Audience empathy and dislike in Mad Men

[cryptoxin]

Jason Mittell, "On Disliking Mad Men":

The missing ingredient from Draper and nearly all of Mad Men‘s characters is empathy, as virtually nobody’s behavior or situation invites me to place myself in their shoes. Instead, I watch the characters from an emotional remove that makes them appear as pieces in a mannered dance rather than fully realized

Comments

[sienamystic]

I watch Mad Men for a lot of reasons, and it's interesting how my empathy will shift, which is probably reasonable as we're getting a look at the good and the bad each character has to offer. I hate Betty for being shallow and for what feels like a deliberate refusal on her part to stop and think about herself and her situation, but at the same time sometimes she fights back against the cage she's been put into and it's so marvelous. The same thing happens with Don - sometimes I loathe him and sometimes I pity him and, on the balance, he remains a fascinating critter to watch.

[cryptoxin]

That's a lot like my experience! I think it's that balance that's what makes the show work for me. Or maybe it's about keeping the viewer off balance, because you can never quite settle into a stable "I like character X, I hate character Y."

[anoel]

It really is funny how people can have completely different views on a TV show. Reading that just astounded me as I see it so differently. And this: "I’m unsure how the show’s legion of fans negotiate the political dissonance that comes from immersing yourself with people whom you find distasteful" just makes me know he hasn't met media fandom. Although for me the distasteful thing is easily overshadowed by them being products of the time and relating to them in just a human fashion.

And then the follow up link has me boggling over how being an aca-fan or fan for that matter makes you not able to be skeptical. Sure sometimes you want to do that (I've certainly been there) but from everything I've seen in fandom, people do NOT stop being critical when they love something, in fact it can make them care more.

[rpowell]

I agree that Don is a fascinating character to watch. But I think I have lost my empathy toward him as far back as Season 2.