mad men

amc's 'mad men,' (which began its fourth season on july 25th,) is a fascinating look back at who we were. "mad men," is set in the early '60s and revolves around a group of people who are employed in or connected to the advertising industry on madison avenue in new york city. the show sheds copious light on the age, who we were and how we lived, and the nature, (and history,) of advertising. it is an amazing thing to behold.

the main character is don draper, (played by jon hamm,) a man to whom advertising is simply an extension of human nature. if a man is only as sick as his secrets, draper is unwell. he is a study in contrasts and perhaps the single most complex character ever seen on television. on one hand his secrets are of the largest variety. through every plot line draper's hidden past lays in wait as a potential catastrophe. by turns these secrets have threatened his marriage, his career and his credibility. they have been used against him by his closest associates and have haunted him in his loneliest moments.

at the same time don draper is an everyman who acts on a set of principles that have been slowly revealed and defined over the course of mad men's run thus far. when a foolish playboy shows up at the ad agency intent on spending his inheritance on promoting the sports business of jai alai, as if the american public will lap it up and multiply the young man's fortune, draper sees a moral dilemma and refuses to take the rube's money. (in true to form fashion the agency finds a way to overrule draper and capitalize on the job.)

on the other hand when draper's brother finds him in new york city, wanting only to be near his family and to have a relationship with him, draper throws money at him and orders him to get out of, and stay out of, his life, which ultimately sends his brother to an early demise. this moral black mark, however, can just as easily be seen as a virtue. draper's dilemma revolves around a choice he made, a choice from which there was no return. so when his brother appears draper's secrets, facts wholly hidden from his wife and three children, (and just about everyone else who knows him,) threaten the fragile structure of a life he has built against all odds and with careful precision. he has a trophy wife, children, a fantastic career, a suburban mini-mansion and the matching cadillac, and a certain freedom of movement common to career men in the '50s and early '60s.

in some ways draper is that typical poor, farm kid who grew up certain only of the fact he would not live this destitute life his "family," has given him forever. moreover for draper the need to climb is a moral imperative. he regards his father, (visited by don draper flashback,) with disdain for his life choices and his lowly station.

draper's morality guides his action but it is a subjective morality. he is unfazed by any moral implications of his extramarital affairs. it is as if he believes his behavior is his business and that so long as he provides for his family at a high level, compartmentalizes his life so that his wife is protected from the knowledge that would hurt, and otherwise chooses right action he is moral. (who is to say don draper is wrong on this?) for him it is as if his choices are in harmony with his persona or his personal zeitgeist. they seem to work for him. so when he apologizes to an underling or helps another subordinate who once tried to blackmail him or makes a kind gesture to a secretary, (all actions which contrast with so many of the others characters in the offices of sterling cooper,) draper is the hero of mad men. he is true to himself and consistent within his own boundaries.

mad men marks the end of the age when fictional characters had to be drawn in bold shades of good and bad. remember how pure and white and virtuous the characters of yesteryear were? could fred macmurray of, 'my three sons,' ever have acted badly much less made a mistake? could mike brady have had an affair unbeknownst to carol? would phylicia rashad, (as clair huxtable,) ever have sat down in a motel room with a couple of hitchhikers to smoke some dope? (don draper did.)

mad men is setting a new television standard. as we the viewers come to demand higher quality programming, soon we will no longer accept cardboard cutout characters the likes of cosbys or bradys or even the simpsons. by contrast mad men gives us complexity and nuance. whereas 'happy days,' and 'the six million dollar man,' or 'beverly hills 90210,' gave us black and white characters, mad men offers gray ones. the lives of these characters prompt us to think about our own lives and decisions and judgments.

more, as a historical drama, mad men is set in the early '60s and makes clever use of the real historical events of those days. just as we remember where we were when the twin towers fell, people who were alive on november 22 of 1963 recall exactly where they were when the president was shot. in mad men we see people agonizing over personal crises, getting at the work of day, and engaging in furtive encounters in hotel rooms, (as kennedy was felled in dallas.) similarly the drama that was the civil rights movement is seen coloring the lives of these everyday characters. this historical context adds a layer to mad men so that when marilyn monroe is found dead and every feminine eye at sterling cooper is wet with tears of profound sadness, we are informed about a certain innocence or ignorance of the day. afterall, mass media was a baby.

the business of sterling cooper is manipulating people, persuading them to buy things some of which have great value, others of which have no value. the advertising industry was in its infancy in the late '50s and early '60s but the basic mission is unchanged; represent clients by targeting demographic groups to persuade to buy something.

in those days marketing and advertising were new concepts just beginning to penetrate the american psyche. in mad men we can see businesses refusing to advertise or refusing to advertise in a certain way, (e.g. bible belt purveyors of bikinis who consider the two piece wholesome and refuse any hint of sexuality in their ad campaign,) and we know with certainty they are businesses who will fail. similarly we see tycoons, (based on real, historical figures,) embracing the new and we implicitly understand why they succeeded.

today the american society is under an intense pressure from advertising. it is in many ways a blight on our lifestyles. it is at once ubiquitous, malignant and benign. advertising is so powerful it dictates large swaths of our lives. not only do we elect public officials who most successfully advertise to us but it could be said our form of government itself is heavily influenced by how advertising makes us feel about certain issues thereby changing our attitudes. perhaps one day soon marijuana will be a legal substance. in that scenario advertising will have played a major role. likewise americans do not value liberty and some of the basic tenets of the constitution as we once did and advertising has played a role in that too, convincing us that fearing criminals and terrorists, (for example,) is more important than protecting our own rights to privacy.

'mad men,' serves as a study in how advertising came to be, what it represents and how it affects us. some of us advocate, (or merely pine away,) for responsible legislation regulating carbon emissions, but we think nothing of a truck polluting the atmosphere, (as trucks do,) for the sole purpose of pulling a facade up and down beach boulevard with an advertising message on it.

upon reviewing the commercial above we can see clearly how ridiculous the claim lucky strike cigarettes made was and yet, that commercial was successful. people bought it, which is to say they bought the cigarettes. our ads today are more complex but they work in just the same way, (only with greater precision i would assert.) in any 'mad men,' episode one can find insights such as might be gleaned from the lucky strike commercial some 50 years after it was made. what will be effective advertising for an airline? in 'mad men,' it is a little girl asking her father what he brought her home from distant lands. how advertising was sold in those days is also interesting in as much as it depicts the early days of schmoozing, taking the clients out and getting them drunk and showing them a good time in order to win the desired outcome. moreover it is important to think about these things if we are to immunize ourselves against advertising or what ails us.

televison shows which illuminate and educate are special. in this way 'mad men,' is the second best television show i have ever seen. it is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. the writers, (mathew weiner chief among them,) achieve on such a high level the little screen has become art. as viewers we can watch 'mad men,' and be entertained while simultaneously observing human behavior in a way that actually provokes insight. as a side note, january jones and christina hendricks make yet another reason to watch 'mad men;' eye candy. (if hendricks does not singlehandedly destroy the waifish supermodel, she may be invincible. hendricks has won me over.)