MADNESS

Presented By Yolanda M. Deen

Chicago Literary Club

January 31, 2011

This material is meant for adult audiences. Please take a deep breath and remember the 60’s.

Not the hippie generation of the 60’s---but the 60’s of Madison Avenue, New York, New York.

It’s Monday morning. Sue, a somewhat middle aged gal who worked for me at the bank was sitting at her desk ---a look of rapture on her face.

Having heard of some of her romantic week-end escapades with her second husband, I asked, “Gosh Sue, you and Steve must have had quite a week-end?”

“Are you kidding, I am still in ecstasy over last night’s episode of Mad Men.”

“Mad Men”, I asked “what’s that”?

“You haven’t seen it? Where have you been for the past three years? It’s the main attraction on AMC Sunday night cable TV.” As she proceeded to explain, her eyes glistened.

And, thus, I began my own adventure as a viewer of the madness and messy lives of Mad Men.

Mad Men is set in the 60’s and showcases the original and then the surviving ad agency of Sterling Cooper Draper and Pryce located on Madison Avenue.

Permit me to unveil the main cast of characters.

First, the star, Don Draper. Don, a brilliant hunk, is the major creative partner in the firm. A conflicted and impulsive character who basically does what he pleases at all times. Don does not take time to think about what he says in the Board room or to whom he says it or who he beds down. He simply follows his instincts at the time. He goes from pillar to post in record time---and sometimes from pillow to post in record time. And, oh yes, Don is an imposter! We will get to that later.

Don is married to Betty. Pardon me---Don was married to Betty. Betty is now married to Henry, Chief of Staff to Governor Rockefeller, Nelson R., that is. Betty, you see, decided to find a new husband as soon as she stumbled on Don’s true identity while snooping through Don’s desk at home. Yes, it was time to bolt! No matter that Betty was pregnant at the time with Don’s third; she shyly caught the attention of Henry at a VIP cocktail while she was on Don’s arm. Beautiful in an ice queen kind of a way, six months with child, dressed in pale yellow satin, perfectly coiffed---she dropped her eyes just enough to entice Henry when introduced.

Betty it seems had not taken it lightly that Don was actually someone else. Don’s explanations fell on stony ears and believe me---Betty could be stony. She set about immediately to find a new meal ticket.

Poor Henry did not have a chance!

After several clandestine meetings with Henry, Betty made it utterly clear --- she did not want a few stolen kisses or a mere dalliance. Henry, an innocent type, finally uttered those endearing words “ Betty I want to take care of you and the children for the rest of your life”! Ahh, Just the words Betty had been holding out to hear. Poor Henry did not have a chance.

Then, there is Joanie, the stacked bombshell, a femme fatal and the office administrator. Joanie, the gal who led the conga line at the Christmas party (oh yes, they were still called Christmas parties at that time). Joanie, is not beyond an on and off assignation with agency partner Roger Spencer. Joanie, the buxom red head who was used and liked to be used--- to get what she wanted, when she wanted it ---so she could rule the roost at the agency. And, rule she did!

Then there is Peggy Olson! An early version of the career gal, a Doris Day type, dressed in demur pleated skirts of the proper ladylike length, shooting for an office of her own and, hopes that she will become a future partner at the agency. Do not ask Peggy to fetch the coffee (she’s above that) but she might go for a roll (and I am not talking about a sweet roll) in a nearby Madison Avenue hotel room at lunchtime! She certainly was willing to have a flirtation with married agency partner, Pete , the twit.

No matter Peggy would secretly Mother a child and sent it off to be raised by someone else. So what if the child might grow up to resemble Pete.

At first viewing, you might think that the show is simply a provacative soap opera, (it has also been called the business man’s soap opera) --- a show about cigarettes, scotch and sex---more or less in that order. Most devotees think that it is a clever show depicting in great detail the nuances of the 60’s fashion and style and exploring the mores of the ad agency culture of the 60’s--- all presented in a classy and enticing way.

Now you are thinking--- who cares about this TV trash? Well, some 3 million viewers care ( not including, who knows, another 5 million viewers who are closet Mad Men watchers and who do not want to admit they watch)!

The Emmy Awards Committee cares having bestowed four Emmys to Mad Men for Best of Show for four seasons, the Golden Globe Committee cares, the advertisers care and even Lorillard Tobacco cares when recently they announced on CNBC that their cigarette sales were up 10% in 2010 due to all the smoking by the Mad Men. And, Lorillard is not even a sponsor of the show.

Exactly why is the press and the media so taken with Mad Men? Mad Men has captured a huge amount of media attention, news stories and publicity. Witness Banana Republic, the nationwide apparel giant, promoting a Mad Men contest featuring a giant photo of Don Draper in 34 of it’s store windows inviting onlookers to come in, enter their contest ( no sales necessary )to win a walk on part on the show. (No, I did not enter).

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But not everyone thinks the program is a hoot!

Take Julia Baird, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine who wrote a scathing article asking “Why isn’t the show called Mad Women”? She hypothesizes “men’s rebellious behavior in the 60’s was seen as normal or at least explicable but these women were getting had and they were getting mad! She indignantly goes on--“We see the beginnings of the women’s movement in the eyes of the female workers---the hurt look in the eyes of Don’s secretary when he gives her an envelope of cash for her Christmas bonus the morning after---well, the morning after! Julia forgets that it took two to tango that night---even if they were doing the tango right in the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper and Pryce. The music started when Don’s secretary at the time stopped taking notes and began nibbling on Don’s ear. I shall not elaborate here!

Then, Julia points out, there is the beautiful beleaguered Betty who lives a life of dull anxiety, with half hearted attempts to conform to her boring suburban life, unable to escape---and as a consequence has to resort to drinking in the daytime, ignoring her kids, sleeping with a stranger and is unable to fathom her own unhappiness. Poor Betty, Julia says she has been had!

The article by Julia reeks with bitterness and anger. But, at the end of the article, Julia attempts to justify her own fascination with the show “Actually, she says, the show’s sexism can be funny because it is clearly retro, witty and overt”. Well, Julia exactly why are you watching?

Let’s look at this from another perspective! Betty may be bored but she has been quite busy trying to satisfy her own whims of the day. She has managed to get most of what she wants, a full time housekeeper, private riding lessons, cozy sessions on a couch with a shrink , beautiful expensive cloths, the perfect 60’s house complete with plaid wall paper in the kitchen ( I remember my Aunt Jenny had that plaid wallpaper)---and of course, Betty does not work!

A business trip with Don to Rome puts her in a pouty mood. She wants to stay longer. Don can’t. His client Conrad Hilton expects him back in New York the next day. She doesn’t care! Don buys her an expensive necklace in Rome to keep her happy. She tosses it aside. It’s not enough!

Frankly, I see Betty as a spoiled brat not a beleaguered, bored 60’s wife ready to be rescued by the women’s movement. You see Betty simply wants more and seems to get it.

Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune calls Mad Men a brilliant soap opera about drinking, smoking, sex drinking, identity issues and more drinking and reminiscent of Dorothy Parker days, when she quipped, “ I love a martini- but two at the most. Three I’m under the table: Four, I’m under the host”!

Rosenthal also injects the idea that Mad Men fans seem dedicated to catching the producers in a mistake like the time someone spotted a 1987 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary on a bookshelf in one of the partners offices. These are the details that drive Mad Men fans , well, mad!!

Yes, Mad Men is replete with 60’s secretaries with beehive hair doe’s, portable bars in the partners offices, couches on which to take a nap after a three martini lunch, noon time escapades and the daily inventory of the office supply of scotch to be sure it does not run out!. And, it’s chock a bloc with iconic 60’s products---Pond’s Cold Cream, Lucky Strikes ( a major client of Sterling Cooper) ,Popsicles, Maalox and Pontiacs. Yes, it was an era of scotch and cigarettes. If you have forgotten, as a reminder, I draw your attention to an old Chesterfield ad featuring Ronald Reagan touting Chesterfields.

But digging a little deeper, there are the dark psyches and identity hangovers of our characters.

The first of the series starts out when a fellow named Dick Whitman , a single guy from a dirt poor home in Pennsylvania coal country--- on an impulse while in the Korean war, steals the dog tags of his dead buddy—the real Don Draper, a married guy from California. Dick, now impersonating Don, eventually morphs into his own version of Don Draper. Talk about identity problems. Don is above all is a primo compulsive guy with no guilt in his bones.

Well, there they are---each with their dark side identity problems--- Don, the imposter, Betty, the petulant, never satisfied housewife, Joanie the office administrator who specializes in toying with the agency partner Roger Spencer while seeking the comfort of her doctor hubby when she has a bad day with Roger, and Peggy who isn’t quite sure if she wants to be a copy writer par excellence or a misguided vamp. Yes, this bunch all has serious identity issues.

Now the question before the audience is---why exactly are three million plus watchers glued to their TV’s on Sunday night during the Mad Men season to watch this throw back trash?

I thought an informal survey would be in order to find out. The survey was easier to do than I thought!

I am riding the elevator at the University Club with three 40’s something guys who are leaving the Club after a midday workout. Probably coming from their yoga class, I thought! One asks “Did you see last night’s episode of Mad Men?? This starts the three on a rehash of the episode singing the praises of the girls cloths---and the girls. One says, “Yeh---I like the one that looks like Marilyn Monroe. The red head wearing the pointy bra--- but don’t tell my wife!.” Tsk,tsk, tsk, I thought.

Just as the elevator opened on the first floor, one of the 40’s something’s says “Well, guys, it’s back to work on time. I think I will grab a coke and go back to the office , no Mad Men martini for me.” I take mental note of this unsolicited conversation. Gone are the days when these guys would stop at the Club bar and belt down a few!

A few days later, I am sitting at a dinner party next to a scion of one of Chicago’s historic companies. A third generation scion! The waiter approaches, pours my wine, gets distracted by a question from a guest and skips the scion.” Oh”, I exclaim, you didn’t get your wine. “It’s OK---I can wait. I won’t have a Mad Men moment while I wait for my wine”. “ Oh”, I ask casually, do you watch Mad Men? “Oh, the scion, bursts out, “ I just love it.” “It’s such a throw back, the sets, the gals, the cloths---and, oh yes, there is Betty. Mind you she is not very pretty but, but---“, his voice trails off. A wistful look comes over his face. Well, well, I thought, who would have thought our scion had a crush on Betty!

It’s a Monday morning and I am at a law firm specializing in intellectual property law. Forty people have assembled to hear the winners of the firm’s annual inventors contest . It’s serious stuff. After the program, hands are shaken, congratulations to the winner. Conversations start about raising capital for the inventors.

Suddenly a man who occasionally attends these meetings and who has been sitting across the aisle from me, gets up and says in a low voice “Did you watch last night’s episode of Mad Men,”? It is so out of context that I can’t believe my ears. He rattles on about the cleverness of last night’s script. “Great script, great script”, Can’t wait ‘til next week’s episode”, then leans over, plants a kiss on me and leaves. And, I don’t even know him! Who does he think he is---Don Draper??

It seems that many viewers, including some of you, talked about the great scripts, the clever, and complicated and dark story line, the detail of the sets, the girls and on and on. But go on confess. Why do you really watch? Is it your weekly voyeurism itch that lures you to watching? Or, could it be something else?

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The columnist of the The New York Times Sunday column called “ Cultural Studies” calls it “ The Allure of Messy Lives.” Or, is it envy of Don’s approach ---to live life with a bottomless coat pocket—dig in, if nothing is there that suits you, dig in again and try something or someone else.

But, it may just be possible, there is an entirely different reason for watching.

Let’s face it, we are trapped in a world of rules and regulations, saturated in political correctness, blocked by taboos of all kinds ( no salt, no fat, no cholesterol, no food, no fun), scared to death of being sued in an overly litigious world, on guard at all times to anything that smacks of sexual harassment ( staff hugs are verboten even if the team brings in a multi-million dollar account that would have throw the Mad Men office into an orgy). These days --it’s “high fives” after a big win.

Smoking is verboten (permitted only 15 feet from a building and certainly not at home). Asking someone in the office to grab you a cup of coffee is out. Face to face flirtations are out, Facebook romance is in!

In all seriousness, we do not want to go back to Draper’s days—scotch from noon til midnight, four packs a day, leading the supposedly guilt free life of an recreational lover. We are not praising that kind of behavior.

Yet what can we learn from these messy lives? You see, we have grown up to be responsible, healthy, orderly, productive and obedient people who do not lose it in the Board room and throw out some unguarded, don’t give a damn comment. Nope, not us, it’s not permitted!!

But, perhaps, just perhaps, Mad Men reminds us of some wild pleasure that we are not experiencing---a reminder that we only have one life to live and maybe, we could use just a little madness.

I am talking to a past President of the University Club. He checks his watch. Time to go. “Where, I ask?” “To a Board meeting, I just hate them”. He says. I ask “do you ever feel like just pounding your fist on the Board Room table and telling someone off?” “Oh, you bet I do” he roars. “But, of course,” he recovers himself, “ I can’t”, he says meekly, “ I’m the Chairman”.

If there was time, I would tell him about the episode when Don Draper vehemently disagrees with the latest ad approach by his client Conrad Hilton , stands up in the Board room, tells Connie off and chucks the account right then and there. Without a single regret!

Perhaps, many viewers do not really know why they watch the show. But peel back a few layers and someone might confess that watching Mad Men is their weekly fix to make sure they are still alive.

As for me---I will never tell why I watch the show!