Mad Men season 4

[LouisvilleGreg]

Watching now, so far a little slow for a season opener, but I dig Draper being into getting slapped around.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Watching now, so far a little slow for a season opener, but I dig Draper being into getting slapped around.

That was a shocker, though I realized I shouldn't have been surprised. Great show, and I'm really glad it's back.

[Sir Stewart]

If Don's gonna be doing all this talking about himself now, someone out there is gonna be hearing it.

[Winston Legthigh]

The new dude - yellow shirt with vest, works with Peggy... seemed too modern looking. Was distracting.

 

Good opener. Betty is such an awful mom.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I enjoyed it a lot more than Inception.

[LouisvilleGreg]

The below article was in a free weekly here in Louisville:

 

 

 

"Mad Women"

 

When “Mad Men” ended its third season, the main “Mad” women were in transition.Bored housewife Betty Draper was in the process of divorcing advertising mystic Don Draper, and was last seen flying off with her kids and new politician fiancé. Brainy bombshell Joan Harris, after realizing her seemingly perfect doctor husband really was a nightmare, returned to work with the ad men at Sterling Cooper Draper Price. And ad woman Peggy Olson was making real progress in being taken seriously by her chauvinistic co-workers and joined the new agency as well.

When the series returns Sunday night on AMC, we'll see what 1964 has in store for Betty, Joanie and Peggy, all of whom represent archetypes of their times, but are written and acted with so much depth and authenticity that women and even men of any era can relate. January Jones, who plays Betty with exquisite emptiness, Christina Hendricks, who brings Joan to luscious life, and Elisabeth Moss, who provides Peggy with all her quirky genius, are all nominated for Emmy Awards.

 

“I think women of the next generation identify with all three,” said Kentucky native and current Memphis, Tenn., resident and graphic designer Jacinda Johnson, 37. “With us, it was not only possible to be the perfect mom and wife and (to) claw your way up the corporate ladder, and to also be a sex symbol — it was and is expected.” Lost in transition But the mad women, existing in the space between Susie Homemaker and the sexual revolution, seem well aware that they cannot have it all. At the same time it also appears as if new possibilities are percolating in their pretty heads. Jennifer Dunn, assistant professor of rhetoric and communication at Dominican University in Illinois, sees Betty, Joan and Peggy as perfect teaching tools. Dunn is writing an essay on “Mad Men” and second-wave feminism for a compilation of essays covering all aspects of “Mad Men.” She draws parallels between the two Bettys: Draper and Friedan. Betty Draper is the embodiment of what Friedan referred to in her revolutionary 1963 book “The Feminine Mystique” as “the problem that has no name.” The “unnamed problem” was the general depression of the housewife who had all the trappings of the socially prescribed “perfect life,” but still felt sad and unfulfilled.

 

“There are moments when you see Betty just sitting at the table, doing nothing, staring into space, waiting for Don or for the kids,” Dunn said. “It's a great entry into explaining what this ‘problem with no name' is.” She can't really talk to anyone about her problems, because she's not supposed to have any. Last season, her hope for a new life came in the form of Henry Francis, a public relations man for New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, who offered her a new Don-free existence. Dunn sees Betty's impending divorce as a symbolic move into society's coming changes. “Getting a divorce was virtually unheard of for the time, so to see Betty take such a powerful step — and yet doing it to be with another man — is also very telling,” Dunn said.

 

 

Competent eye candy

 

To represent the role female sexuality played during the “Mad Men” era, Dunn's go-to gal is distractingly voluptuous office manager Joan Harris. Joan is deceptively competent eye candy for the men at Sterling-Cooper. The hot redhead is always coolly in control. “It was a big deal for her to be an office manager. The stereotype is that you only do that until you get married,” Dunn said. When Joanie found a husband, she said goodbye to Sterling-Cooper. And when the marriage soured and her unstable, insecure husband's medical career didn't pan out, she had to endure social humiliation. Her “failure” became evident to former co-workers who saw her working odd jobs. Now, as the fourth season begins, she's back in her true element as a pivotal part of the new boutique ad agency that Don Draper has created.

 

Feminist forerunner

 

Getting noticed for what's in her head — as opposed to her blouse — is more the province of ambitious ad-woman Peggy Olson. Peggy started at Sterling-Cooper as a secretary, but her knack for advertising was quickly recognized by Don Draper, who helped her switch from subordinate to a real player at the firm. “Peggy knows she doesn't need a man to become successful, and I really appreciate that about her and they've stayed true to that in her character from the beginning,” said “Mad Men” fan Mary Beth Foster, 57, who works at PR and advertising agency Power Creative. “She's not afraid of the men she works with, and knows she wants to be a writer. I've always really admired her fearlessness.”

[Sir Stewart]

From that one episode, watching her do her thing, it seems to me that Peggy had a hell of a year. Can't wait to learn about it.

[Winston Legthigh]

Jesus, Don.

[Sir Stewart]

Last night's episode: now we're getting somewhere.

[uncool2pillow]

My wife and I LOVE the scenes from next week. Absolutely NOTHING is given away. They may as well show scenes from Underdog or Bewitched.

[Vacant Horizon]

i don't know how much more don draper i can take. jon hamm is a master though. no doubt.

[GtrPlyr]

Last night's episode: now we're getting somewhere.

Yeah, that was the best of the season, so far.

[Wendy]

"You're just a man in a room with a checkbook."

 

Ouch.

[Sir Stewart]

Also, how great is Jared Harris? Unheralded as far as I know, for this role. His big Texas belt buckle breakout was a hoot.

[LouisvilleGreg]

Peggy is going to turn to the dark side. Making out with strange bohemians in a closet, smoking weed, hanging out with lesbians. I can dig it. I've longed for Mad Men to get deeper into the 60's and see how they deal with the counterculture, Vietnam, etc, looks like it will become somewhat of a backdrop via Peggy for the forfeseeable future.

[Edie]

Peggy is going to turn to the dark side. Making out with strange bohemians in a closet, smoking weed, hanging out with lesbians. I can dig it. I've longed for Mad Men to get deeper into the 60's and see how they deal with the counterculture, Vietnam, etc, looks like it will become somewhat of a backdrop via Peggy for the forfeseeable future.

 

Just that last scene where she is by the elevators with her cool new pals and Campbell is standing in the lobby of their office with all of the straight guys is very telling. They are going in different directions.

 

There is of course more to that scene than that, but this is what struck me.

[GtrPlyr]

With the Draper in California episode and this latest one we're finally getting more glimpses into 60s culture outside of the narrow world of the office. I half expect to see Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs show up in one of Peggy's future nights out on the town, here's hoping.

[Sir Stewart]

I was trying to make out the music playing at the "..." (since Peggy's new pal couldn't bring herself to call it a 'party') - sounded really trippy for '65, but I don't doubt Mad Men when it comes to details like that.

[KevinG]

With the Draper in California episode and this latest one we're finally getting more glimpses into 60s culture outside of the narrow world of the office. I half expect to see Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs show up in one of Peggy's future nights out on the town, here's hoping.

 

I would hate to see any real life person in Mad Men. It would come off as cheesy. Do we need to see Peggy and her friends go to the Newport Folk Festival to see Dylan go electric? Or hang at the Factory. That stuff is been done to death. I would much rather see how the culture effects them tangentially. Remember New York is a pretty big place and not everyone bumps into a cultural icon everywhere they go. When historical figures pop up in shows it smacks of lazy writing, and one thing Mad Men is not is lazy writing.

[aricandover]

I would hate to see any real life person in Mad Men. It would come off as cheesy. Do we need to see Peggy and her friends go to the Newport Folk Festival to see Dylan go electric? Or hang at the Factory. That stuff is been done to death. I would much rather see how the culture effects them tangentially. Remember New York is a pretty big place and not everyone bumps into a cultural icon everywhere they go. When historical figures pop up in shows it smacks of lazy writing, and one thing Mad Men is not is lazy writing.

 

 

Conrad Hilton was a real person and he was quite prominent last season.

[KevinG]

Conrad Hilton was a real person and he was quite prominent last season.

 

Thought of that, but Conrad Hilton is no Bob Dylan or Andy Warhol.

 

And to tell you the truth I kept thinking when I saw him is that his was the guy who is the Great Grandfather of Paris and Nikki.

[uncool2pillow]

I thought the scene when Draper's secretary quit was awesome. It's great to see how he reacts when his exterior professional veneer vanishes, even temporarily.

[Sir Stewart]

Thought of that, but Conrad Hilton is no Bob Dylan or Andy Warhol.

Yeah, and I agree with your original point. It'd good if they avoided the obvious cultural tie-ins a lesser show would be all over.

[LouisvilleGreg]

There was already a Dylan concert reference awhile back, and Malcolm X's death was mentioned last night. Ho Chi Minh's gotta be right around the corner.

[KevinG]

There was already a Dylan concert reference awhile back, and Malcolm X's death was mentioned last night. Ho Chi Minh's gotta be right around the corner.

 

references are fine. They make all kinds of references. I think it would be really weak if they went and saw Dylan. Would be like, oh look we are in the 60's cause we saw Dylan. They do a much better job at portraying the 60's then to have a crutch like that.