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ElmoLewis commented on The very white poetry of 'Mad Men'

I don't think you "get" Mad Men. I would say it's not about it's "white" or "blackness" -- this is a pretty racially 'blank' show -- you just seem to ignore that the whole show is based upon the cynicism inherent to people who have it all. Of course, since it's set in the 1960's (if you set a show about people who have it all in present times it would seem like escapist fodder), the protagonists have to be white. Back then, black citizens were still far from "having it all" from a capitalist point of view. By missing this layer, you are missing out on the subtle tragedies the show tries to tell: how Betty is an ideal woman by society's standards and yet is so miserable that she stress eats to the point of becoming incredibly fat, thereby losing her looks, which in turn are a huge part of what made her so lucky to begin with. You are not supposed to look up to the characters or, I daresay, enjoy the time you spend with them. You watch them, identify with them, and then observe their downwards spiral towards a soulless ideal. The show is not about what is said onscreen, but about what goes unsaid. Race is peripheral to this theme. It will become an issue when it makes sense, historically speaking, to use it AS A TOOL to enrich the story.

Posted on June 8th, 2012 9:23pm