So yeah, Mad Men won Emmys for Best Drama Series and Best Writing for a Drama Series last night. Not that these kind of awards necessarily signify any measure of actual 'bestness', but it confirms that Mad Men is becoming one of those shows that "you have to watch". I don't know about that.Yes, it's okay not to like this show.
Sure, Mad Men has a place in this new golden age of TV drama, but I think the praise the show is receiving of late is a bit confused.
There is a definite allure to the show, but the more I watch, the more it seems like all gesture and posture, but no significance. Maybe that's what happens when set and costume design take the forefront ahead of characters and story.
Don't get me wrong, there are some great characters in the show (Don Draper and Peggy Olson for example). But the show relies on suggestion and subtelty to the point where ambiguity becomes meaninglessness. Sometimes haunting stares and vague (a/imm)moralisms aren't enough to forge characters and stories that an audience can connect with or get lost in - rather than just admire or pity.
Worsening this effect, the sheer number of characters further dilutes storylines and creates another (unintended) layer of ambiguity - and that much ambiguity, that's not narrative tension, that's surplus.
There's a lot of other flaws to Mad Men, but I'll let you revel in the rest. Just remember though, you don't "have to watch." It's not that we're not "getting it" - sometimes there's just nothing to get.
Plus, Revolutionary Road is coming out soon and it looks like it might better satisfy our hunger for some mid-20thC soul crushing blues. Directed by Jarhead's Sam Mendes (his other movie doesn't exist in my world). Starring Kate and Leo. Yes, that Kate and Leo!
Wow!
ReplyDeleteWhat a review...I have been hating Mad Men since 15 minutes into the first episode I watched. Although I have never articulated it as clearly as you just have, I have hated it from the get go.
No doubt the costumes are GREAT and hold my attention for at least a solid 15 minutes but that is it for me. I cannot bring myself to care about anything else.
I don't want to watch 1950's housewives feeling Betty Friedan's "nameless aching discontent". I am past it, give me something new! "The Hours" did it 6 years ago and they did it well, with heart. So if you are going to attempt something that has already been done either do it better or at the very least match it.
While the show doesn't light a candle to the movie The Hours, it's still much better than the usual spew of rubbish that emits from American Television (read dancing with the stars, So you think you can dance and other such poppycock.) Mad Men is a small step in the right direction for American Televison.
ReplyDeletePS Is the author of this blog by any chance from the St.Clair area of Toronto?
i have to admit that i haven't seen The Hours, so i can't comment - but if it's anything like 48Hrs then it's definitely better than Mad Men.
ReplyDeletebut anonymous2 makes an essential point that Mad Men is better than 98% of what's on TV, but i'm just sayin' that it's not necessarily unimpeachable brilliance or anything. and there are definitely reasons for not jumping on the bandwagon (as the critics have for instance as season1's metacritic score is 77 and season2's score is 88).
and yes, the author of this blog is originally from the st.clair area of toronto - so much so that he even went to st.clare's elementary school (proof being he knows the spelling difference).
A small world indeed! Liam, I came across this blog about two months ago and yesterday I noticed the name at the bottom for the first time. You and I worked at Hillcrest Park ages ago as park leaders. Fancy that! I Enjoy the blog and hope life is treating you well.
ReplyDeleteKim
Great posst thankyou
ReplyDelete