MAD MEN on AMC - Seasons 7(a) & & 7(b)

There are probably trillions of think-pieces titled in defence of Betty Draper/Francis floating around the net.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/mad-men-season-7-field-trip
This one's pretty good. In particular,

One of the main defenses of any abhorrent character, whether in Game of Thrones, True Detective, or All in the Family, is that they’re a “product of their times.” This argument is usually wielded as a means of recuperating misogynistic, racist, and/or homophobic men: of course he sexually assaulted/manipulated/destroyed that woman; that’s how men operated then! To some extent, I actually buy this argument: there’s no “outside” of ideology, even in fictional television, and all men must wallow in the moral imperatives set forth by their narratives.

What strikes me, then, is how seldom this defense is used to exonerate unlikable women. Their actions are just as circumscribed by the ideologies that inform their cultures, but instead of explaining why they are the way they are, we call them bitches and shrews, harpies and sluts.

Which is precisely why I think it’s so critical to defend Betty: she is absolutely a product of pre-feminist sensibilities. All of horribleness, all of the judging — it’s all her sad, broken way of flailing against the quiet yet overwhelming disappointment of her life. She’s immature; she lacks introspection — but it’s difficult to blame her when the one attempt at gaining it culminated in a man looking down her shirt and reporting her confessions directly to her husband.

If being a bad actress allows January Jones to put across Betty's stunted sense of embittered self and frustrated, emotional immaturity so well, then more power to her.

The brand of unpredictable batshit she brings to proceedings is essential. She embodies a festering, almost neurotic ennui that I and find fascinating.

but it’s difficult to blame her when the one attempt at gaining it culminated in a man looking down her shirt and reporting her confessions directly to her husband.

I forget what this is in reference to

So do I but I'm running with vague memories of her shrink breaking his oath.

except I explained that I feel that the show is often courting that stuff.

yeah I get it it just seems like a weird way to frame your unhappiness with what's on screen. I don't see why the audience has to factor into it at all. If you feel the show is being too heavy-handed or explicit that would be sufficient imo.

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, May 21, 2014 4:46 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

but it's all part of the context in which the show is made. you don't think that critics' approval is important to matt weiner et al?

I don't know if it is or not and more importantly I have no way of knowing, so it doesn't concern me.

i dunno, art develops in a context. you probably wouldn't have, for example, film criticism as it is w/o antonioni in the 60s, but you wouldn't have antonioni in the 60s unless a certain mode of criticism hadn't developed. there's a dynamic there.

i haven't looked into matt weiner's eyes and seen his soul, but i think it stands to reason that among other things the writers of Mad Men are responding to the way their show has been discussed/written about over the years. but even if they weren't specifically responding to writing about Mad Men, they are still making a TV show having been familiar w/ the way films and TV etc. have been discussed/written about. they can probably also safely assume they are reaching an audience that is largely familiar with certain strains of cultural criticism as well, certain methods of interpreting art and so forth.

i mean these guys (the big-name show runners of quality TV) clearly are concerned with how their shows and understood and perceived, and are clearly in part responding to that -- it's explicit in their interviews, etc.

i mean this isn't exactly termite art we're talking about.

for me the discussion around the show seems like less of an issue than that the show itself is simply rather mannered and even surreal (sorta). so those moments simply play as a aesthetic choice rather than Bourdeiun social positioning. as an aesthetic choice they tend to play for me the way such things always have: a way for the work to acknowledge itself as art or fiction and invite interpretation. this can be done more or less elegantly, but not more or less authentically.

another angle to view this from: in a way the folks who create Mad Men ARE their audience(s); they share a lot of the same understanding and expectations of art, and probably trade in some of the same methods of interpretation and analysis. so it stands to reason that they would put the show together in a such a way that it calls for the sort of exegesis practiced by critics and audience members.

I dunno this just seems like a lot of empty conjecture about intentions to me

ok, roland.

I've been really high on My Way from last episode. And then last night I discussed old pop songs with a friend, and was reminded of how perfectly I Got You Babe ended season four. And was just reading the Revolver-thread in here, and yeah, Tomorrow Never Knows was so amazing in season five. And oh yeah, Don't Think Twice, That's Alright in season one!!! This show really has some incredibly musical moments.

Waylon from a couple episodes ago probably my favorite, such a fucking cool tune and not super well-known or well-worn either

and of course, perfectly calibrated with the episode

my way is a really pretty song, although i can't help but wish jimmy durante had wrapped his vocal cords around it at some point.

the show itself is simply rather mannered and even surreal

theyve gone a long way in getting back to this quality during the last few episodes and it's reminded me what i loved about the show in the first place

i see that the writing team for the last episode of this half season is Carly Wray and Matt Weiner. they've only written together once before and that was the finale of Season 6 so i'm guessing the next ep is pretty.. finale-ish.

To quote the strokes (and why not?), the end has no end

i think i have a reflexive taste for meaningful stuff because i find it disarming. like "oh nice they're going for it, good for them."

― ryan, Wednesday, May 21, 2014 4:44 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah absolutely. its charming, almost. the show has been way mannered and "do you SEE" from the start, which has always been its appeal for me. i was actually disappointed it got less cold and sociological over the years. it felt like a tribute to the fiction from that period, and the way it grappled with social change -- like it was trying to recapture that internal view of uncertainty and potential, but from a distance.

and its never felt disingenuous to me at all, it just wears that approach on its sleeve for those who notice. the forward movement in time took us out of that literary era too, so now its hard for me to see how they could really recapture that even if they wanted to. the betty stuff comes closest, and some of the stuff with the daughter.

the computer stuff is all very "desk set" of course.

just to go back to pete for a second, he has always been affable and puppyish, even charming, with dudes & "mixed company" and a complete monster to women

Pete when he's wronged/scared/cornered is just a whole other level. he might be my favorite actor of the group, the way he pulls of a character that is just so incredibly unlikeable and punchable is really impressive to me

cool lil tiki bar there

it even had glowing eyes

"I'm drinking rum!"

lol at 'i'm drinking rum!'

someone on Reddit wrote:

In my dream scenario, Bob and Sal meet at The Stonewall, come out unscathed and AMC produces a Mad Men sitcom spin off around Bob and Sal.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/neko-case-dont-peggy-olson-me-motherf-uckers

li'l Stan:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BoVneGsCcAE6FHh.jpg

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr01/2013/4/25/16/enhanced-buzz-20170-1366920060-13.jpg

and any excuse will do

http://i.imgur.com/kUsWE85.png

http://i.imgur.com/tcrNSHx.jpg

john slattery

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/638871/thumbs/o-JOHN-SLATTERY-570.jpg?6

http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt9okmOc1K1qac09wo1_250.jpg

omg lil goth xtina is adorable

This seems like a good time to bring up the factoid that Jon Hamm was Ellie "Erin from The Office" Kemper's high school drama teacher. No pix tho.

http://www.stlmag.com/Blogs/SLM-Daily/March-2012/10-Things-You-Might-Not-Know-About-Jon-Hamm/hamm1.jpg

Ha! Awesome!

goth xtina is my style icon.

A friend of mine in middle school was so in love with Vincent Kartheiser. Or as she called him, "Vinnie".

Kinda bummed me out when I found out recently that Jay Ferguson was the guy in Leonardo DiCaprio's Pussy Posse who harassed Elizabeth Berkley back in the 90s.

http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/tumblr_mn3frnej8r1qdana6o1_400.gif?w=650

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQHREFdQiTc

Jay Ferguson was the guy in Leonardo DiCaprio's Pussy Posse who harassed Elizabeth Berkley back in the 90s.

i just looked up the article on this--how disappointing and gross.

so stoked for the final ep of the year. this 2 mini-seasons thing has really worked!

lol i've seen that hendricks episode of undressed, it's pretty funny.

anyhow watching old generally awful burger chef commercials i came across this -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntKxJoJBs98

and my jaw dropped cuz i HAD THOSE POSTERS when i was a very small kid. i remembered the posters clearly and in my memory we got them from burger king but i think that's just cuz i knew we got the empire and jedi glasses from there. anyhow long story short: i apparently dragged my parents to burger chef a few times when i was very very young.

Another early Hendricks appearance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEUWx4LA7jU

You can guess what most of the comments are about.

90s hot

Bob Benson

It seems appropriate that he's going to Buick, as 'Bob Benson' sounds like the name of Midwestern dealer, as in "I got a great deal on this new Regal at Bob Benson Buick in St. Louis!"

well, here's our moon landing

"Every time an old man talks about Napoleon you know it's the end."

Robert Morse bringing back his How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying style. Loved this episode.