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Mad Men : I never watched this show, but I should have

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September 11, 2020, 03:56 PM
P220 Smudge
Mad Men : I never watched this show, but I should have
quote:
Originally posted by FN in MT:
I found the main guys philandering and drunkenness took away from the show. I felt sorry for his wife and kids. I know;
it's fantasy. I'm just weird.


One thing about the show that kind of both surprised and disappointed me was that, essentially, it's a story about a guy on top of the world and how he destroys his life with alcohol, lying and cheating. In a way, the show is like one really long AA meeting: "I had all these things going for me, and here's how my alcoholic insanity got me to throw it all away." It's certainly not a happy story.

quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
Of course the point is supposed to make you see the depravity of it yet still fantasize about it, right?


I don't know that I felt that the point so much was to fantasize about the depravity of it all as much as it was to show that drunkenness topples all who let it. It's been a little bit since I watched the show, but I can't think of one character who was a heavy drinker who didn't meet with misery and tragedy. Like a grown-up's version of Aesop's Fables, in a way.


______________________________________________
Carthago delenda est
September 11, 2020, 04:06 PM
Jimbo Jones
I also saw the show (loved the writing, the set design, the acting...everything about it) and wondered the same thing, but I think you look at Don Draper and I am not sure you can separate the personal from the professional.

I think what made him such a great salesman and marketer also made him such train wreck personally.

Like the scene where he takes the pain of his personal life and turns it into magic with the presentation to Kodak. Its one of my favorite scenes from the series.

https://youtu.be/v_B7HiLQuMk



quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
quote:
Originally posted by FN in MT:
I found the main guys philandering and drunkenness took away from the show. I felt sorry for his wife and kids. I know;
it's fantasy. I'm just weird.


One thing about the show that kind of both surprised and disappointed me was that, essentially, it's a story about a guy on top of the world and how he destroys his life with alcohol, lying and cheating. In a way, the show is like one really long AA meeting: "I had all these things going for me, and here's how my alcoholic insanity got me to throw it all away."

quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
Of course the point is supposed to make you see the depravity of it yet still fantasize about it, right?


I don't know that I felt that the point so much was to fantasize about the depravity of it all as much as it was to show that drunkenness topples all who let it. It's been a little bit since I watched the show, but I can't think of one character who was a heavy drinker who didn't meet with misery and tragedy. Like a grown-up's version of Aesop's Fables, in a way.



---------------------------------------
It's like my brain's a tree and you're those little cookie elves.
September 11, 2020, 04:33 PM
NavyGuy
They took everything about corporate culture of that time and exaggerated it 10 fold. All of the things they depicted; drinking in the office, women treated like slaves and or sex objects underlings treated like peons where real. But not to the extend presented. Well, maybe some places. Most of the managers in my tenure had a bottle in their desk which might come out after hours when most of the workers where gone, but not wet bar set up for just about anyone who wondered in the given office could help themselves.



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
September 11, 2020, 10:22 PM
Bisleyblackhawk
I binged watched every week on Charter.com...even the last episode Smile




********************************************************

"we've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches
Making the best of what ever comes our way
Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may
And theres a cowboy in the jungle"
Jimmy Buffet
September 14, 2020, 02:59 PM
wingfoot
quote:
Originally posted by FishOn:
I enjoyed it. They did a great job paying attention to the details of design, architecture, clothing, cars etc of the 50s and 60s.


I remember reading something about wanting to get the details correct when they were choosing the correct type of fluorescent lighting for the era.
September 14, 2020, 03:18 PM
FN in MT
I sure thought Joan was HOT!
September 17, 2020, 05:16 PM
lyman
quote:
Originally posted by FN in MT:
I sure thought Joan was HOT!



and Mrs Draper



https://www.chesterfieldarmament.com/

September 17, 2020, 05:31 PM
P220 Smudge
quote:
Originally posted by FN in MT:
I sure thought Joan was HOT!


Christina Hendricks. She's beautiful. If you like sci fi, check out Firefly which is also a really good show.


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Carthago delenda est
September 17, 2020, 07:59 PM
f2
Pete's a weasel throughout the series.

We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday.
September 17, 2020, 10:52 PM
Ripley
quote:
Originally posted by f2:
Pete's a weasel throughout the series.


Yes but a survivor and productive. His story is great, he probably changes more than anyone. I kinda liked him from the get go but he fully won me over with the dance scene with his wife. Matt Weiner was asked which character he'd most like to talk to today, Pete's wife, Trudy.




Set the controls for the heart of the Sun.
September 18, 2020, 11:04 AM
selogic
quote:
Originally posted by wingfoot:
quote:
Originally posted by FishOn:
I enjoyed it. They did a great job paying attention to the details of design, architecture, clothing, cars etc of the 50s and 60s.


I remember reading something about wanting to get the details correct when they were choosing the correct type of fluorescent lighting for the era.
The detail even went down to the correct monthly issue of the magazines in the lobby .
September 20, 2020, 06:41 PM
NK402
My doctor advised against my watching it as I'm allergic to cigarette smoke but my wife loved it.