I know, I know. I’m late to every party. First I discovered Twitter in my 80s, got my period at 85, and now here I am, at 90, finding out there’s this fantastic show depicting this American life just as it really was in the early 60s! About women with pyramid-shaped breasts and men with sustained virility despite three-pack-a-day habits, three packs of Lucky Strikes, no less. And wives with perfectly drawn lips who ride horses all day and let their children play with plastic dry cleaning bags on their heads. And, yes, alright, admittedly there’s some cheating on the wives, and some racism and all that, but that was the way ad men rolled, yo! Yes, it’s Mad Men, my friends, and thankfully I’m only one season late to this party. And if you aren’t watching, you’re a damn dirty fool, and bad things are probably happening in the world because of you. Girl Scouts bawling while gargantuan buzzards eat their Trefoils. Or their innards. That kind of thing.
Leading man Don Draper is part of the allure for me, this smoking hybrid equal parts suave and grit, a man who moves between both sides of the moral tracks with ease. Draper is this woman’s idea of distinguished, of hot, a man who might have gotten her girdle off in the very first scene. It’s not completely clear what gives him the influence he has over everyone, male or female, but I’m pretty sure he could get a pulmonologist to start smoking. Don Draper’s control over women is virtually cosmic. It might be the double old fashioned he’s always got in one hand. It says alcoholic, of course, but it also leaves the image of him loosening his tie and putting out his scotch-dampened cigarette while giving you the look. I’m not sure how to describe the look, the one he seems to give to all things female –with the thankful exception of his daughter and Betty’s horse – but it tritely oozes sex. Everywhere. More than a good girl housewife could clean up in a single day. Suffice it to say that when Mr. Draper walks into a room, something shifts, something likely involving ions and protons and what not, and it makes me want become a housewife without rights or a knowledge of our bank transactions. That’s saying something.
Draper’s a really exceptional liar, of course, which is somewhat irritating and creates an obvious problem if a moral code is even remotely important to you. There’s that little thing about his numerous flings, the false identity crisis, the near sexual assault of one woman in a recent episode. He’s not a misogynist by definition, but he doesn’t even know how to spell monogamy. And despite it all, for some reason you want Don Draper at your dinner party, and likely sitting close to you, just as I’d want Showtime’s Dexter to help me dice green pepper in the kitchen. It might be because Don would know just what to say if Uncle Rex passed out onto the jello mold. It might also be because he’d make out with me against the china cabinet, but I don’t think we need to be real specific with our reasoning. It doesn’t hurt that I melt, actually reduce to a liquid form, when he calls his wife Birdie. Even if he probably smells of another woman when he does it.
I find Campbell equally intriguing, yet unexpectedly so. One of the young bucks in the office, the only real upstart of the bunch, Campbell is this combination of vulnerability and dynamite, and oh how I love the paradox. He looks 16, of course, with a milky complexion and anchorman hair, but he’s an old, brooding, little bitch of a soul, and it’s genius, if you ask me. I used to wonder what his wife saw in him, a natural beauty who should have a man doting on her, but after the death of his father this season I almost expected him to nest himself in her arms, weeping. Unexpected, to be sure. He’s a well-manicured time bomb despite his aw, shucks façade and looks, and that is hot in and of itself. Not hot in a Don Draper way, but hot in an I can’t wait to see what they’ll write for you next, actor who plays Pete Campbell way. This week, will he play youth and inexperience personified, on the edge of detonation? Or will he make a move that somehow doesn’t surprise you, given that you always knew the savvy ad man was inside, and show signs of becoming the Don Draper he so admires (in an incredibly creepy way, I might add)?
They’re both amazing characters - maddening, complex, dirty, loving, vulnerable, and demanding. And while I wish I could write them, I couldn’t be happier not to know either of them in real life.
22 Comments
Mad Men, right? I have NOT seen this show. And I love the AMC channel. And I love the early 60’s (guess it’s channeling to my childhood memories). I need to see it, asap.
OMG I am so completely addicted to this show.
I am in love with Don Draper, too. And kinda Sterling as well. Hottie with white hair FO SHO! :)
I also haven’t seen Mad Men (and also just discovered twitter), so you’re not alone in your geriatric development.
I did just find out that even though I don’t have cable, I actually get both AMC & E! Not sure why, but that’s definitely going to expand my TV watching horizons.
I just discovered twitter, and I’m on the fence about it. So not only am I octogenarianistic, but also just plain stupid. As for this show, sounds nice and racy. TV is suckin’ hard so, I’m going to go find it right now.
Have not seen this either. Heard about it…but haven’t seen it. Mainly because summer is a dead time in tv land for me. I dutifully pick out the television lisitings section from Sunday’s paper and then ignore it until it’s replaced with a newer version. I get more use from my cd player than anything else. I’m always late to the party, too, but I’m learning to embrace it. As for Twitter…I update and then rarely follow any of the people I say I’m following. Is that bad? It’s just that there’s no time.
Love the show. Love your writing. And don’t worry, I think we were all a season late. Thank goodness for the Emmys for waking us up to it!
We only started watching this beauty due to my DVR being filled to the gills with all the old episodes. Might I say, I love it but also hate it. The longing for one thing, okay two things I can’t have right now, alcohol and cigarettes. They kinda make the baby cry.
I so love this show - it makes my Sunday nights and I’m not even a little embarassed to admit that
Pete Campbell gives me the creeps but I can’t stop watching him and I totally swoon for Don Draper, yummy!
(that scene with the dry cleaner bags? I choked on my wine!!)
What was that about Dexter?
“near sexual assault?” if you’re talking about the restaurant seen, it was a little more than near. i think if i tried that at a business dinner with a female opponent i’d be in jail. although she did end up going back to him later. you women… always giving mixed signals!
isn’t twitter the yellow bird always bugging sylvester?
of course i meant restaurant “scene!”
I haven’t started watching this show, either, although I have been tempted. Just the commercials alone are enough to make me want to…you know…do all that stuff you said. He is pretty damned sexy.
I feel like I’m late to the party on Flight of the Conchords. I’m caught up on Season 1 and got the CD. Now I’m totally ready for Season 2.
Wait … wait … wait! This is what it takes? I gave up smoking, drinking, and leering a long time ago–c. late 20th century–and I admit my “percentages” have dropped considerably. Or maybe the aging process has shortened my ground game.
And although I haven’t seen the show, your description of it really captures the 1950s I remember–the parents’ endless cocktail parties at home, women in stiff dresses and stiff hair, everyone smoking, martinis in a cold pitcher, men in the kitchen drinking sharp-smelling dark liquids discussing WWII episodes as if they actually were in them (which of course they were). It was all amystery to me.
Must start watching.
PS–If you have never had the pleasure, then call Netflix and order every season of “The Wire.” Seriously the best drama ever. And I remember “Playhouse 90″ when it was on live! :)
What is this cable of which you speak? I’ve finally got to get on the intertubes and find out what all this converter box hubbub is about.
Seriously, I need me some Turtle Talk stat.
“…..but he doesn’t even know how to spell monogamy.”
Isn’t monogamy a type of wood? Just wondering….
Got concerned when Boss started mentioning the secretaries and the way they are treated each monday morning. So I watched an epidsode to see if there was anything I needed to re-train him on. After a conversation about the frighteningly amazonion secretary with red hair, I think he understood my position. I do not care for this show.
I’ve been meaning to check this out. Do you think I would need to catch up on Season 1 beforehand? I don’t want to be completely lost.
I just got back from vacation and was planning to watch Sunday’s episode and MY DVR DIDN’T RECORD IT OMFG.
You’re totally right. Caught some this weekend. Totally hooked. Watching the marathon next weekend.
I don’t think you have to “catch up” - it’s like Sex and the City, you can do that later.
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