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Mar. 26th, 2009 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightRealised that I haven't said a lot about Mad Men recently. Well, I'm still enjoying it very much. In fact, it's the last piece of 'appointment telly' I have.
Spoilers behind cut.
Every episode I watch, I'm just stunned by how perfect it looks and by the way not a single word or action is wasted, and even the silences have meaning, and there are quite a lot of those. This week's episode was particularly hard to watch at times, as it was the one when poor Betty finally had Don's infidelities thrown in her face. I think we're supposed to believe that she really and truly had no idea. The last scene with her and Draper driving home and not a word said between them was horribly painful.
Draper is such a complicated man. I loathe the way he belittles and controls Betty, and yet the knowledge that he's the only person at Sterling Cooper who would ever have dreamt of promoting Peggy to copywriter is always lurking at the back of my mind. I don't think he really knows what he wants. Yes, he wanted a perfect little WASP wife and kids and the suburban dream, but they're not enough for him. He also wants a woman who can challenge him in some way - almost be his equal. Of course, he found one in season 1, in Rachel Mencken, but she was enough his equal - or in fact way better than him - that she saw right through him. Good for her.
There was something else in this week's episode which left me speechless with rage (things in Mad Men often do), which was the casual way Draper and Betty abandoned all the rubbish from their picnic. Found myself remembering the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, which began some time in the 60s and wondering, were we really so casual about littering then? It's not that we aren't now, given the amount of rubbish left lying everywhere, but even the people who litter know they're not supposed to but just do it anyway. Did people even think that way back then? I should ask my mum, I suppose, while I still can.
Great show. I have quibbles about it, but great show anyway.
The fact that Mad Men is currently the only show that I would be seriously upset if I missed makes me wonder again what does a show have to have in order for us to get fannish about it? I know it must vary a lot from person to person. Mostly, I'm pretty much of a TV snob. For me to get seriously invested in a show, it has to have good writing, or at least acceptable writing tempered by characters so interesting it doesn't matter if some of what they say isn't that brilliant. It also has to have something extra, but I'm not sure quite what it is. What is it for you?
Spoilers behind cut.
Every episode I watch, I'm just stunned by how perfect it looks and by the way not a single word or action is wasted, and even the silences have meaning, and there are quite a lot of those. This week's episode was particularly hard to watch at times, as it was the one when poor Betty finally had Don's infidelities thrown in her face. I think we're supposed to believe that she really and truly had no idea. The last scene with her and Draper driving home and not a word said between them was horribly painful.
Draper is such a complicated man. I loathe the way he belittles and controls Betty, and yet the knowledge that he's the only person at Sterling Cooper who would ever have dreamt of promoting Peggy to copywriter is always lurking at the back of my mind. I don't think he really knows what he wants. Yes, he wanted a perfect little WASP wife and kids and the suburban dream, but they're not enough for him. He also wants a woman who can challenge him in some way - almost be his equal. Of course, he found one in season 1, in Rachel Mencken, but she was enough his equal - or in fact way better than him - that she saw right through him. Good for her.
There was something else in this week's episode which left me speechless with rage (things in Mad Men often do), which was the casual way Draper and Betty abandoned all the rubbish from their picnic. Found myself remembering the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, which began some time in the 60s and wondering, were we really so casual about littering then? It's not that we aren't now, given the amount of rubbish left lying everywhere, but even the people who litter know they're not supposed to but just do it anyway. Did people even think that way back then? I should ask my mum, I suppose, while I still can.
Great show. I have quibbles about it, but great show anyway.
The fact that Mad Men is currently the only show that I would be seriously upset if I missed makes me wonder again what does a show have to have in order for us to get fannish about it? I know it must vary a lot from person to person. Mostly, I'm pretty much of a TV snob. For me to get seriously invested in a show, it has to have good writing, or at least acceptable writing tempered by characters so interesting it doesn't matter if some of what they say isn't that brilliant. It also has to have something extra, but I'm not sure quite what it is. What is it for you?
no subject
Date: 2009-03-26 05:13 pm (UTC)Another thing I've noticed about Mad Men is the way it involves the audience so well. It's self-critical (with the camerawork in the picnic scene), but the audience has to do all the work (we're only shown the litter; there's no discussion about it). As you say with Don, he acts reprehensibly most of the time, but he also does admirable things. It's up to us to decide how we judge him for that.
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Date: 2009-03-26 10:31 pm (UTC)I feel the same way, even though he was a complete and total arsehole to Betty. It's always possible, though, that he didn't think she could be that naive. Plus, she lost a lot of sympathy points when she said what she said about 'you people.'
It is gripping, isn't it? Also - and this is very important, and probably is the ultimate test of what is and what isn't appointment telly for me - I never, ever have the urge to make sarcastic comments about the program while it's on.
It's self-critical (with the camerawork in the picnic scene), but the audience has to do all the work (we're only shown the litter; there's no discussion about it). As you say with Don, he acts reprehensibly most of the time, but he also does admirable things. It's up to us to decide how we judge him for that.
Yep. Show, don't tell. I love that.
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Date: 2009-03-27 12:10 am (UTC)Betty seems to do that a lot, doesn't she? I feel like every time I'm starting to really feel sorry for her something will come out and make me go 'you what??'. I suppose it's all part of the show's alienating technique.
I never, ever have the urge to make sarcastic comments about the program while it's on.
I've yet to watch it with other people, so I don't know about that yet. But it wouldn't be a problem for me; the best TV, I find, is stuff I can watch on two levels: (semi-)seriously on my own and snarking the whole way through it with other people. My brother and I have a habit of watching films by chatting the whole way through them... I think that's one of the main reasons Buffy's so enduring as my fave show evah. It's gripping to watch on its own, but even better to bash through with a smile on your face.
As for Mad Men, I'm beginning to think there's some stuff I need to catch up on (though I think I am getting S1 for my birthday on Sunday). What's this whole bit about him stealing someone's identity? (I really don't mind spoilers - but don't worry if it's really long and hard to explain.)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 08:08 am (UTC)Well, I won't go into too much detail, but it's to do with Draper's service in the Korean War. It's less than glorious, let's say.
As for Betty, though I feel desperately sorry for her most of the time, there are others when she really irritates/appalls me, and even January Jones, the actress who plays her, says we shouldn't feel too sorry for the character. She's made her own bed in many ways.
I'm looking forward to what you think of season 1. It pretty much starts with a bang -not a literal bang, but it's pressed home very quickly indeed what a different world we're in.
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Date: 2009-03-27 11:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 03:04 pm (UTC)It is time consuming though.
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Date: 2009-03-27 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 04:09 pm (UTC)ShameFame somewhere!I love the beginning of S3 (well, actually I don't, but that's another story) when Scott Hope pulls another one out, the implication being that there's a tack retro shop selling them for about 99 cents apiece...
no subject
Date: 2009-03-31 12:28 pm (UTC)Hee! Yes, that's very funny. Must have had the Bangel 'shippers spitting nails at the time.