my friend and I’ve already watched the first disc. (I canceled my cable so somehow now marathon t.v. on DVD is more admittable.)

The setting is early 1960s New York City at an ad agency on Madison Avenue. The show follows Don Draper and the lives of his co-workers, family, friends (and surprisingly high number of mistresses) with the world around them on the brink of change.

There was ace set-up to hook me: damaged marriages with under-acknowledged wives, secret lovers, inappropriate workplace harassment and a cigarette campaign featuring white hair and Evilness.

And while I’m sure that with hair that stylized and clothes that trendy, all these men and women talked more like Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn than Average Joe, I really like them all. My heart broke for the sadness on the face of the housewife who admits she’s unhappy and burned over her cheating husband and his snarky mistress(es). Plus what would it be to live in a world where the new secretary receives overt sexual advances hourly from her male coworkers…? (I know. I know, “That’s sexual harassment and I don’t have to take it”. But in this show the men aren’t scary.)

The writers have a cheesy way of speaking to their 21st Century audience with jokes to make us collectively scoff. “And look at us today! What were they thinking?”

• "Try not to be overwhelmed by all this technology; it looks complicated, but the men who designed it made it simple enough for a woman to use."
• The ad-men are backing a Richard Nixon campaign for something. Yeah, Dick Nixon.
  
• “Everyone loves to smoke. They’re going to whether you tell them to or not”
• That woman smoking and drinking is pregnant?! Whaaaaa…?
• The closeted creative director: "We’re supposed to believe that people are living one way, and secretly thinking the exact opposite? Ridiculous!"
• That child has a plastic bag over her head! And her mother didn't say anything!
  
• Those unbuckled children fell on the car floor!
• “Psychiatry is just this year’s candy pink stove.”
• “Who put the Chinaman in my office?” (Chinaman. Ha.)
• “They paid an Oriental family to be in Mr. Campbell’s office.” (Oriental. Ha.)

And then a less cheesy way, revealing harsh realities.

• “Everyone loves to smoke. They’re going to whether you tell them to or not”
• Single women were a threat--the divorced ones and the career women
  
• African Americans featured have service jobs and no one talks to them (except for Don Draper chatting with the waiter at a bar about women in the pilot. And it seems that the whole point is that he’s talking to someone he’s “not supposed to”.)
• Your friend’s dad will slap you if you’re out of line. And then your dad will say “Do you need more?"

The actors are committed to their characters (January Jones looks so friggin' sad all the time and there seems to always be something else on Jon Hamm's mind--true to their complicated lives as Betty and Don Draper), the attention to detail on the set is impressive and the story is intriguing....just how did companies run when women were strictly secretaries and butt-pinching was part of the job description? Were all mothers unhappy? And cheated on? But seriously, thank goodness Husband isn’t King anymore, requiring permission for wives to go to therapy and getting a phone update from the shrink after each session.

The pilot episode was especially heavy on introducing themes (apparently for an audience that sleeps with gum in its hair):

• There is a clear division of labor (and some of the women are super unhappy)
• Women who are independent are ostracized (or just gossiped about)
• African Americans live in a parallel world
• Child-rearing was reckless
• Everyone smokes and drives drunk
• "Have we ever hired any Jews?" ... "Not on my watch."
• Closeted homosexuals
• etc...really anything that was crazy about the 1960s
  

So while there was quite a bit of information overload, I think that’s standard for a pilot. The pace slowed in the next two episodes and the storyline moved, thankfully.

There is an obvious lack of music. Songs come in to make dramatic points, like a romantic song after a romantic scene and always with a vocalist. But the show is so visually appealing that it took me halfway through the second episode to even notice. Even the cigarette smoke is beautiful.

So what I take from it is an effective portrayal of A Reality. The most obvious sounds are elevator doors opening, ice clinking and cars whirring. The Boy’s Club talks about sex over a good strong martini and the mamas want more from life. If everyone’s outfits didn’t match so well, I could imagine this happening.

I know little about the advertising business beyond my role as "target audience". I guess this gives me more cred than I realize, but this show seems to play on the History of Advertising which I definitely can't say anything about. I also have to assume the jokes become less obvious and the audience is treated less like an idiot as the show grows. Otherwise I can't imagine anyone would have the patience.

And, in the end, the verdict is I like it. Because it makes me feel good. And 9 times out of 10 that is good enough reason for me.