Pimping!
I said I would pimp it like crazy but I haven't had time to prepare anything til today. Having a day off has real perks :)
Welcome to the post I like to call "Why Mad Men wins at life or 100 reasons you should give this show a go" lol Ok so maybe not 100, I'm too lazy for that...
Anyway let the pimping begin!
So here is the thing: I'm no adman, which means I'm gonna be honest heh and tell right away that this is not a fun show. You don't watch it for the easy entertainment, to have a nice little break. It's set in 1960, in one of NYC's ad agencies which is a particular setting that not everybody's interested in. I know I wasn't. There's no happy character on this show and you won't get pure "aww" and "squee" moments. You'll probably feel a lung cancer approaching with the amount of these people's smoking and your liver exploding with the amount of drinking and I can guarantee you, you're gonna have a shock of your life with their sexism, racism, xenophobia and general lack of political correctness. But I can also guarantee you that after the pilot episode which is merely a promise of even greater things, you will become fascinated by these people.
Like I said, you don't watch it because it's fun, you watch it because it's intelligent, different and fascinating in its every aspect. It's simply addictive.
A little trivia: the beautifully stylish opening credits are in fact a tribute to the designer and adman Saul Bass' opening titles for Hitchcock's North by Northwest and falling man movie poster for Vertigo. There are several other such references throughout the series and the creator of the show (aka the guy behind The Sopranos ;)) admitted that its visual aspect is largely inspired by Hitchcock.
You can watch the opening credits here.
Let's move onto the main characters, shall we?
Don Draper
This is the guy who has it all. He's successful at his job, he's got a gorgeous wife, 2 kids and a picket fences outside the city. He's got a perfect family, perfect work and a perfect control over everything... Except not really anymore. This is Mad Men so he also has a mistress (or rather one after another), childhood trauma, war trauma and identity issues. His life is built on lies, his marriage is built on illusions, his generation is slowly becoming a thing of the past and he's suddenly confronted with all of it. So he's preoccupied with spying on the progress of his wife's psychoanalysis, fighting a little power war with Pete and avoiding his own past. And yeah it ain't pretty ;)
I've got to say I can't remember seeing Jon Hamm in anything before this show but man... he's brilliant. And the 50s style suits him to perfection since he's got this old fashioned "manly man" charm to him.
Pete Campbell
The thing about Pete is that he's pretty much a love him or hate him character. He's smarmy, he's arrogant, he would sell his own wife for more power (can't blame him though... Trudy gets on my nerves too ;)), he would sink as low as it's possible to get what he wants and while doing it all, he'll fuck things up in the end anyway. And man. I adore him! *lol* He's an intelligent guy who can see the social changes around him and realizes their importance but he's constantly emasculated by everybody and he's so socially awkward, it's just impossible for him to use any of his qualities in his favor. Just like everybody on this show he's stuck in a life he hates, playing a role he doesn't necessarily understand. His parents hate him, his co-workers tolerate him coz they have to, his wife overpowers him with her money, his in-laws have more influence on his life than he has... Maybe it's a good thing Trudy didn't let him keep that rifle ;)
Peggy Olsen
(Ex) naive new girl in the office. Peggy's ambitious. She doesn't want to be another secretary hunting for a husband or sleeping with her boss (Don in her case), she wants to be one of them, one of the copy writers. Aaand... she proves it by getting involved with (then almost) married Pete on her first day of job *lol* An affair pretty much both of them are gonna pay for for the rest of their lives... But she does manage to get through the never fading gender roles and she gets the promotion she fought for. Except that what happens in the meantime and what will happen afterwards is far from a happyland of dreams coming true. Did I mention how painful this show can be? ;)
Joan Holloway
Ah the femme fatale... Absolutely gorgeous, controlling and witty but oh so frustrated and passive in her career. She's the office manager, involved with Roger Sterling who is one of the senior partners. Obviously not a healthy relationship. She first mentors Peggy by showing her the ropes in the office but slowly their dynamic switches to power play and rivalry. And it's awesome to witness!
And Christina should seriously stick to the 50s style because she's just too beautiful like that. So feminine and so sophisticated, simply gorgeous.
Roger Sterling
He's one of the partners in the agency. A very old school guy when it comes to ideas, cynical, sexist, he adds vodka to his milk - you get the picture right? Yeah he's the fading generation of WWII confronted with impossible to stop changes in society as represented by e.g. Kennedy's victory. Heart attack makes him reevaluate his old ways - we'll see for how long ;)
Betty Draper
Don's perfect little wife. Except for the neurosis, total denial and deep mother issues. So when she finally starts awakening from the illusion of the perfect family life she's cultivating, she obviously ends up weekly on a shrink's couch, fantasizing about traveling salesmen or finding the only solace when talking to a creepy kid from the neighborhood.
Obviously there are other characters but well... I'm not gonna list them all.
Let's take a look at the romantic relationships. Come on, we're all shippers in heart ;)
Peggy/Pete
Heh they're completely wrong and completely fucked up. Did I mention how much I love them? *lol*
Also they're pretty much the angstiest couple I've seen.... but oh well... there's always couch!sex *g*
Trudy/Pete
Ugh. His wife. Gets on my nerves...
Betty/Don
It's actually difficult IMO to decide whether the feelings between them are real or not, considering the state in which their marriage is... But they look pretty together *lol*
Midge/Don
His first mistress on the show. I liked her. Artist, involved with the early days Beats... yeah she was cool.
Rachel/Don
Mistress #2 and a client. And Jewish. ZOMG! lol
Joan/Roger
Roger can be a real romantic. Joan is the best piece of ass he's ever had. And that is a quote *lol*
Obviously there are other hook ups but I won't be listing them all in here.
And to end this little presentation:
And a series of 3 excellent spots someone made
So... with the strike going on, maybe some of you will find some extra time to watch it. Trust me, you won't regret it ;) S1 has only 13 episodes and the second season won't start til next summer... Come on, you know you want to see for yourself why I'm so hyped about this show :P
Welcome to the post I like to call "Why Mad Men wins at life or 100 reasons you should give this show a go" lol Ok so maybe not 100, I'm too lazy for that...
Anyway let the pimping begin!
So here is the thing: I'm no adman, which means I'm gonna be honest heh and tell right away that this is not a fun show. You don't watch it for the easy entertainment, to have a nice little break. It's set in 1960, in one of NYC's ad agencies which is a particular setting that not everybody's interested in. I know I wasn't. There's no happy character on this show and you won't get pure "aww" and "squee" moments. You'll probably feel a lung cancer approaching with the amount of these people's smoking and your liver exploding with the amount of drinking and I can guarantee you, you're gonna have a shock of your life with their sexism, racism, xenophobia and general lack of political correctness. But I can also guarantee you that after the pilot episode which is merely a promise of even greater things, you will become fascinated by these people.
Like I said, you don't watch it because it's fun, you watch it because it's intelligent, different and fascinating in its every aspect. It's simply addictive.
A little trivia: the beautifully stylish opening credits are in fact a tribute to the designer and adman Saul Bass' opening titles for Hitchcock's North by Northwest and falling man movie poster for Vertigo. There are several other such references throughout the series and the creator of the show (aka the guy behind The Sopranos ;)) admitted that its visual aspect is largely inspired by Hitchcock.
You can watch the opening credits here.
Let's move onto the main characters, shall we?
Don Draper
This is the guy who has it all. He's successful at his job, he's got a gorgeous wife, 2 kids and a picket fences outside the city. He's got a perfect family, perfect work and a perfect control over everything... Except not really anymore. This is Mad Men so he also has a mistress (or rather one after another), childhood trauma, war trauma and identity issues. His life is built on lies, his marriage is built on illusions, his generation is slowly becoming a thing of the past and he's suddenly confronted with all of it. So he's preoccupied with spying on the progress of his wife's psychoanalysis, fighting a little power war with Pete and avoiding his own past. And yeah it ain't pretty ;)
I've got to say I can't remember seeing Jon Hamm in anything before this show but man... he's brilliant. And the 50s style suits him to perfection since he's got this old fashioned "manly man" charm to him.
Pete Campbell
The thing about Pete is that he's pretty much a love him or hate him character. He's smarmy, he's arrogant, he would sell his own wife for more power (can't blame him though... Trudy gets on my nerves too ;)), he would sink as low as it's possible to get what he wants and while doing it all, he'll fuck things up in the end anyway. And man. I adore him! *lol* He's an intelligent guy who can see the social changes around him and realizes their importance but he's constantly emasculated by everybody and he's so socially awkward, it's just impossible for him to use any of his qualities in his favor. Just like everybody on this show he's stuck in a life he hates, playing a role he doesn't necessarily understand. His parents hate him, his co-workers tolerate him coz they have to, his wife overpowers him with her money, his in-laws have more influence on his life than he has... Maybe it's a good thing Trudy didn't let him keep that rifle ;)
Peggy Olsen
(Ex) naive new girl in the office. Peggy's ambitious. She doesn't want to be another secretary hunting for a husband or sleeping with her boss (Don in her case), she wants to be one of them, one of the copy writers. Aaand... she proves it by getting involved with (then almost) married Pete on her first day of job *lol* An affair pretty much both of them are gonna pay for for the rest of their lives... But she does manage to get through the never fading gender roles and she gets the promotion she fought for. Except that what happens in the meantime and what will happen afterwards is far from a happyland of dreams coming true. Did I mention how painful this show can be? ;)
Joan Holloway
Ah the femme fatale... Absolutely gorgeous, controlling and witty but oh so frustrated and passive in her career. She's the office manager, involved with Roger Sterling who is one of the senior partners. Obviously not a healthy relationship. She first mentors Peggy by showing her the ropes in the office but slowly their dynamic switches to power play and rivalry. And it's awesome to witness!
And Christina should seriously stick to the 50s style because she's just too beautiful like that. So feminine and so sophisticated, simply gorgeous.
Roger Sterling
He's one of the partners in the agency. A very old school guy when it comes to ideas, cynical, sexist, he adds vodka to his milk - you get the picture right? Yeah he's the fading generation of WWII confronted with impossible to stop changes in society as represented by e.g. Kennedy's victory. Heart attack makes him reevaluate his old ways - we'll see for how long ;)
Betty Draper
Don's perfect little wife. Except for the neurosis, total denial and deep mother issues. So when she finally starts awakening from the illusion of the perfect family life she's cultivating, she obviously ends up weekly on a shrink's couch, fantasizing about traveling salesmen or finding the only solace when talking to a creepy kid from the neighborhood.
Obviously there are other characters but well... I'm not gonna list them all.
Let's take a look at the romantic relationships. Come on, we're all shippers in heart ;)
Peggy/Pete
Heh they're completely wrong and completely fucked up. Did I mention how much I love them? *lol*
Also they're pretty much the angstiest couple I've seen.... but oh well... there's always couch!sex *g*
Trudy/Pete
Ugh. His wife. Gets on my nerves...
Betty/Don
It's actually difficult IMO to decide whether the feelings between them are real or not, considering the state in which their marriage is... But they look pretty together *lol*
Midge/Don
His first mistress on the show. I liked her. Artist, involved with the early days Beats... yeah she was cool.
Rachel/Don
Mistress #2 and a client. And Jewish. ZOMG! lol
Joan/Roger
Roger can be a real romantic. Joan is the best piece of ass he's ever had. And that is a quote *lol*
Obviously there are other hook ups but I won't be listing them all in here.
And to end this little presentation:
Click to viewAnd a series of 3 excellent spots someone made
So... with the strike going on, maybe some of you will find some extra time to watch it. Trust me, you won't regret it ;) S1 has only 13 episodes and the second season won't start til next summer... Come on, you know you want to see for yourself why I'm so hyped about this show :P