The Past Is Another Country

I've heard enough people I trust rave about Mad Men to give it at least four or five episodes (I just watched the premiere two nights ago) to grow on me, and I'm happy to accept Matt's judgment that Sacha Zimmerman's review is a bit on the harsh side. But at least in episode one, this particular Zimmerman complaint rings true:

Throughout "Mad Men," corny references to the show's moment in time come thudding down on the viewer, alive with self-consciousness. The head secretary practically winks at the audience before telling the "new girl" not to be intimidated by the "technology" as she reveals a boxy, avocado-green electric typewriter. Draper chastises a subordinate for stealing a report from his trash, which he knows must have been the case because it's not like there's "some magic copying machine" around the office. And after being shown a mock-up of a space-themed advertisement, he riffs on how ridiculous it is to think that we would ever go to space. Then there are so many references to how none of the characters--even pregnant women--seriously believe cigarettes are bad for them (insert annoying "we know better now" coughing fit here), it's maddening. I get it: It's 1960! Now move on.

Part of what makes historical dramas so tough to pull off is that you're constantly walking a tightrope between the lure of this sort of thudding, look-back-in-irony condescension, and the instinct to generate sympathy through anachronism - for instance, by making sure that the hero of your epic Crusades movie talks an awful lot like a modern secular liberal. And I think this tightrope gets harder to walk the closer to the present day your story is set: HBO's Rome (which had many flaws, but largely avoided these particular traps) successfully wallowed in the pastness of the past precisely because its landscape was so alien to most viewers, with none of the connections to contemporary politics or mores that tempt filmmakers to condescension or anachronism. Whereas a show like Mad Men has it tougher: It's hard to separate a portrayal of that not-so-distant era from our own opinions (and memories) of it, and our knowledge of what followed on its heels.

But I'll keep watching ...

Comments

That description sounds just like Adam Sandler's re-creation of the 1980s in The Wedding Singer. Hey, remember the Rubik's Cube?!? And how A Flock of Seagulls had silly hair! Isn't that funny for me to point that out without any punch line?

No. No it is not.

Posted by Elvis Elvisberg | August 27, 2007 10:44 AM

I'm curious about what "many flaws" you think Rome had. I thought it was brilliant and I'd love to read your thoughts about it.

Posted by PEG | August 27, 2007 10:47 AM

To defend Mad Men a bit, the pilot is much worse about that self-conscious irony than the episodes that follow. And as far as I recall, the characters are mostly aware of the health risks associated with smoking (if I'm not mistaken, Don Draper references this a few times when he's working on the Lucky Strikes account).

Posted by S. Tarzan | August 27, 2007 1:06 PM

i miss rome... i wish they'd spread out the history they covered in 2 seasons into at least 4 or 5.

Posted by right | August 27, 2007 6:05 PM

I think a big part of the problem is that very few people who didn't live through the period understand life in 1960. Sure, a lot of people could tell you about the history or culture of the time, but when you're creating a tv show your main object of interest is what motivates your characters, how did they become who they are, how would they talk, etc. And because the 1960s changed so much about American life, these questions are much more difficult to address in a drama about the era than they would be in a drama about, say, 1980.

One thing I kind of liked about Sofia Coppola's movie Marie Antoinette was how it embraced a contemporary perspective--complete with a punchy soundtrack--while still offering a sympathetic look at a historical figure.

And speaking of anachronisms, I'm pretty sure that one of the characters makes a military-industrial complex reference in one of the early episodes--even though Eisenhower didn't make that speech until January 1961.

Posted by Ashish George | August 27, 2007 7:09 PM

I'm bored to death by "Mad Men." Who knew the same guy who did "The Sopranos" could manage to make Manhattan in 1960 so dull? Still, I'll watch. And laugh at irreverent recaps like this one, which are infinitely more entertaining than the show itself:
http://www.unboundedition.com/content/view/2165/50/

Posted by Julia G | August 28, 2007 4:25 PM

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http://cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/07/23/japan.ana.biz/index.html >ANA to buy 14 new Boeing jets
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Posted by Stanton Harmon | December 18, 2007 10:40 AM