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Will506 commented on The very white poetry of 'Mad Men'

You are missing the forest for the trees with all respect. I commend Matt Weiner for resisting all the pressures to accede to demands to include the civil rights, Viet Nam protests, and so forth in Mad Men with a quota of black or any particular group of actors. What is on his agenda during the five seasons so far exceeds these temporary historical events. Weiner is exploring through 'Don Draper' and the others huge existential questions about whether any human being can ever really change. The verdict is not in as we lawyers say but it does not look good. At the end of episode 13, season five Don is asked in a darkened bar 'Are you alone' while Nancy Sinatra sings 'You only Live Twice...' in a stunning ironic twist since 'Draper' indeed lived twice, first as Dick Whitman and now as Draper. This leaves in the dust any relevance to black and white issues raised by the author, and raises matters relevant for all human beings. What do any of us care about whether one or more actors 'of color' are in the series. I am certain Matt has studied whether as 'an historical fact' black men were in advertising agencies in the late 60s. I doubt they were. Lets see what happens next year. That said, it is not really all that important one way or the other, given the themes of alienation, and existential questions posed by Weiner matters relevant to all of us in 2012. I am disappointed you would focus on such a niche question in 2012, are we not really past all that!

Posted on June 13th, 2012 1:56pm