If we’ve ever had a conversation, you probably know about my love of entertainment. I’m a huge fan of movies and good television shows. I appreciate most film genres (major exception would be Horror as I’m easily scared) and watch a variety of television programs, although I will admit that I limit my viewings of reality programs on the four major networks. When it comes to television, I love scripted shows.
It’s rare that I pick up a show from its debut (Everwood, Pushing Daisies, and Chuck being the major exceptions). Most of the time, I wait to hear great things about a show, and then I’ll catch up on previous episodes via Netflix, iTunes, or Hulu. If I end up liking the show, it’s added to the DVR (this particular method isn’t always the best as I now have 15-16 shows I regularly follow).
In the past few months, I’ve caught up on Mad Men. Several close friends really praised it, and after watching Jon Hamm on SNL this time last year, I thought it was time I watched it. The show follows the advertisers at Sterling Cooper, a fictional ad agency on Madison Avenue in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The characters are incredibly complex, the storylines engaging, and the pacing unique. Don Draper is almost a modern tragic hero, preventing himself the happiness and family life he so deeply desires, replacing it instead with empty relationships.
The characters drink and smoke (even if they are pregnant). They don’t wear seatbelts. They are nowhere near modern political correctness standards. They are sexist. Many things that are said are offensive on today’s ears. The woman are just beginning to get to exercise their voice, and the men are slowly losing their grip on power. It makes the show absolutely fascinating as you witness this tipping point gradually unfold in painful detail.
When I first starting watching, I almost wanted to scream at the screen. I was fascinating by these characters whose actions were often on the wrong side of history. They aren’t evil people or bad people necessarily. They are people flawed only because they are stuck in their present, unable to see the future.
As I watched the latest episode where one character actually thinks it is funny to perform in blackface (something I find terribly offensive), I wonder our presents will be perceived with they are the history of our futures. Right now, we think so many things are “right” or absolute. We don’t necessarily see the harm we are causing or the innovation and good that we are preventing. We won’t ultimately know until history has time to judge us.
I’m not saying I have an answer. I hope that 60 years from now, people will look at the way I lived my life and approve my actions, attitudes, and interactions. At the same time, there is always the chance they will look back and say, “it was just mad, men.”
Mad Men airs Sunday nights on AMC. I really recommend watching seasons 1 & 2 on DVD before watching any current episodes.