Mother Mary Comes to Me? Okay then. Maman Marie is a cool cucumber and a hot number – en même temps! Episode 7 of Mad Men offers an inside look at Megan’s mother and father, their strained relationship, and Don’s father-daughter bond with Sally as she’s growing up bit by bit. Even Peggy’s in on […]
Roger’s in the Sky With Diamonds! Mad Men Season 5 Episode 6: Far Away Places
Tune in, turn on, but don’t drop out? If there was ever any question that Mad Men would bite off a piece of the Psychedelic Sixties, there’s no doubt about it now. Pass the acid tabs at an upscale dinner – hosted by none other than Timothy Leary. And who’s in attendance? At the instigation […]
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 3 – Tea Leaves
One more 1960s bias of note, courtesy of Mad Men… Fat, of course.
Starting With a Kiss? Bliss. . .
Is Mad Men Season 5 really starting with a kiss? Apparently so. And if the episode title isn’t enough to seduce us, I can only imagine that the premiere itself will. Season 5’s “A Little Kiss” Parts 1 and 2 will air tonight at 9:00 p.m. on AMC TV, and all the Mad Men addicts […]
Free Love
Any late sixties values we might still want to practice? Free Love?
Dear Mathew Weiner… Please Give Us More Betty
Dear Matt Weiner, Yes, we know it’s Mad Men, but you’ve given us much to savor in the women, except for one. Exactly. Betty Draper Francis. Sure, we fell for her charm and beauty in the beginning. Perfect for the Kennedy era Camelot. Typical of the Alfred Hitchcock heroine. We tolerated her cool, and at […]
Imagine. . .
Can you imagine a better world? There was an entire generation that dared to do just that. To imagine a different world. A better one. I am part of that generation. Our legacy of images and music from the late 1960s and early 1970s stands. It persists even in contemporary consciousness. It was a troubled […]
Why You Should Be Watching Mad Men (Especially if You’re a Woman)
The heart of the matter All those sayings… about a woman’s place, about a woman’s power, about the capacities – and limitations – that are inherently female. Must I really enumerate them? Can’t you rattle them off in your head? They’ve been planted there since you were a child, you know – whether you’re 30 […]
Mad Men Episode 5: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
It’s a morality tale, and all about shame. About warfare and its aftermath, honor and its value, private shame according to cultural standards of the times, and personal experiences of shame. In Mad Men‘s Season 4 Episode 5, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, we feel the weight of the 1960s heavily; World Wart II is […]
Mad Men Season 4 Episode 3: The Good News
1965 will not be celebrated as Mad Men‘s Don Draper expects. Good news? What Don learns is anything but; the one person who loves the man – not the name – is dying. Dick Whitman + Don Draper = ? Part of the fascination of Mad Men is watching the inner lives of our favorite […]