Why Mad Men?

My humble opinion on why the show Mad Men just might grow on you if you give it a chance.

     Soon after the first season of Mad Men had concluded, after months of hearing critics praise it to the skies, I finally decided I had better give it a chance.  I had been reluctant to earlier primarily because the idea of a show about advertising executives clawing their way to the top was extremely unappealing to me, though I liked that it was set in the 60’s.  But what really finally convinced me to watch it was learning that the man behind it was none other than Matthew Weiner - the guy who had written some of the best episodes of what I and many others believe to be one of the greatest and most important TV shows ever - The Sopranos.  A show that meticulously chronicled the lives of characters I shouldn’t have cared about but did, not because they were good but because they were authentic.  As it turns out, that same thing can also be said about Mad Men.   

     Upon watching Mad Men for the first time, I, like a lot of people, was intrigued and seduced by the opening credits.  The music and the imagery are strikingly beautiful, edgy, and unforgettable.  And that’s only the beginning.  The show itself is a visual feast, with colors, textures, scenery, and clothes unlike any other, not to mention all the attractive people who inhabit them.  And here’s the real key:  these feel like real people.  Not necessarily likeable, but real. It takes a while to get to know them.  The world of Mad Men is a complete world, created with great care and thought and attention to every detail.  It is not a show for everyone.  It is character-driven, not action-driven, and on the surface a lot of times not much really happens.  Instead of being fast-paced it is slow, deliberate, and hypnotic.  And much like The Sopranos, it makes you feel intimately involved in the lives of people who almost never say what they really think and almost never show how they really feel.   Consequently, those rare moments when characters betray their emotions or reveal some unknown truth about themselves are remarkably powerful, often shocking, and sometimes cathartic.  Mad Men can be about many things, but what it does best is reveal the great divide between the cool, confident, impeccably dressed exterior these people present to the world, and the insecure, uncertain, often rather murky interior which they barely know themselves.  And I didn’t think a TV show about ambitious advertising executives could be interesting!