i might be especially dense, but from what angle could 'way to go, betty!' be a reaction to her, unprovoked, using her 12? yr old daughter to stir up shit w/ her ex husb?
it made for good drama!
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 18:52 (twelve years ago) link
He's been kinda prickish to Don on a coupla occasions xpost
― Race Against Rockism (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 18:55 (twelve years ago) link
well, yeah, but that's pretty meta. by that standard, we're rooting for the killer in horror movies.
― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 18:56 (twelve years ago) link
you're an idiot
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:00 (twelve years ago) link
If you didn't know a thing about Betty, she is pretty and looks so normal when she smiles. I feel sorry for Henry Francis. He had no idea what he was flirting with.
― *tera, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:01 (twelve years ago) link
i dunno, i've liked betty a lot more this season. i feel like she's suffered enough, and don should suffer more?
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:03 (twelve years ago) link
well thats valid but manipulating ur own daughter in service of that is p not cool
& if it's just 2 ratchet up drama, idk 'way 2 go, mad men writers!' ?
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:19 (twelve years ago) link
Wonder who Don's talking to in the teaser for next week, 'Maybe you and I should go as a couple.'
Then again, they tend to choose lines that are misleading when out of context.
― America's Mobile, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:25 (twelve years ago) link
I think she is more real than Megan. Megan is like a Barbie doll living in a glamorous penthouse, young at a time when it's great to be her age, she gets to follow her childhood dream, has children only on the weekends, her husband doesn't cheat on her. Betty has been through a lot. Her youth and dreams for any sort of modeling or faithful husband, happy family all cut short. Sometimes experiences such as hers can make a person more grateful or empathetic towards those around her. Other times it just makes a person bitter and mean. In Betty you see her struggle with both. I feel sorry for Henry because he does seem to love her very much and could really help her if only she could let go of her resentments.
― *tera, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:26 (twelve years ago) link
i like betty as a character (or rather i want to like her because i once found her sympathetic), but over the past couple seasons i've had to like her despite the way she's written, despite the things she's been made to do. this is an odd way for me to relate to the character, to separate my idea of what betty "should be" from the way she's written, because she only exists in the writing and performance, but so be it.
the fact that i want to like betty, however, doesn't make me think her manipulation of sally in this last episode was at all cool. in saying that i feel that i'm judging the bad things the writers are making betty do, not the character who i remain basically fond of.
― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
that was in response to sarahell
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 12:00 PM (32 minutes ago)
this sort of thing really isn't necessary
― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:33 (twelve years ago) link
Betty = DisintegrationMegan = Violator
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:34 (twelve years ago) link
liking characters is overrated
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:35 (twelve years ago) link
otm
― ♆ (gr8080), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:40 (twelve years ago) link
I think she is more real than Megan. Megan is like a Barbie doll living in a glamorous penthouse,
*tera otm!
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:46 (twelve years ago) link
"more real," what
― goole, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:48 (twelve years ago) link
Betty: has a failed marriage and has mixed feelings about her ex; has body image issues and struggles with her weight; cares about her kids but isn't the perfect mother
Megan: manic pixie dream girl with a sugar daddy
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:54 (twelve years ago) link
that's pretty stupid
― goole, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:55 (twelve years ago) link
yeah how is Megan manic?
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:55 (twelve years ago) link
I guess you have to be mundane to be real?
― polyphonic, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:55 (twelve years ago) link
are we watching the same show?
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
evidently not
― goole, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
unless 'manic' means something else? what mania is she exhibiting
― goole, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
did you all miss the Howard Johnson's episode?
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
Aside from her abrupt decision to resume acting, everything she's done seems pretty reasoned and deliberate.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
answering a question with a question? really?
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
none of that HJ stuff seemed manic at all. DD was being a dick, so she took off.
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:59 (twelve years ago) link
Seems a bit ridiculous to say Megan is just a spoiled Manic Pixie Dream Barbie when a lot of this season has been about people seeing her as a spoiled Manic Pixie Dream Barbie and her dealing with that.
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 19:59 (twelve years ago) link
xp - the way she got super weepy about leaving a job she disliked? the dance number at his surprise birthday party? the ice cream eating?
I'm not saying she is DSM-IV "manic" - but she does have this "too precious for this world" quality.
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
Megan has basically been depicted as being inhumanly perfect, a trait I find creepy and disturbing
xp
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
w/sarahell on this, clinical definitions of "manic" aside
the way she got super weepy about leaving a job she disliked?
this seems totally normal.
the dance number at his surprise birthday party?
she loves don and wanted to surprise him. sure it was misguided, but that's not manic by any definition
the ice cream eating?
it's pronounced sherbert.
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:03 (twelve years ago) link
and i think she was exasperated with him, it had been building the whole episode
^^wrt the ice cream
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
The way some people perceive Megan makes me think I'm watching a totally different show. She's one of the only people in the world of Mad Men who seems to have her shit together.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
what if we eliminated the word "manic" and just left it at "pixie dream girl"?
Though I do think the weepiness was excessive and the total cluelessness in re the party made me think something was wrong with her.
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
these characters are the exact same level of real, which is not
in the 'howard johnson's episode' where, as written, the character decided to be confrontational toward the pattern of character don's habitual level of manipulativeness and need for approval of choices he's already made. and then got severely punished for it because he got fed up and walked away. well, drove away.
the approval of everything betty has been shown to do recently and disapproval of megan is... iiinteresting
― goole, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/tv_club/features/2012/mad_men_season_5/week_8/mad_men_recap_megan_and_sally_are_friends_indeed_.html
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:07 (twelve years ago) link
I'm kinda digging Freddy Mercury now that I've gotten used to her
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
i am suspicious of Megan; she provokes anxiety in me as a viewer. That anxiety is lessened when the cracks show, because it makes her seem like a person. And I'm sure a lot of that anxiety and suspicion is because she is female, and she is regularly positioned as this ideal character, whereas you don't get that with any of the men.
― sarahell, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:11 (twelve years ago) link
its interesting to note that in episode about people being selfish bastards, Megan was (once again) shown behaving in a manner contrary to pretty much everyone else
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:11 (twelve years ago) link
the total cluelessness in re the party made me think something was wrong with her.
i attribute this to the age gap more than anything else
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:11 (twelve years ago) link
what do we know about megan so far? is that she has pretty screwed up parents, more naive and more trusting than most of the characters on the show (kind of a low bar there), probably brighter than betty and with a better sense of self-retraint, probably the only character we've seen yet (save of course peggy and maybe lane) who tries to act with a sense of what's right.
she got some kind of dream to come true -- marrying the big shot in the city -- but has to deal with what life with all his baggage is like. that's half the point of her character, surely
after so many different flavors of cynicism, selfishness and bitterness, i think the show is having fun with a true innocent and how far that can go. really seems to bug some people tho!
― goole, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:12 (twelve years ago) link
How long did we have to wait to discover what Peggy's flaws are?
― polyphonic, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:14 (twelve years ago) link
once I clapped eyes on her huge choppers I stopped being intimidated by her
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:14 (twelve years ago) link
it does make me a little suspicious - like the show's writers are waiting and ratcheting up the sympathetic angle prior to letting the other shoe drop
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
Peggy was flawed, or at least conflicted, right from the beginning
banging Pete against her better judgment etc
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
i think megan and betty both seem real. with megan, the writers have tended to emphasize the positive aspects of the character, and with betty the negative, but neither seems unrealistic or unlikely to actually exist.
i agree that there's something off about the show's failure to equip megan with her own burden of mistakes, grudges and flaws. it's like betty has to be made twice as evil as anyone else just to permit megan's relative decency to exist in the mad men universe. she is presented as something of a dream girl, though not exactly of the "manic pixie" variety.
― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 20:16 (twelve years ago) link