Comments on: Madison Avenue Revisited

By: newcritics - » Live-Blogging Mad Men - Darren Stevens or Cary Grant?

newcritics - » Live-Blogging Mad Men - Darren Stevens or Cary Grant? — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 02:00:02 +0000

[...] Tonight is the second episode of what has already become something of a touchstone series this summer, AMC’s Mad Men. To be sure, what has drawn viewers and thoughtful critics - like our own M.A. Peel - is the pure style of the thing. Matthew Weiner’s vision comes as an onslaught of slim-cut suits, deep colors, Barcelona chairs, panelled walls and office chic. It’s just a thing of beauty to look at. [...]

By: wwolfe

wwolfe — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:48:03 +0000

The most affecting moment for me was toward the end of Don Draper’s conversation in the cocktail lounge with the woman who owns the department store. There was a look in his eyes when he, and we, recognize that this is probably the first time a woman has spoken to him with the conviction that she’s his equal. He’s stimulated mentally by a woman in a way that he almost certainly has not experienced before, and we can see how much of a boon feminism has been for men, too.

The only really heavy-handed moment was when Draper pulled out his Purple Heart.

By: Tom Watson

Tom Watson — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 00:29:22 +0000

Our friend Jim Wolcott has a has a post up on his blog that references Ms. Peel’s here and adds his own take. Here’s a sample:

“There were other implausibilities in the premiere episode, many of them revolving around Draper’s deceptively gawky, naive new secretary, and a clumsy signaling of one character’s closeted status, which was handled with all the subtlety of a tic outbreak. I don’t understand why the show started off so dour. It’d be one thing if we saw fear of failure, financial and marital worries, etc., gradually chip away at the ad men’s wolfish grins, but in their jet-black suits they seem to be wearing their hollow souls from their first silhouetted appearance, and each plume of cigarette smoke carries a whiff of damnation (since the show establishes from the outset that they’re peddling cancer).”

Well said, but I also agree with his take-away too:

“But it would be churlish not to give Mad Men a few more tries. A labor of love this dedicated deserves some leeway, and maybe the tone will lighten now that it’s established its serioso post-Sopranos bona fides. If it gets any darker, we’ll have to wear flashlight helmets to pick out the principals as they drown their sorrows in even deeper sorrows.”

By: M.A. Peel

M.A. Peel — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:03:24 +0000

Tom, you’re right that this is a very stylish fantasy land of very un-p.c. attitudes for men. It will be interesting if the gender divide becomes an issue for the series, in terms of audience and ratings.

By: Dan Leo

Dan Leo — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:12:15 +0000

I happened on the late-night repeat of the show quite by accident, and, oddly enough for such a male-dominated show, my favorite characters were some of the women: the career-gal artist (and mistress of the main male character), the Jewish department-store owner, and “the new girl” in the office. The fact that main-guy Draper seems to have such a Conradian world-view is appealing to me, and the mise en scÃƒÂ©ne, as noted, is a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised by the show, but then I watch any new show expecting it to suck to high heaven. Which they usually do.

By: Claire Helene

Claire Helene — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:42:24 +0000

Great post. I was thinking the same thing as I tuned in last night. I was curious about it, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach it on a weekly basis.

By: Tom Watson

Tom Watson — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:34:47 +0000

Great review Ms. Peel - I for one will be tuning in again. I thought Mad Men was well-crafted in its debut, and in the creation of an alternative universe: New York in 1960.

I do suspect that the anti-feminism in the series will be a secret fantasy world for modern men to revel in once a week. I really do.

But I’ll forgive that. Such a fascinating period to recreate - such clear ties to iconic cultural pieces ranging from North by Northwest (which essentially had Cary Grant in the Draper role just a few years before) to the Apartment (the young secretary is clearly an homage to Shirley MacLaine’s great role) to Bewitched (no accident the blonde at the end of the driveway in Westchester when a darker, brooding Darren Stevens gets home).

The vices and prejudices of 1960 New York make me feel better - in my lifetime (off by a mere two years) everything has changed.