Madness, just Madness...and I'm loving every minute of it...

It’s a Mad Mad World...

Well as I sit here with my foot buried in ice cold water (story for another time, suffice it to say I am getting old)...I ponder many things. However I can’t write about them all in a timely fashion, so I will have to pick just one topic.

Earlier this week I began watching the AMC original series called Mad Men. I have been hearing about this show for a few years now, but since I don’t get AMC in HD here in the land of terrible tv selection, I never watched it. Recently Netflix became available in Canada (with a 90% absolutely terrible selection I might add, when compared to its American sister) and they offered a free month for signing up.  I’m no fool so I said sure give me a free month. Well I have had this preview for about a week and the only thing I have even looked at is Mad Men. 

Here is the imdb.com description of Mad Men:

A drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.

Here is Joe’s take on Mad Men:

The show is for sure about admen (you will notice a play on the title...I hope) from the 1960’s, some of them are mysterious, some are just odd and some of them are just plain douchy. Don Draper is a GREAT tv character who has a lot of skeletons and I am only 7 episodes into season 1.

This show is a social commentary on fast paced office life in the big city in the 1960’s. I say that as a person who was -21 years old when 1960 rolled around. So I think I am qualified to speak on that topic. Here is what I’m talking about...

There is never a scene where at least one person isn’t smoking an unfiltered cigarette, the women are old school receptionists who have to hang up their bosses hat and jacket each morning, and are expected to keep a lid on all of the men’s indiscretions. The show is very sexist, soaked in stereotypes (such as the way the women dress, the ‘black’ man running the elevator and the constant drinks at lunch, the constant husband search), and filled with currently socially unacceptable activities (drinking and driving, smoking/drinking while pregnant, overtly treating women and minorities like trash and taking care of the wife and kids as well as your mistress).

You may read that description and say, why would I want to watch this show, it sounds like all that was bad with society, and you would be correct. However this show is not these things, the time the show is set in WAS these things and the show has to portray them to accomplish what it wants. What AMC prides itself on is, “Story Matters” and this is the most captivating show I have watched since LOST. They are not comparable in any way except one...they both create amazing characters. Don Draper isn’t just Don Draper and the men are all inept at relationships, the women seem weak on the surface but in control when you look deep, but damn is there a lot of room to grow this show. Hence why Mad Men is a 2 time defending best drama champ.

Let’s also not forget that this show is chalked full of amazing lines like:

"Draper? Who knows anything about that guy? No one’s ever lifted that rock. He could be Batman for all we know."

And

Greg: "I don't want to have a fight."
Joan: "Then stop talking."

Cloud 9?:

Now I need to talk to the other half. What is the other half you say? Well the other half are the people who read what I just wrote and said, holy crap Joe that sounds like an amazing world to work in. I would love to have women and others live to serve me at all times, I would be happier than a hillbilly at a bowling alley if I could have drinks constantly while smoking unfiltereds. If my receptionist doubled as my mistress and my wife always had supper on the table when and if I decided to come home, that would be the bees knees.

If I could be an AdMan in that environment, it would be the best life ever. I mean come on, people still thought it was completely unfounded when Readers Digest printed a report that said cigarettes kill and caused cancer. I would love to have been the guy that came up with the smoking is cool ads since they could no longer talk about the benefits of smoking.

Well to you, the other half, I say...wait, where was I going with this? That sounds pretty good from where I am sitting with a cold foot...

Ok but seriously, I look at the office environment shown in the show and all I can think is that I wouldn’t get a damn thing done. Imagine if there was constant fraternization and drinking and smoking in offices today...wait there still is...ok wrong angle again...

Hmmm...ok let’s try this one, I think it will work. If people today were constantly drinking and fooling around, everyone would know about it via webcam, twitter, facebook, email and camera phone within minutes. Back then everything travelled by mail and word of mouth, so it was a lot safer to do these things. Not to mention that alcohol mixed with social media almost always ends poorly. So at the end of the day, we have progressed because we had to, and because we didn’t want the alcohol around the computers. J (typewriters were much more durable I gather)

What does it mean?:

If you are at all paying attention you are likely saying to yourself...:why is the JLS telling us all of these things? Why do I care about a show I don’t watch and may not even like?”...well here is why I am telling you.

Some people would look at this show and others of its ilk and say, this is terrible, it immoral, it’s degrading to women/minorities, it’s not interesting. On the surface you would be right, however; to that I would say that you are looking at these things from the wrong direction 100%.

We as smart and educated people have to look at such things and say, wow we have come a long way and we really are better off now, no matter what bad things are happening. A lot of the smartest people we all work with are women, and there is not stereotypical man running the elevator. We don’t smoke and drink during pregnancy (for the most part), we don’t believe that cigarettes have health benefits and we don’t view women as maids/baby makers (or at least not any people worth giving a damn about).

So what I think I am trying to say is this. If we don’t know how things used to be, how will we ever appreciate what we have now and what we will always be working towards? How will learn to appreciate all that that nonsense created for us? Some of those things likely should never have existed, but if they didn’t then we would have what we have now. (Plus it’s a great show!)

Morale of the story = have an open mind and always look at how far we have come. There is a long ways to go, but look how far we have come in 40 years...pretty staggering when you really think about it folks.

Until next time

JLS aka today’s AdMan