My obsession of late has been watching the first two seasons of AMC's "Mad Men" on DVD. My teeny tiny cable package doesn't include this Basic Cable channel, so I wasn't even aware of Mad Men until I found out a former colleague and friend, Matt Riedy, had appeared on an episode of the show.
A little research found "Mad Men" had also taken more than a dozen Emmy awards for writing, acting and production. Pretty impressive for a little cable TV show.
Just because I wanted to find Matt's episode, I added Mad Men to my Netflix account.
Boy, am I glad I did!
"Mad Men" is more than just an office drama set in 1960-63. Its' extremely well-written and researched, with just enough historical accuracy to really provide a glimpse into the time my parents were trying to make a go of things.
It explains a LOT. It explains why there were so many alcoholics back then, it explains why men of my father's era treated women like toss-away pieces of meat, why women were so terribly worried about gaining weight, why double standards between men and women were accepted, even if women didn't like them, why shame and guilt and envy and fear so obsessed the white-collar class that they repressed themselves, and why everybody kept so many secrets.
Sure, it's heightened drama and trumped-up action, but there's enough truth in it to make sense of a lot of things I've wondered about for years.
I was talking about the show to my mother, and mentioned the accuracy, and how the "costumes" were so true. She laughed at me and asked me to please stop using the word "costumes" because they are "FASHIONS". I wish I could watch the show with her, to get her take on all of this.
Something that was extremely shocking was that the lead character, Don Draper, allows his 7 or 8 year old daughter to make mixed drinks for him, his wife, and their guests. But, that's what some kids in "upper class" homes were taught to do back then. And they were told they were "good girls" for helping Mommy and Daddy entertain.
But what I'm enjoying most of all is the subtle unravelling of the seemingly perfect life of Don Draper and his wife Betty. Because their psychological undoing is based on secrets they can no longer stuff down with alcohol and affairs, social mores and assumptions.
The truth will come out, and it will significantly change their lives.
It parallels the sexual revolution, the women's movement, civil rights, and equality in the workplace.
And, it explains a lot.
Plus it's just darned clever writing and casting!
