For me, it's that wife having to put up with her husband's boss' advances, and
her husband having to do same (though he kinda sorta got back at him)...the
weird looking guy in the office making love to the naive secretary on his
couch, then treating her with contempt borne of jealousy at a party...the way
the star has run from his past (even changed his name) and told his
desperate-to-be-family half-brother "don't ever come back"...the way that
salad-eating lady gives that young boy a lock of her hair after knowing he'd
spied on her in the shower--like i said, it's just a little on the sinister
side for me.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "ravenadal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Interestingly, the things in Mad Men that fascinate and appall me the
most are the simple everyday things - like pregnant women smoking and
drinking, children being unretrained while bouncing around inside
cars, people being allowed to drive after obviously imbibing way too
much alcohol, the ad guy bringing the boss home unexpectantly and the
wife having to eat a salad (while pretend to be on a diet) while the
men eat steak. Stuff like that.
~(no)rave!
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly
Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I totally agree. It is a well-written, well produced and performed
> show, but the world projected to the viewers is like some dark ugly
> caricature of the worse parts of the sixties. The portrayal of
Blacks
> does not bother me as much because, in advertising-- even now there
are
> very few blacks despite the crack down by the federal government in
1978
> and last year by the New York attorney general. . I do not think
our
> world and their world overlapped much accept for as
cleaning /janitorial
> staff. I would have had simmer anger boiling underneath if I had
to be
> the invisible underlings of these nasty pricks.
>
> A major problem, is there is no protagonist in the traditional
sense to
> root for. The protagonists of the story are cynical, jaded,
> self-centered and egotistical. Right now the only characters that
are
> appealing are the divorcee and the jewish female department store
> owner. Neither are major characters. The secretary might be
appealing,
> but her sexual behavior initially toward her boss and then the guy
who
> used to play Vincent on angel is strange. Viewers may not always
agree
> with the actions and motivations of characters, but it is the job
of the
> writers to help us understand them. I do not think the writers did
that
> with her character. Sometimes I get the impression that the
characters
> are drawn to bring about the the shock we feel at the jaded aspects
of
> the show. The main character is interesting, but again UGLY. Its
hard
> to route for him.
>
> I keep saying I'm not going to watch anymore, because of all the
> negative feeling it evokes, but I sometimes find myself returning
in
> fascinated horror. I wonder how the show would have been if if it
had a
> more balanced look at "mad men" of that era
>
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >
> > i watch it, but find it to be strange. "Dark", indeed, it's
almost
> > like some kind of funhouse mirror of the time, showing all the
warped
> > and borderline perverted aspects of the time. Can't quite put my
> > finger on it, but it makes me uncomfortable. There's palpable
menace
> > in every show, even when the people are joking. It's as if any
second
> > you expect one of the men (and this is about men) to do something
> > brutal. They can be extremely callous towards and dismissive of
women,
> > most of whom are just objects to be used for work or play, then
> > discarded. Of course the only blacks I've seen are elevator
operators
> > and janitors. Many of the men speak in slow, stilted speech,
almost
> > mumbling, like they're angry or guarded.
> >
> > It's almost like a stylized dream (nightmarish) version of the
time.
> > The look is dead on, but almost too much so, if that makes sense.
The
> > colors feel too vibrant, the suits and hairstyles too perfect,
the
> > sets too dead on, as if someone took all the obvious visual
aspects of
> > the time and put them on screen. It almost feels like a Julie
Taymor
> > ("Freda", "The Lion King" musical) type treatment.
> >
> > I can't get comfortable with any of the men, who run the gamut
from
> > predatory to psycho. Some of the women seem really troubled, as
if the
> > oppression of the times has warped their minds--they can't
fulfill
> > themselves as they'd like in a man's world, so they find other,
odd
> > ways to get release.
> >
> > Everyone in the show feels slightly off, twisted, more like
patients
> > in a mental ward. Really weird vibe.
> > -------------- Original message --------------
> > From: "Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)"
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > <mailto:tdlists%40multiculturaladvantage.com>>
> >
> > > I remeber there being a few fans of this dark look at the 60ths
on the
> > > list, so I thought this would interest you.
> > >
> > > Mad Men Gets a Second Season
> > > AMC series will be back for more.
> > > by IGN Staff
> > >
> > > September 19, 2007 - Variety reports that AMC's Mad Men is
about to be
> > > renewed for a second season, with the official announcement set
to be
> > > made as early as the end of today. The series, focusing on New
York
> > City
> > > advertising executives in the 1960s, has been a critical
favorite this
> > > season and done well for the cable station.
> > >
> > > Variety notes the ratings for the series have shown a
particular
> > upswing
> > > in the male demographic for AMC.
> > > http://tv.ign.com/articles/821/821190p1.html
> > <http://tv.ign.com/articles/821/821190p1.html>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
