MAD MEN--Let's discuss this intriguing television show

[[je...]]

Ms. M dared me to start a thread on Mad Men--Sunday night must viewing.  A wonderful dare because I get to talk about something that has really helped me in recovery.  I love this show.  It is a stylized view of Madison Avenue in the 1960s.  Enough history is brought in to hook us oldies as we wallow in the reveries of our youth.  For instance, the civil rights movement, Kennedy's assassination, integration, cigarettes linked to cancer, and other chapters in American history. 

 

For those of us who watch, I have some questions and some musings:

1.  Where is Betty Draper Francis this season?  January Jones did have her own baby.  Is that why she is mostly MIA?

2.  Will Meagan, Megan, Mehgan (whatever) stay with Don? She is growing her own identity.

3.  Will we lose the Lane story all together?  What about his widow?  And should Don feel guilty?  I would.

4.  Will Don stay faithful to Meagan?

5.  Does Roger know that Joan and he have a baby?  I missed it if she told him.

 

I love this show because it caricatures the 1960s, my decade of coming of age.  I lived in the Midwest and Madison Avenue was a bigger than life archetype of everything that was either right or wrong with America.  I am still left with that ambiguity.  Where is the moral center?  There is much cynicism in this series, but there is much intelligence, self-honesty, creativity, and drama.  I care about the characters, especially Sally, Megan, Joan, Peggy, et al.  I am ambivalent about Betty, Don, Henry Francis, et al.  And I am afraid of Glen(n), Henry Francis's mother, and Don--at times.

 

Well, I have thrown out a net to catch some fans.  Perhaps you are here.  But if not Ms. M. and I will continue to keep the Mad Men faith.

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Of course I'm here you sly goose.

 

I'm from Minnesota, you?

 

Okay, let's see, where to begin:

 

Yes, Jones is absent due to pregnancy, remember, this season was filmed a long time ago and delayed due to difficult financial doings AMC  producer. It's why we're saying goodbye to several important characters like Lane and Peggy.

 

A lot of people hope the Megan storyline ends soon, we were hoping she would fall down the elevator shaft. I don't believe Don can stay faithful, and there's something about how they've brought up the fact that she doesn't want to have kids, maybe she get PG, and maybe she's offered a B-way show, has an abortion, and dies of sepsis?  Sorry, but for me, it's Don and Betty to the end. sigh.

 

Lane all gone, no need for wife on the show anymore.  I agree, too weird that Don's brother went the exact same way, due to harsh treatment from Don. I think he will start to really crack now, because of this, and it may be what drives him back to Betty?

 

Roger does indeed know it's his. He states that she keeps returning the money he tries to send her.  I don't get why they're not together now. They're both free and I believe they have always loved eachother, it's not just physical and that's obvious.

 

Phew.

 

M.

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Later today we will bid  adieu to Don and all his friends. It's the Season 5 finale. What could they possibly have in store for us?  I don't think anything could be more shocking than Lane's suicide. It was awful.

 

According to The Huffington Post, Peggy will not be back next season. There is a precedence, however, that characters do show up unexpectedly after we've thought they've gone for good.

 

I also read that the actor who played Sal lobbied the producers by opening a Facebook page to have fans demand the return of Sal. I hated the way the story line got rid of Sal. I was shocked at Don's actions, because he seemed to be growing into a man with scruples, and he did know about Sal, after all, when they were out of town together. Sal was caught in his room with a man when they had to evacuate the hotel due to a fire alarm, remember? Don looked right into his eyes, they both understood what they were seeing. How could Don so casually throw Sal under the bus?

 

I keep having the nagging feeling like something big is going to happen to Pete. (That actor is from Minnesota, Yea!) They keep bringing up the fact that Pete has a shotgun in his house, why would they do that if it was not going to be used. They wouldn't have a second suicide, could Trudy find out about Pete's affair and shoot him? Could Peter get so drunk that he shoots Trudy out of frustration? I don't see it.

 

I have not liked the Ginsberg character at all. I just don't understand why he's there. It looks like the original idea of the character was to be an in your face to Don, his quick mind with winning campaigns, his newer style of being brash and outspoken, being purely business driven and not getting drunk during the work day and drooling over women, and just plain vigor of his youth. I did think they were hinting about a PTSD type situation because they let us know he is a Holocaust survivor. Don loathes him, but needs his talent.

 

I really thought that somehow Pete would find out about his son and try to gain custody. It seems as though they have dropped that completely.

 

The creepy child who plays Glen is the producer's son. It has to be the only way that kid is on the show. He is just awful and most fans say he is the number one person they want gone. Remember that super cringe worthy scene where he had Betty cut of a lock of her hair for him? Ick. If that scene had happened in a modern setting, the authorities would have shown up on her door, not just an irate mother. That reminds me, I am sorry they got rid of Carla. With that huge mansion that Henry's mother has, don't they need help more than ever?

 

I think they might be setting up for a really juicy story involving Betty, diet drugs, Sally and anorexia. All the players are in position for this story, and if they don't do it, it will be a true waste.  They ususally skirt the big issues of the day with the headlines remaining on the periphery of the story. And that is a good thing. However, it would be interesting to see a realistic storyline of these tense people falling prey to speed/tranquilizers/eating disorders. We have already seen the early beginnings of each of these behaviors. The actress who plays young Sally, she's 12, is wonderful. They have given her fairly heavy storylines for a child. Pretty realistic if you ask me. Her temperament is right on the money for a girl of the era, with divorced and remarried parents.

 

Betty will most likely be svelte and beautiful again next season. Jones has been back to her fighting weight for a long while now. She is an advocate for freezing the infant umbilical cord, and using small amounts as health supplements. Some people consider this distasteful, I have no opinion on it other than my knee jerk ick response. I wouldn't do it. Maybe she's privy to some information that makes the process overwhelmingly attractive.

 

Henry turns out to be a pretty much worthless character, not really more important than a piece of furniture in the house, I wonder if they will have a child together, probably not. If they don't, I really can't see that character surviving too much longer. I'm sure Henry is disappointed about who Betty turned out to be.

 

I love Roger, that scoundrel. I love the actor too. Roger gets away with everything. He is what they used to call, a real charmer. The actor is not classically good lucking, but my, he is so attractive. Oh, the way they dressed then. Men's wardrobes had really not changed much since the war at this point. The beautiful suits with always starched and pressed white buttoned down shirts. Perfect width silk ties. Polished dress shoes, overcoats and HATS. Oh, all men were attractive dressed this way. The only other accessory they needed was a close shave. Sigh. I cringe at the way the cock of the walk guys treat women and minorities though, yikes.

 

Whenever I get nostalgic for times I didn't even get to know, my mother reminds me of the difficulties that were keeping people down then. After all, this was the era of mother's little helper. (Which by the way, I always thought was an allusion to Valium, but recently I've heard it was various benzos).

 

This has been the highest rated season by far for the show. I don't know what it was that made people finally tune in. Perhaps John Hamm's many, many appearances on late night chat shows, or his cameos in films including Bridesmaids? I've been watching from day one and I own all the DVD's. I would just love to work at the firm for a week, have a cute little apartment in the village, and date a boy from copywriting. I would not like to wear those horrible dresses, hose, girdles, bras, hairstyles, jewelry, well heck, I don't find those years attractive for women at all. Everything constrained, pushed up, sucked in, encased in scratchy nylon and other man made fabrics. With their hair shelacked into piles on their heads and their thick makeup, add to that the ubiquitous cigarette, it's a wonder these women could walk at all!

 

I am looking forward to tonight's show to find out how they will leave us hanging until 2013, when I will be working at my new job, happy to come back to BB once in a while just to help out.

 

M.

[[me...]]

Hi, I just have to chime in on this thread.  I love Mad Men, and I'm old enough to actually remember the 60's.  And, my given name IS Megan, so I'll go with that.   

 

"MEGAN" --the name:

 

I was born in San Francisco in 1950.  My mother wanted to name me Brigid, but my father, from an old New England family, thought that was "too Irish."  So, they decided on "Megan," originally a Welsh name. And though well-known now, "Megan" was an unknown name back then.  To complicate things further, my LAST name is also a first name, which was popular as a first name at the time.  So:

 

        All through school my first and last name were reversed by my teachers, they'd never heard of anyone named "Megan," and I was often seated with the "M's," so often that I stopped correcting the teachers when they did that, or called me by my last name.  This was in sophisticated San Francisco, where exotic and unusual names were common.

 

        I didn't meet another "Megan" until I was in high school.  Both she and I were shocked and offended because we'd each thought we were unique.

 

        I've NEVER met a "Megan" older than myself, to this day.  So, when I learned the Mad Men character's name, and further that she is French-Canadian, it seemed like a rare continuity break in the show, which is largely very accurate in it's look and feel of the 1960's.

 

Last, I agree that Mad Men's "Megan" should fall down an elevator shaft, or something equally dire.  Women were treated as sex-objects in those days, but most intelligent women managed to find their own strengths and draw on them.  Maybe this character will, eventually.

 

I can't wait for 1967!  The Summer of Love!

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:laugh: Megan, I am laughing so hard at your post, priceless!  You poor thing!  :laugh:

 

You have an unusual insight into this flaw, indeed! I intentionally misspelled Mad Men Megan out of childish disrespect. That was silly of me.   It's just that on the only other forum where I participate, it's a huge topic of discussion, how much people dislike that character and how she seems to have come close to emasculating Don.  When he came home after test driving the Jaguar, when she ordered him to sit down and eat, and then he did? I was stunned. I feared he was going to belt her, not that I wanted him to, but that would have been more in character, don't you think. This is really petty, but most folks can't stand her gummy smile. I had never noticed it until it was pointed out to me. She does seem to keep her smile restrained, if you look tonight you'll see what I mean. Come to think of it now though, no one on the show really give a wide open, natural smile. It must be a directive given by creator/producer Weiner, father of creepy kid.

 

Please do write more about the era. Wow, that was your exact coming of age era.  If you could either keep your era, or switch to any other, what would you do Megan?

 

You should become our honorary go to expert here, what do you think?  If we "catch" something that we don't think is legit, we could ask you for your judgement.

 

It will be fun comparing notes after tonight!

 

M.

[[me...]]

Hi M,

 

I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode.  Too bad it's the last episode till next year,  but for Mad Men 2013=1967 I guess.  That was my favorite year.  And no, I wouldn't trade being a teen in San Francisco and the incredible vibes of that time for coming of age in any other era.  It was wonderful.  The San Francisco Public Schools were excellent then, and I went to Lowell, the academic high school.  In my early 20's I went on to become a professional artist and by my mid-20's was making my living selling art in Bay Area Galleries.

 

I'll carefully watch the finale tonight for any flubs, but it is a great show.

[[je...]]

I am in count down mode for MM.  It is 6:21pm and the clock is ticking.  I love the analysis, ladies.  Yep, I agree with M.  It is Betty and Don forever.  I like that Megan has begun to grow a spin, but Betty is Don's match.  And she is so absolutely flawless in her 1960s perfect makeup and wardrobe.  And she is a sly dog.  I do not like the way she treats Sally.  And is Glen(n) going to turn into Richard Stark.  Glen(n) gives me the creeps.  About Betty, I keep telling my husband, "Oh, I had a dress like that.  Or, Oh! I tried to wear my hair like that."  Everything matches from the trim on Betty's sweaters to the pattern in her skirt. 

 

Don is a disreputable character is so many ways.  But we love our bad boys.  And the seduction of his character I often think that he will do the right thing-but often NOT.  I could not look at Lane handing from the door jam.  I listened to the dialog, though.  Hope that yoy can open this link.  Fabulous pix.

 

http://www.getreligion.org/wp-content/photos/2012/04/mad-men.jpg

 

 

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Countdown!!  Happy, excited, sad.

 

Thank you for that link! Fantastic photo, they should do exact one each season to show changing cast, just love it though. In my younger days, I would have this frames and hung on my wall!

 

I don't like John Hamm to be on all these talk shows all giggly and fun. In real life is such a warm, nice regular guy. Let him wait until Man Men's run has ended, after their major motion pic (I wish!)  to show us the man behind the curtain. I don't want to know his squishy side, but I can't help but see him wherever he pops up.

 

It's funny, but I seam to have a crush on "Don Draper" not John Hamm. This has really never happened to me before.

 

Oh boy, 3 minutes to go!!! Will we write during commercials, I'm excited.

 

M.

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OMGosh, Huff Post had it wrong! Peggy still here 

 

ECT! I am surprised they don't have her drowning in Valium!

 

This ep is great!  Don in ag over dental pain!

 

Megan, possibly having affair with girl in future?  What's with her mother?

 

Love Man Men, I already can't deal with the fact that it won't run forever. I'll just watch it over and over.

 

M.

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Roger saying: What is Regina?  :laugh:

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[move]IF ALL EPISODES WERE THIS GOOD IT WOULD BE THE MOST WATCHED SHOW EVER OMGosh I LOVE MAN MEN.[/move]

[[je...]]

Oh no it is over.  What will become of me during the off season.  Love Julia Ormond.  Will she and Don have an affair?  So is Don alone?  Joan is our general.  Wasn't that shot of her in the middle of the men spread out looking at the new view in their new office great.  Now watching The Pitch.  Haven't been out of my bathrobe all day long.  Still sick but happy with television today.

[[me...]]

I loved the ending--"You Only Live Twice."  I loved that song then, and now it could be the theme song for our life after healing.  Just listening to it took me back to that wonderful time when everything seemed possible.  Bring on 1967!

 

Just a few things come to mind:

 

I was 16 in 1966, and true to my generation I would have considered all the over 30 sex-crazed male characters on this show to be "dirty old men."

 

"Don't trust anyone over 30," sounds ridiculous now, but it was very real then.  All of us boomers were teenagers, we were at least 20% of the population, and just beginning to spend money.  We couldn't be overestimated or catered to too much.

 

I loved the dentist in his white button up smock. Our real dentist looked exactly like him.

 

Smoking was still thought of as normal, even sophisticated.  I was never tempted---both of my parents smoked and everything in the house including my clothes smelled like smoke (yuck).  My brother and I both had asthma issues as children probably from secondhand smoke.  But that was nothing unusual then.

 

I'm sure I'll think of more.  It was a great episode!

[[mp...]]

I could not have loved this episode any more than I do!

 

Peggy, Yeah!

 

Peter's girlfriend (can't remember her name) ECT and after, So Very Touching/Sad/I'm Angry - this may have been the first time I had any sympathy for Pete.

 

Mega, (hi Megan!) She was lovely in her reel, no wonder Don melted and gave her her way, but his misty smile turned into a misty sadness as he realized that Megan was going to not be his much longer- she's going to be a star.  We got to see tonight also that she is Machiavellian and will probably do what it takes to get ahead, I see her being "discovered" on a casting couch in the future. I thought they were going to take her in an entirely different direction after her girlfriend stridently pecked her on the lips.

 

Joan is really fleshing out as a character now (no pun intended!) and she handles everything so beautifully, of course Don is never going to tell about Lane, never tell what part he had in that suicide.

 

Nice finishing up story line with Mrs. Lane.

 

Geesh, Ginsberg still pissy.

 

Betty, Henry, et al, no shows, why?

 

Roger, can we talk absolutely disarming here? Oh boy, Roger!  He's all man, yet such a little boy. What a devastating combination, right ladies?

 

Megan's Mom: Oh crap, what a b-----!  How did Megan turn out so well, or did she? 

 

Don, what to say about Don?  What do you think he chose to do? I do not think I can stand to wait for next year, I know I have to, but I just can't stand it. We all know the old Don wouldn't have thought twice, now? Who knows!

 

I too loved loved loved the song at the end, but I also loved the beautiful seemless transition of melody into lyric, Don's walk from studio melding into bar entrance. This one scene was the gift of a flawless editing job.

 

Do you think they'll have Peggy invent "You've Come A Long Way, Baby". I truly thought Don was going to turn to her in the theater and after they exchanged their dialog, right when the music started to play, he would say that to her. It would have been perfect, for her to take a huge money making campaign right out of the words of Don's mouth. No matter what is says, he is stuck on "I made you a success, now you move on" It's like he owned her, he is obviously jealous. I can't help but feel even that somehow they will have at least one night together. As awkward as that would be, I think Peggy has been in love with him since the beginning as his secretary. She always resented the "pretty" girls getting him by just merely standing there. Don resents her success. Resentment = anger = passion = night they both will feel embarrassed by, but I will love seeing.

 

M.

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A wonderful movie released in 1966 is "The Group". It's on TCM now and I have always loved it. Even though it portrays a group of college girlfriends in the 30's, typical of most Hollywood creations, is the infusion of the actual production era date as a voice in this movie.

 

I think about the girls at Sterling Cooper et al mixing with these young actresses and how they would outwardly snub eachother as the classest constrains of the times would dictate, even though they all were "sisters under the skin" really from that year on. By the 70'a a lot of these girls would be fighting arm and arm braless to fight for their rights.

 

You see my BB friend Megan, as much as I do love your 60's, it's the 70's that I ring my bell to. 

 

M.