Peggy

In the last few episodes of Mad Men, Peggy, Don Draper’s secretary, is really stepping it up. All the women in the office were called in to test a lip stick line that the company was creating an ad for and Peggy, not wanting to be ‘just another color in a box’ or just one of the colors in a ‘basket of kisses’. The men noticed her and thought that her one liners were very clever and they asked her to be a part of creating the ad to pitch. For the first time in the show we see a woman really step out of the bounds that are set for her by society. Peggy is eager to move forward in with this ad but she is still held down by the world she lives in. She is looked down upon by the other women and even held back by the men. Peggy’s character is constantly battling her desire to step out of the world she’s in and wanting so badly to fit into the world she is a part of. She even finds herself in the arms of Peter, who is a newly wed working at the ad company. This is not the first time she has been with Peter and by the looks of it, it wont be the last. Another sign of this man’s world she is living in. While this goes on with Peggy, we see new developments with Don, whose past has just walked back into his life and is haunting him. He continues to hide these things from his wife and continues to seek solace in the arms of his mistress. He does not want the life he has built himself to be destroyed. But his country, cane switch upbringing is hiding around every corner and we continue to see his flashbacks, letting us into his life a little bit more with each episode.  

Episode 5

I LOVED this weeks episode of Mad Men! It took a turn that I did not expect at all and it was just another perfect example of what great story tellers the writers of this show are. In this episode we learn more about the life of Donald Draper, or should I say Dick. In previous episodes we see by the way Don acts toward his wife that he is hiding something about his past life, family and childhood. In this episode a little light is shed on what he is hiding. Without notice a man shows up at Donald’s office asking for him. This man’s name is Adam and as soon as the name Adam is mentioned to Don we see a shift in his demeanor. We learn that this man, Adam, is in fact Donald’s little brother whom he left long ago in another life. In his brief interaction with Adam we learn that his mother was never a mother at all and Don clearly has deep bitterness about her. He is not saddened at all to learn of her death. When Don does not welcome Adam with open arms, Adam is hurt and confused as to why his older brother would abandoned him without notice and not be moved in anyway when he reappears in his life. Later in the show Don essentially buys Adam off and tells him to leave New York and never try to contact him again. Donald is concerned about protected his new life and does not want it to be ruined by his past. He wants absolutely no one to know about his past. He has moved on from it but we still see there is a deep pain in Don’s heart. I believe we will revisit this topic later on as the story develops. 

Episode Four

This weeks episode of Mad Men was really interesting. We are starting to see different, deeper sides of characters and how they interact with the world outside of the advertising company. Last episode we watched as Don became fed up with the upper middle class life he was leading and just had to escape on his own for a while. During this episode we see more into the life of one of the juniors working for the company under Don. We see into the life of his marriage and his family. In the advertising world in the first few episodes it looks like this man is on top of the world and one of the top dogs but slowly we are learning that he is nothing aside from his name he has inherited from his family. On the outside this man looks like he has it all together and he is perfectly set up but when his brand new bride approaches him about an apartment she found that is way out of their price range we see his power as a man in starts to diminish. His wife does not know the position she has put him but she encourages him to go to his parents to ask for help to buy this apartment. His manhood is being stripped away and he has no control over it. For the first time in his life it seems that his role as a man is being shaken and he is left unsure how to deal with this new found loss of power. When he approaches his parents for money we learn the power of his last name and how his father feels as though he is not living up to the family name by working in advertising. |  There are so many cultural things that happen in this show that it is hard to capture it in words and really explain to anyone without them watching. I would really encourage any of you to watch it. It is so well done! 

Episode 3

Mad Men is a wonderfully raw representation of the 1960’s. While watching this week’s episode I couldn’t help but think of the different generations in the show. Analyzing what each character does in light of the generational differences helps me see the world of Mad Men in light of my world. The writers and producers of the show have really captured what it means to live in this time. The slow, careful character development allows the viewer to engage with each main charter in a unique way, drawing the viewer into the story line. I find myself trying to predict where the characters will end up, and how their backgrounds will be revealed. 

So much was revealed about how parents in this day raised their children and where they place their values. The wives are more concerned with outward appearance than the development and growth of their children. People have children as a social standing and not because they want to bring life into the world to better it. In this episode Don’s wife has a minor car accident and her biggest concern is not that her children could have died if the accident had been more severe but that her daughter may have ended up with a scar on her face and then would have to forever live with a physical “disability”. This is a huge statement on parents priorities and values. It shines light on the generation of boomers and their children. 

The stigma on talk therapy, or seeing a psychiatrist is shown in this episode when Don’s wife is referred to see a psychiatrist because the doctors cannot determine why her hands would be going numb. This shows us a few things; it demonstrates the lack of medical knowledge the country had at the time as well as the inability for American’s to connect with their actual emotions, feelings and even past. The psychiatrist that she sees is silent the entire visit and only speaks about the appoint later on, in secret to Don. Another example of how this is clearly a man’s world. I can’t wait to see where the show goes next. 

Episode One

Season One, Episode One of Mad Men dives into the world of the a cigarette company in 1960. The company, ‘Lucky Strike’ is moving into a new ear in the tobacco industry and for the first time they are introduced to the idea that smoking may actually have health risks. This episode introduces the key roles of the show, starting with Don Draper, a seemingly respectful busy man working for ‘Lucky Strike.’ Next we are introduced to Peggy Olsen, a young women fresh out of secretary training, newly hired as Mr. Draper’s secretary. I anticipate we will see a downward spiral of Peggy Olsen as she tries to find her way in this mans world, while giving into how she believes she is supposed to act. We meet a man in his mid-twenties named Peter who is about to marry a women whose father is very wealthy. This character portrays perfectly how men of the time view women. Towards his fiance he acts as though she is his whole world but in reality he is using her to get ahead. These are just a couple of the main characters we meet in episode one. This episode give the viewer a glimpse into what it is really like to be a woman in this time and more importantly, the freedoms of being a man in this time. Men are power and women are objects.

A couple clear themes of this show are the underlying tones of the tobacco company and their struggle to essentially sell death to people while still being able to sleep at night, and the role men and women play in this society. It is clear that women are treated as less than and are really only useful for serving men. It is a very stereotypical world of business man and secretary. The women are their to please in absolutely whatever way they can while the men take advantage the this fact. Even the women play their part in supporting this type of behavior. This issue of women in this show is a clear contrast to scripture. As we know from reading scripture, Jesus valued women and did not see them as objects. This is something that Jesus had to combat in his time though. He was constantly advocating for women and for their voice to be heard. In this show it is much like biblical times in which women were not meant to be heard and they were not a strong voice in society. Jesus came to preach a radically different paradigm than what the people where used to. In this show of course we do not have a Jesus, or at least there isn’t one yet. Perhaps their will be but I think not. I believe that this show will reveal some redemptive qualities about human kind but as of right now the plot is being set up and characters are being revealed.