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!
