Mad Men Season 1 Unpopular Opinions
In continuation with my Unpopular Opinion theme, I decided write about my unpopular opinions for each of the seven seasons of Mad Men and The West Wing, specific to each season. I'll see whether I stick to it what with my history of flightiness. Like, I thought of combining Season 1 of Mad Men AND The West Wing. However for some reason, the writing on The West Wing is going slowly. (Partly because I've already bitched about Danny Concanon and admitted my contrarian soft-spot for John Hoynes before and I'm trying to not be repetitive.)
1. Perhaps my most unpopular opinion ever, but I think Betty received too much criticism both in-show and out-of-show for her relationship with Glen in S1. Their relationship wasn't THAT creepy and it never rose anywhere near to molestation or Betty being sexually attracted to little!Glen. Sure, Betty represented how much women and children were isolated with each other out in the suburbs, making some particularly sad, vulnerable housewives inclined to treat the children like confidants or peers which ended up poorly serving both. Partly because 1960-era housewives WERE regarded as children of a sort. However, I never believe it wasn't anything like Betty regarded Glen as her boyfriend or used him sexually.
Within that, I don't think it was a "call dis bitch out in the supermarket" case for Helen Bishop because Betty gave Glen a lock her hair when he asked for it. Yes, it's bizarre and I'm uncomfortably laughing as I write this. Parents flip out when their innocent children are exposed to anything "off" or strange, and I actually think that goes for the NON-helicopter parents of 1960 but it would be applied to anything sexually odd as opposed to giving the child something with gluten in it.
However while I understand emotionally why Helen was all "He's nine years old. What's wrong with you?", it's not obvious justice. It's hard to tell when to give into a child's demand and when to fight it. Children are going to have little crushes on adults- it's hard to figure out how to manage it. Yes, Betty did a crappy job. However I think if Helen really wanted to be fair, she just wouldn't have asked Betty to babysit anymore. I think Helen was reveling a little in the controversy because she was labeled the dysfunctional, creepy woman who DARES walk around the neighborhood and she was a little too into being on the right side of a neighborhood tempest in a teapot. Now, I don't condemn Helen because she had those self-serving motives. She came by those motives the hard way, and as I said above, parents flip out when their babysitter handles things badly. I just really don't think JUSTICE WAS DONE TO THE PEDOPHILE by humiliating Betty in the market.
2. I don't think Peggy was so awesome in how she handled the Relaxicisor radio actress. Frankly, she fucked up a few days of casting and performances out of hubris and rudeness. She could have deferred to Ken's cooze-hound personal experience and advertising professional experience that homely Rita had a better, more confident radio voice than attractive Annie. However, Peggy hadda do things her way and over-ride Ken. That would be fine, heck it would be GREAT, if Peggy ended up being *right*. However, she wasn't right. Annie didn't work out and they had to go back to Rita.
This was Peggy's first time casting on her second piece of copy ever. As far as I can tell, all Peggy accomplished by refusing to take Ken's direction was to delay shooting the commercial, hurt Annie's feelings, and I WOULD HOPE, cost Sterling Cooper or the client some money paying Annie for the failed commercial because I really hope Annie didn't have to endure radio boot camp and waste two days without being compensated for her efforts, even if her voice wasn't The Voice of the Sexed Up Ladies on The Relaxicisor.
Actually, I thought Annie sounded pretty confident and pleasant in her first few takes. However through some mixture of Annie not sounding as Peggy envisioned and Peggy confusing "coaching" with "harshly battering Annie's confidence", Annie really couldn't play a confident woman who was all sexed up from Relaxicisor at the end of the process and Peggy had to fire her and bring in Rita, as Ken originally suggested. Also, WHAT THE HELL that Sterling Cooper can't rustle up some fruit juice for its radio actresses?
Annie: Can I...I have a bit of a cold in my throat. Can I get some pineapple juice?
Peggy: There's a glass of water in the corner. It's great for your throat.
LOL, does Sterling Cooper not make its mai tais with pineapple juice? That's the best way to make a mai tai! Philistines!
In a strange way, I get why *Ken* was impressed and vouched for Don promoting Peggy with, "Plus you should have seen her in that booth yesterday. She was like Kinsey but with balls." However, that's emblematic of these guys' dysfunctions- Peggy proved her worth by stubbornly insisting on her idea and NOT allying herself with another skirt but instead treating her like (ultimately defective) meat. Even though if Peggy had less "balls" from the standpoint of picking Rita initially or being a nicer coach to Annie who really imbued Annie with confidence, they probably could have finished the ad faster and more cheaply.
3. I'm actually not wild about Don's "Advertising is based on one thing: happiness.
And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car..." speech as evidence of him as a persuasive, brilliant word-smith. To make myself clear, I DON'T think it's bad writing at all. It's super-effective on an in-story level because it's realistic as the bullshit cherry on top of his ACTUALLY brilliant idea of "It's toasted."
The combination of the solid-gold copy and show-boaty speech of nonsense reassured Lee Garner, Junior and Senior, that advertising in general and Sterling Cooper specifically have the answer to keep Lucky Strikes desirable no matter what Reader's Digest or the surgeon-general has to say. It's believable that it works in the moment and it gets the gloss of "brilliance" as the conclusion to the actually smart "It's toasted" copy. On a Doylist level, it works as one of the speeches in the pilot that throws down the gauntlet on what Don presents to the world, before it's deconstructed....for the rest of the series.
However, still, the whole speech is one shallow cliche on top of another shallow cliche.
4. I don't think Joan was particularly kind to her roommate, after her roommate came out to her. It would be rather-kind-for-1960 if Joan just heard her roommate's confession of love and stuck to a comforting denial for both of them. "You've had a hard day...." However, IMO, Joan took it to a meaner, more self-centered place by insisting they pick up two old, frankly ugly and sleazy guys for practically mandatory sex so Joan could prove both of their heterosexuality. I don't think it was par-for-the-course for Joan and her roommate to have one-night stands with fat, old men. At the time, Joan was sleeping regularly with Roger. There's a HUUUUUGE difference between Roger and the guy that Joan picked up in Long Weekend, even if they both fit into Bert Cooper's "Don't waste your youth on age" speech.
5. To cross over S7 with S1, I don't believe Mathis's assertion that Lucky Strike liked Don and was charmed by his "can't believe you had the ball to come back" insubordination as a junior copywriter in the mid-50s because Lee Garner Junior had a crush on him. I think S1 really paints the picture that Lee Garner *Senior* was in charge, with the clout to insult his son about not knowing how they make cigarettes and the pull to grab Bert Cooper and practically order him to make Don partner because Lee Garner Sr. AND the Board likes Don, independent of Roger and his failing health. As far as we know, Lee Garner Senior was not gay. It takes until S3/S4 when Lee Garner Jr. mentioned that his dad's health was fading for Lee Garner Jr. to become suddenly more important, and even then, it's implied that he didn't have the clout that his dad enjoyed in the same company which was why the Lucky Strike board got to decide to take their business to BBDO for a reduced commission.
Frankly, if I was going to start picking when Don's good looks directly led to landing/keeping a client, I'd just go for the "so obvious no one will say it" and say that it played a role in keeping Menken's department stores. Now, I don't think Rachel was a silly woman who put SC in charge of Menken's re-branding just because she had a thing for Don. She did make a study of their work and found SC innovative, pushed everyone at every meeting and debated all points from coupons to whether they considered her store's existing perks and layouts in their strategy.
However, I don't think an ugly or even average-looking version of Don would have gotten a re-hearing after the first completely failed meeting between Don's "I'm not going to let a woman speak to me like this!" and Roger's transparent phoniness having to down to the mailroom to find a Jewish employee and Pete/Don's deliberate BUSINESS obtuseness that a Jewish department store can't be a luxury brand where they weren't just anti-Semetic, but missed the whole fucking point of this business opportunity. I really think that if Don was unattractive, Rachel wouldn't have blown the whole thing over with "It was refreshing, really. I mean, actually hearing all the things I always assumed people were thinking."
But then, it's pretty one of a kind for Don to do an about face on marketing convictions that he takes a firm stand on. He went from "There's no making Menken's into Chanel!" to really getting into the project to makeover Menken's into a luxury store. Some of that is because Roger ordered him to save that account because the Menkens were so rich- but IMO, the engine was that he had a case of the hots for Rachel.
1. Perhaps my most unpopular opinion ever, but I think Betty received too much criticism both in-show and out-of-show for her relationship with Glen in S1. Their relationship wasn't THAT creepy and it never rose anywhere near to molestation or Betty being sexually attracted to little!Glen. Sure, Betty represented how much women and children were isolated with each other out in the suburbs, making some particularly sad, vulnerable housewives inclined to treat the children like confidants or peers which ended up poorly serving both. Partly because 1960-era housewives WERE regarded as children of a sort. However, I never believe it wasn't anything like Betty regarded Glen as her boyfriend or used him sexually.
Within that, I don't think it was a "call dis bitch out in the supermarket" case for Helen Bishop because Betty gave Glen a lock her hair when he asked for it. Yes, it's bizarre and I'm uncomfortably laughing as I write this. Parents flip out when their innocent children are exposed to anything "off" or strange, and I actually think that goes for the NON-helicopter parents of 1960 but it would be applied to anything sexually odd as opposed to giving the child something with gluten in it.
However while I understand emotionally why Helen was all "He's nine years old. What's wrong with you?", it's not obvious justice. It's hard to tell when to give into a child's demand and when to fight it. Children are going to have little crushes on adults- it's hard to figure out how to manage it. Yes, Betty did a crappy job. However I think if Helen really wanted to be fair, she just wouldn't have asked Betty to babysit anymore. I think Helen was reveling a little in the controversy because she was labeled the dysfunctional, creepy woman who DARES walk around the neighborhood and she was a little too into being on the right side of a neighborhood tempest in a teapot. Now, I don't condemn Helen because she had those self-serving motives. She came by those motives the hard way, and as I said above, parents flip out when their babysitter handles things badly. I just really don't think JUSTICE WAS DONE TO THE PEDOPHILE by humiliating Betty in the market.
2. I don't think Peggy was so awesome in how she handled the Relaxicisor radio actress. Frankly, she fucked up a few days of casting and performances out of hubris and rudeness. She could have deferred to Ken's cooze-hound personal experience and advertising professional experience that homely Rita had a better, more confident radio voice than attractive Annie. However, Peggy hadda do things her way and over-ride Ken. That would be fine, heck it would be GREAT, if Peggy ended up being *right*. However, she wasn't right. Annie didn't work out and they had to go back to Rita.
This was Peggy's first time casting on her second piece of copy ever. As far as I can tell, all Peggy accomplished by refusing to take Ken's direction was to delay shooting the commercial, hurt Annie's feelings, and I WOULD HOPE, cost Sterling Cooper or the client some money paying Annie for the failed commercial because I really hope Annie didn't have to endure radio boot camp and waste two days without being compensated for her efforts, even if her voice wasn't The Voice of the Sexed Up Ladies on The Relaxicisor.
Actually, I thought Annie sounded pretty confident and pleasant in her first few takes. However through some mixture of Annie not sounding as Peggy envisioned and Peggy confusing "coaching" with "harshly battering Annie's confidence", Annie really couldn't play a confident woman who was all sexed up from Relaxicisor at the end of the process and Peggy had to fire her and bring in Rita, as Ken originally suggested. Also, WHAT THE HELL that Sterling Cooper can't rustle up some fruit juice for its radio actresses?
Annie: Can I...I have a bit of a cold in my throat. Can I get some pineapple juice?
Peggy: There's a glass of water in the corner. It's great for your throat.
LOL, does Sterling Cooper not make its mai tais with pineapple juice? That's the best way to make a mai tai! Philistines!
In a strange way, I get why *Ken* was impressed and vouched for Don promoting Peggy with, "Plus you should have seen her in that booth yesterday. She was like Kinsey but with balls." However, that's emblematic of these guys' dysfunctions- Peggy proved her worth by stubbornly insisting on her idea and NOT allying herself with another skirt but instead treating her like (ultimately defective) meat. Even though if Peggy had less "balls" from the standpoint of picking Rita initially or being a nicer coach to Annie who really imbued Annie with confidence, they probably could have finished the ad faster and more cheaply.
3. I'm actually not wild about Don's "Advertising is based on one thing: happiness.
And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car..." speech as evidence of him as a persuasive, brilliant word-smith. To make myself clear, I DON'T think it's bad writing at all. It's super-effective on an in-story level because it's realistic as the bullshit cherry on top of his ACTUALLY brilliant idea of "It's toasted."
The combination of the solid-gold copy and show-boaty speech of nonsense reassured Lee Garner, Junior and Senior, that advertising in general and Sterling Cooper specifically have the answer to keep Lucky Strikes desirable no matter what Reader's Digest or the surgeon-general has to say. It's believable that it works in the moment and it gets the gloss of "brilliance" as the conclusion to the actually smart "It's toasted" copy. On a Doylist level, it works as one of the speeches in the pilot that throws down the gauntlet on what Don presents to the world, before it's deconstructed....for the rest of the series.
However, still, the whole speech is one shallow cliche on top of another shallow cliche.
4. I don't think Joan was particularly kind to her roommate, after her roommate came out to her. It would be rather-kind-for-1960 if Joan just heard her roommate's confession of love and stuck to a comforting denial for both of them. "You've had a hard day...." However, IMO, Joan took it to a meaner, more self-centered place by insisting they pick up two old, frankly ugly and sleazy guys for practically mandatory sex so Joan could prove both of their heterosexuality. I don't think it was par-for-the-course for Joan and her roommate to have one-night stands with fat, old men. At the time, Joan was sleeping regularly with Roger. There's a HUUUUUGE difference between Roger and the guy that Joan picked up in Long Weekend, even if they both fit into Bert Cooper's "Don't waste your youth on age" speech.
5. To cross over S7 with S1, I don't believe Mathis's assertion that Lucky Strike liked Don and was charmed by his "can't believe you had the ball to come back" insubordination as a junior copywriter in the mid-50s because Lee Garner Junior had a crush on him. I think S1 really paints the picture that Lee Garner *Senior* was in charge, with the clout to insult his son about not knowing how they make cigarettes and the pull to grab Bert Cooper and practically order him to make Don partner because Lee Garner Sr. AND the Board likes Don, independent of Roger and his failing health. As far as we know, Lee Garner Senior was not gay. It takes until S3/S4 when Lee Garner Jr. mentioned that his dad's health was fading for Lee Garner Jr. to become suddenly more important, and even then, it's implied that he didn't have the clout that his dad enjoyed in the same company which was why the Lucky Strike board got to decide to take their business to BBDO for a reduced commission.
Frankly, if I was going to start picking when Don's good looks directly led to landing/keeping a client, I'd just go for the "so obvious no one will say it" and say that it played a role in keeping Menken's department stores. Now, I don't think Rachel was a silly woman who put SC in charge of Menken's re-branding just because she had a thing for Don. She did make a study of their work and found SC innovative, pushed everyone at every meeting and debated all points from coupons to whether they considered her store's existing perks and layouts in their strategy.
However, I don't think an ugly or even average-looking version of Don would have gotten a re-hearing after the first completely failed meeting between Don's "I'm not going to let a woman speak to me like this!" and Roger's transparent phoniness having to down to the mailroom to find a Jewish employee and Pete/Don's deliberate BUSINESS obtuseness that a Jewish department store can't be a luxury brand where they weren't just anti-Semetic, but missed the whole fucking point of this business opportunity. I really think that if Don was unattractive, Rachel wouldn't have blown the whole thing over with "It was refreshing, really. I mean, actually hearing all the things I always assumed people were thinking."
But then, it's pretty one of a kind for Don to do an about face on marketing convictions that he takes a firm stand on. He went from "There's no making Menken's into Chanel!" to really getting into the project to makeover Menken's into a luxury store. Some of that is because Roger ordered him to save that account because the Menkens were so rich- but IMO, the engine was that he had a case of the hots for Rachel.