A few years ago, I had a girlfriend who was really into Mad Men, and she recommended it. There had been other things that she had recommended as well, and usually, these proved worthwhile. She was sure I would really enjoy Flight of the Concord, for example. When I finally did get a chance to view these, I very much enjoyed them. There always were some good shows, movies, or books that she strongly recommended for me, and I don't remember ever having been disappointed.
She had a friend who owned Season 1 of Mad Men on DVD, and I borrowed it. The first disk was missing, so I did not get the chance to see the first few episodes. Yet, the episodes that I did watch were enough to capture my attention, and I wanted to see more.
The thing is, this show is done very well. I was born in 1974, and so obviously, I cannot say with any degree of certainty whether or not the sixties were actually like that or not. Yet, it feels like this is a fairly accurate portrayal of what the late fifties/early sixties would have been like, at least in New York City. This was when America was enjoying it's Golden Age, and although the nation may have had some problems, there was an innocence about things (how's that for cliche?). The problems, such as they were, seem almost trivial by way of comparison to what we see now every day on the evening news.
Of course, that would not have appeared to be the case for those who lived during these times, and these characters are believable enough. You actually do get the feel of going back in time, and visiting the world of the very late fifties and early sixties, just before America, and indeed the world, was about to undergo some major changes.
In this television series, the news events and history that we know so well now, decades later, were still in the process of forming. They remain relegated in the background of the lives of these characters, sometimes taking the forefront, but only in terms of how it impacts and affects their lives. An example of this is when the characters focus in on helping the Nixon campaign, which we know is doomed to lose the 1960 election. The characters work for Sterling Cooper, an advertisement firm that, among other things, is assisting the Nixon team's effort to win the election. So, we are able to catch glimpses of the progress of the campaign, but only through the prism of strategy, as the group try to come up with some answers on how to most effectively neutralize the Kennedy campaign. it is an ingenious and fascinating take on the history of the times, and I applaud the writers for this, and many other aspects of the show.
What makes this series very enticing, even addictive, is actually a combination of things. First of all, the characters are believable and strong. They all have flaws, they show uncertainty and conflicts between who they portray themselves as, and how their own actions often contradict this.
They also all seem petty and wrapped up in themselves in their own way. Yet, somehow, the television series is gripping. We see them struggling, each in their own way, in trying to find their individual identity during a time of conformity. They each want to reach a comfort zone, and each struggle to face the considerable obstacles blocking them along the way.
The main character, Don Draper, played brilliantly by actor Jon Hamm, is a mysterious but intriguing character. He is in sales, and we can see why, as he is just loaded with charisma. He has a cool way about him, and always seems very well put together and brimming with confidence. Yet, he has a side to mysterious him that we begin to catch more and more glimpses of, a dark and secretive past. We find out that he has assumed the identity of another man, and that he himself used to be someone named Dick Whitman. Dick Whitman is just an ordinary Joe, with no great prospects. But Don Draper, on the other hand, is a decorated officer in the Korean War, a man going places. When the real Draper is killed, Whitman exchanges identities with him, and officially kills off Dick Whitman, in order to pursue a more promising life as Don Draper. He makes it, too, enjoying the good life with a beautiful wife (Betty Draper, played very well by beautiful actress January Jones) and family in a comfortable suburban home, with a well-paying job. He is living the American Dream. And yet, we sense that there is something lacking, some emotional need that drives him to throw himself at the feet of certain women, as he is not satisfied with his own wife, seemingly. Only in the end of the last episode do we finally seem him beginning to truly appreciate all that he is blessed with, and we are left hanging, wondering if perhaps he is too late in recognizing this obvious fact.
Elisabeth Moss plays Peggy Olsen, a seemingly prim and proper, newly hired secretary to Don Draper. Yet, she is not quite as prim and proper as she at first appears. She learns the ins and outs of big city life, and winds up having an affair with Pete Campbell, played brilliantly by Vincent Kartheiser. Pete is the office weasel, wanting to climb the corporate ladder through fair, or unfair, means. He has an inflated sense of himself, and has a particular skepticism and even loathing (as well as fear) of Don Draper. The two have an ongoing rivalry of sorts that is renewed time and again, exchanging barbs and even opportunities to try and hurt the other professionally. He is young and with a new wife, and trying to establish himself while paying for the rather expensive tastes of his wife, who seems to want to fast forward to living a life that the young couple really can't quite afford (at least not just yet). Pete turns to Peggy for comfort and sensuality, but even this turns strange, and Peggy seems more of a rival to him than anything else towards the end).
Peggy is continually exposed to jabs by the sexy Joan Harris (played by actress Christina Hendricks), who at first seems to want to take Peggy under her wings, but shows a petty jealous side as Peggy begins to show some strong talents on her own. Joan seems to have a thing for older gentleman, and she obviously likes to be the center of attention and affection, as she conducts herself as the sexy girl of the office, so to speak.
There are a lot of other characters, too numerous to really go into much detail for this review. This includes Salvatore Romano (played by Bryan Batt), the art director for Sterling Cooper, who seems to be struggling with his secretive homosexuality, tempted by an offer and revealing telling glimpses here and there, yet still obviously uncomfortable with his sexuality in a time when homosexuality was such an unthinkable sin that it was almost unthinkable, in the conformist fifties and early sixties. Speaking of homosexuality, we see Joan approached by another woman, although she quickly dismisses it, trying to defuse a suddenly very uncomfortable situation.
We see this conformity everywhere, and yet we also see the beginnings of the cracks that will eventually grow bigger and bigger, to let the light of more acceptance and modernity shine forth. But the changes are coming painfully slow, and we see them revealing themselves in very human terms on this show. Fascinating!
All in all, a very gripping and addictive television series. not even sure what it is that I like so much about it, but I really do like it! Can't wait for Season 2!
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