Mad Men

[meganbmoore]

Amazon currently has the first 2 seasons for just under $20.00 each.  Anyone want to try selling me on it in a non-spoilery way?  (With a very strict interpretation of "spoilery.")

I'm curious about the ad agency aspect, but freely admit that my main points of interest are Christina Hendricks and the fashion.  I've watched a few season 1 clips on youtube and am intrigued by some scenes of Joan and Betty (I think those are their names...maybe Betty is actually Peggy?  I think there's one of each!), but I get the feeling that "professional women struggling in a male dominated field" isn't the central focus by a long shot.  Actually, that seems to be the men in the agency.  Which is fine, except that they seem to be rather sexist men (deliberately so, I suspect) and the idea of watching the professional lives of sexist men doesn't particularly appeal.  (Note:  impressions based on brief clips and bit gleaned from discussions I've stumbled across, not an informed opinion or casting judgment.)

If you want to voice your opinion with spoilers, please use the blackout code: <span style="color: #333333;background-color: #333333">Spoilers here.</span>

Comments

[lea_hazel]

It's stealth feminist. You go in thinking it's about the men, but the women are equally important if not more. You can see the characters being set up for failures by the historical background. The reproduction is very accurate, the fashion is marvelous and the acting is impeccable. Season 2 is better than season 1, which has a few WTF moments for me.

It's not exclusively about the struggles of women in a masculine world, but that's a major theme. Peggy (more or less the female lead) struggles in the office, Betty struggles as a suburban housewife, and Joan struggles both at work and in her personal life. It's pretty painful watching the way they are treated, but the show is fairly successful in vindicating them.

Most of the male characters are not fascinating. Don is well-drawn, he has a lot of class angst and such. Pete is sort of grotesque and pathetic, but everyone on the show dislikes him so much it's hard to put heart into hating him. There are a few supporting characters with potential. Overall I pretty consistently enjoy every chapter.

[wilhelminabenedict]

The only thing I really know about it is this little gem and this piece--no spoilers--but other than that, I never watched. Before I ever read those, though, I heard the main character was--Don something?--a sexist womanizer who cheats on his wife, written as likeable. And that put me off.

[denenkyuu]

I haven't watched the entire series as a whole yet, just episodes here and there that we've used in my Media classes on advertising/consumerism
from what I've watched, it's about ad men (the title comes from their self-coined nickname during the 50s/60s) and the strategies they use to delude people into buying their products
it's a very deliberately negative look on advertising (selling lies), but there are a few independentish/strong female characters I think
oh, and there's also a gay guy in the company (he's not for comic relief though, the show does deal with his struggles and whatnot)

SPOILERS(?):
the main character also has a dark past or something where he changed his name to be the man he is now, and there's more adultery going on in later episodes with other characters

I guess it's a show where you love to hate the characters?

I'm just beginning the show myself, so that's all I really know from the two episodes I've watched, but maybe try the pilot online before you buy?
(first episode is about selling cigarettes even though they cause cancer, it really does set the mood for the series I think)