Mad Men (2007)

I've had a lot of prodding to get caught up on Mad Men for season five, so I'm finally giving it a go from episode one. Don't know how far I'll get, but this is as good a pilot as I've seen in a while; it might take a while, but I'll probably get through the series at some point.

It's impossible to be alive and conscious in 2012 and not know something about Mad Men. I know that it's about white guys in suits who smoke and drink (rye) all day. I know that Christina Hendricks has enormous boobs. I know that Don Draper talks smooth. And I know that Sterling is sexy not despite, but because of his silver hair, and I know that he has enough one-liners to fill a YouTube highlight reel.

The singular impression that I get, though, is that Mad Men is a reflection of what it used to be like to be a (rich) (straight) (white) man in (New York) America, and the first episode makes that distinction shine out against a multitude of foils. We have the blacks (a waiter and an elevator operator), the Jews (a mail clerk and a business-woman), the gay (a graphic artist), and the women (the aforementioned businesswomen, but otherwise secretaries, switchboard operators, strippers, automat girls, and housewives). Every character in the first episode is defined by either being a straight white man, or not being a straight white man.

Mad Men is set in the 1960s, but there's no doubt that it's intended for a 2000's audience. In addition to the white/black, gay/straight, man/woman issues, the first episode raises the tobacco issue, which is one of those debates (like climate change or evolution) that feels like it should have been settled decades ago, but isn't. The cancer issue may be settled, but the recent mandate for graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging in the U.S. reminds us that there are certainly plenty of people out there who don't give a fuck, and there are plenty of other people out there trying to convince them otherwise.

I watched this episode streaming on Netflix, and was immensely relieved when the picture quality improved drastically about a quarter of the way in. Mad Men is a pleasure to look at, and it's well-crafted television in every way. My intuitions might turn out to be wrong, but I certainly got very strong indications, even though this is just the first episode, as to who the main characters were and who it was safe to ignore, and what each character's persona is. For one example, after about five seconds of screen time, it is clear, without being blatent, that Sal is gay. (It only becomes blatent in a later scene in a strip club when a woman comments "I love this place. It's hot, loud, and filled with men.", to which Sal replies "I know what you mean.") We also get introduced to the Jon Hamm effect, which gets a wonderful send-up in 30 Rock, whereby he is able to overcome any obstacle by virtue of his good looks. (I'm thinking of how he manages to offend a female Jewish client, only to win her over by buying her a drink and smiling at her later that evening.)

Overall, episode one sets the stage well, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it leads.