My summer tv catch up has begun and today I watched the season one finale of Mad Men. This show was getting buzzed about by everyone and my brother. That is a literal statement. T-time highly recommended watching the Advertising Men of Madison Avenue to me.
With awards and high praise from one and all I gave it a chance.I really choked my way through this one. I struggled. My first reactions were that it was bland, boring and cold. In a sense, it was comparable to a performance by Idol's Lil Rounds. I thought I just had to give it a try, finish off the season. Now that I'm through with the opening season, my opinion of Mad Men has tilted ever so slightly in the positive direction.
Maybe it's a correct portrayal of the times, but all of the characters seem dry and withholding. Between Don and his wife Betty Draper, as well as secretary Peggy Olson, the three main characters hardly show any emotion throughout the season.
Okay so the characters aren't that sweet, maybe it's a story based show? Wrong again. People working in advertising. It's pretty boring. Oooooh, he nailed that presentation. Wow, they got another client. It's all so trivial, and if the characters were 'jump off the screen' interesting, it could still be a top notch show, but I don't think they are.
Characters; good and bad. Although Don is sweet with his cool attitude, Roger Sterling definitely has to be my favorite character from season one. On the flip side, between Peggy and Pete Campbell, Mad Men has two of the worst characters on tv. I absolutely have to stop myself from kicking the screen any time one of these two say anything. Their scenes together? Wowzers.
That seems like a lot of terrible complaining. I will definitely be watching season two.
A few words in defense of Mad Men.
ReplyDeleteOne of the attractions of the show is the detail spent on creating the time period, in sets, characters and overall feel. The men are constantly drinking; they drink at work, they stop off for a drink at the bar and then they drink more at home. Rarely to the point of drunkeness, they drink, as Sterling puts it, "because we deserve it."
While it may seem like not much happens, and on the surface, not too much is happening, but in reality, so much is happening. The world is changing around these men. As the men of Sterling's generation are being phased out, Draper will not be able to hang onto an image of masculinity that will be marginalized in a changing culture.
you forgot to mention the woman's movement, which i think is one of the most important, if subtle, points of the show. still doesn't make it good though.
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