Mad Men

Mad Men is a AMC show created by Mathew Weiner back in 2007. Since its air back in 07, the show has been very popular, winning countless awards including 4 Golden Globes and 15 Emmy's. My Personal view on the show corresponds with the general public; I love it.

The show takes place in New York City and takes its views into a 1960's advertisement agency called "Sterling Cooper" which is a fictional company designed for the show. 

 The show follows many characters through countless different conflicts but its main character Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm  is in my opinion the most interesting. He is in the first season a business man working for the agency, but quickly gets promoted to partner by the end of the first season. His character is a very intelligent and unorthodox salesmen that does not like loosing.

Don Draper also is victim to treating women poorly like many men of this time period did. Women's rights were more limited at this point in time and it is strongly reflected in the show. the Women characters are all viewed as inferior to the men of the show. We get a direct view of the differences in the Draper household. Don's wife Betty,  played by January Jones, doesn't have any power unless she consults with Don first. If she does something with out asking him first then he often gets mad. The other female characters in the show are also viewed as a lesser to men.

While the women in Mad Men don't have much power in the show, their character often have the largest impact on the viewers. In my opinion the women in the show are extremely powerful because, as young adult, I have never known a world where women weren't equal to men (or at least considered to be). Women in our time period have all the same rights and also occupy many of the same jobs as men which would been outrageous to think of back in the 1960's.

Mad Men in my opinion is one of the best shows currently on TV. It is a very unique story isn't over-dramatic. I find it to be the perfect mix between a soap opera and a drama. If you don't watch Mad Men, I highly recommend you start. 

The Doorway

This Sunday season 6 of TV's brilliantly mod drama Mad Men premiered.  I'm a bit of a fan.  If by "bit of a fan" includes owning 3 seasons on DVD and dressing up as Don Draper for halloween.  I think AMC's 4 time Emmy winner is the smartest, sleekest, and best TV show ever.  Taking place in the 1960's Mad Men follows the advertising world of New York City's Madison Ave.

The show's creator Matthew Weiner didn't just suddenly appear with a hit drama, he served as producer and writer on the HBO hit The Sopranos for 2 years prior to taking his talents to AMC in 1960.  The stories are elegantly told, with brilliant cinematography and a cast of characters that really make you wonder who is a good guy and who is bad.

One of the things I love about this show is it's historical accuracy and it's depiction of a totally different world than we live in today.  Other shows attempting to set their drama in the 60's era (The Playboy Club and Pan Am) seemed to use minor details to convince audiences of the world around them such as hair, clothes and cars.  Mad Men gives the look and the feel that you have literally time traveled for an hour and stepped into the world of social change and cultural phenomenas.   One of my favorite scenes from season 1 that really shows you how the world has changed is during a birthday party for one of Don's children.  A child who is attending the party is running around the house playing and accidentally knocks over a drink.  A man who is not the child's father immediately slaps the boy across the face as punishment. The real father of the boy then comes over and asks the child to apologize to the man who slapped him.  He then scolds him and tells him to run along and says "and tell your mother to come clean this up."

The show brings up very topical issues but puts them in a completely different context and shows the struggle with these issues from a different decade.  It deals with African-American rights and equality in the workplace.  Women's rights and a woman's struggle to enter into a career path.  It discusses divorce, homosexuality, single parenting, and adultery.  But it shows these topics how the 1960's handled them. I really feel like it's a history lesson every week when I watch.

The characters are what really keep the show going, and all actors give equally compelling performances.  Overall between the 6 acting categories at the Emmy's the cast of Mad Men has earned 25 acting nominations yet has not won a single one.  Jon Hamm and John Slattery are always nominated, as well as continuous nominations for Christina Hendricks and Elizabeth Moss.  Although the show it's self has won Best Drama Series 4 years in a row (Only to be beaten my Homeland just his year) It's actors have not gotten the full recognition they deserve.

I will continue to watch Mad Men and hope to show my children this utterly phenomenal show because I think I've learned more about the 60's watching an episode of this show, than I ever did in my high school US History class.