Mad Men

I read two separate raves about the new American Movie Classics drama, Mad Men, about Madison Avenue ad executives in the 50s from Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner, so I downloaded the first episode and it lives up to the advance billing. I love the look and feel of it-skinny ties, cigarettes, cocktail hour, etc… It looks unflinchingly at the racism, hypocrisy and sexism of the era. Here's the rave from The Onion AV Club:

Set at a top Madison Avenue advertising agency in the late ‘50s, Mad Men was created by Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner (the premiere was also directed by a Sopranos vet, Alan Taylor), and excels primarily for capturing an office ambience that seems light years removed from our own. Here, it isn’t unusual for executives to sip on highballs and Bloody Marys in the middle of a workday, fill the conference room with cigarette smoke, and engage in sexual harassment as a matter of course. When a new secretary is shown around the office, more than one person suggests that she take some fabric off her prim skirts and show the boss a little more leg. The sheer amount of casual sexism—and, in one scene, racism—kicked around during the first episode is pretty startling to behold from the world of today, which has changed significantly (at least in socially acceptable language) from one that existed before the Women’s Lib and Civil Rights movements.

Though it’s hard to tell where precisely the show is going from here, it does seem to take place on the cusp of major social change, so the (white) Boy’s Club atmosphere may become harder to sustain from here on out. In the first episode, the ad men are dealing with panicked clients from Lucky Strike cigarettes, who are having a hard time adjusting to reports that smoking isn’t all that healthy a pursuit and the government will no longer allow the industry to promote it as such. Again, from today’s perspective, their dilemma seems absurd, since it would utterly ridiculous to promote cigarettes as being good for your “T-Zone” or some such nonsense. But it’s fascinating to see them puzzle over possible solutions, including one that seizes on the “death wish” impulse. Now that would be some truth in advertising.

At the same time, the role of women in the workplace is changing, too. When the daughter of a major department store owner confidently presents her ideas for using advertising to attract a more upscale clientele, the top executive shouts her out of the room, because he simply can’t abide a woman speaking to him in this way. Later, after the boss forces a reconciliation, he’s much kinder to her, but clearly perplexed. Why, he asks point blank, hasn’t a good-looking and personable woman such as herself found a husband and settled down? How else is she going to be happy? I’m guessing that he’ll have to figure out what makes women like her tick sooner rather than later, and it’ll be interesting to see where this show goes as women gain a little big more leverage in the workplace.

In any case, Mad Men has instantly moved to the top of my list for summer television, though my queue tends to thin out this time of year. I’m sure we’ll learn more about the individual characters in the coming weeks, but right off the bat, the show gives a vivid impression of the times. (It also has the creepiest gynecology scene this side of Dead Ringers.)

I'm looking forward to watching this series as well. Here's what Heather Havrilesky from Salon has to say:

"Mad Men," which premiered Thursday, sets the bar extremely high for the competition, both summer and fall. Presenting the most vivid picture of early '60s social oddities that I can recall -- Chain-smoking pregnant ladies! Kids without seat belts! Philandering galore! -- "Mad Men" offers a snapshot of bygone times that is a pure joy to watch, from the incredible costumes and sets to the deliciously claustrophobic depiction of work and domestic life it presents.

Creator Matthew Weiner, who was an executive producer for "The Sopranos," doesn't settle for the same old clichéd dialogue found in other dramas. The writing here is snappy and clever, and every scene has something to hold our attention or surprise us. When Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a senior ad exec, finds himself in the impossible position of having to come up with a campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes at a time when the health dangers of cigarettes are becoming publicized, you expect him to walk into his meeting and suddenly become inspired (a scene we've seen so many times before). Instead, his mind goes blank under pressure, and his younger co-worker Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) steals the show. Then Pete's pitch fails and Draper regains his composure in time to sell the tobacco execs on a much simpler campaign. Immediately, we recognize that this won't be the typical peppy idealization of the good old days, populated by heroes and villains: Pete and Draper are both sympathetic and selfish, they behave callously but we can see how they're both hemmed in by their circumstances.

On the surface, all of the ad execs can seem like the kinds of guys who tirelessly celebrate their own specialness and harass women around the clock. But Weiner and the other writers know how to reveal weakness, just enough to get us on board with some of these cads. It's a testament to the fine writing and acting that we can identify with Draper's high-rolling, big-city existential trap, even as he chain-smokes and screws around and insults one of his female clients, saying, "I'm not going to let a woman talk to me like that!" Later, he has a drink with her as an apology, and when she admits that she's never been in love, he tips his hand ever so slightly:

"The reason you haven't felt it is because it doesn't exist. What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You're born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. But I never forget. I'm living like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't one."