Why Mad Men makes me mad

 

It seems that everyone loves “Mad Men.” I have only seen two episodes of the show, but I can tell you that I don’t love it.

Here’s one of the reasons: the creator of this series is very proud of his period accuracy, but doesn't try hard enough. I was a teenager during the 60s, so I enjoy seeing many of the vintage-looking props, costumes and sets. However, I spotted two glaring anachronisms in just one of the two shows I viewed:

(1) Don Draper has a constant five-o-clock shadow. A very stylish look today, at least for Hollywood types. But unheard of for a business executive in the 1960s.

(2) In the second show I viewed, one character remarks blithely, “It is what it is.” A very common (you might say hackneyed) saying today. But I never heard this saying before this millennium.

The second reason I don’t love the show is the way it portrays relationships between males and females. In the first episode I viewed, a new secretary goes on the Pill because her boss has made it clear what he expects of her. With the intention of providing services, she knocks on his door – and he’s to be married that weekend.

In the second episode I viewed, a grandmother connects flirtatiously with a man at a social gathering, and immediately provides fellatio – all viewed (accidentally) by her pubescent grand-daughter.

This show brings me down. I was too young to be aware of how things were for adult women during the 60s. If that’s how it was back then, all I can say is YUCK. Seriously, it makes me feel like puking. I’d rather watch almost anything else.