Monday 25 August 2008

My Grandma Watches Mad Men

Mad Men is a very interesting show on AMC (and surfthechannel.com) about a Madison Avenue Ad Agency in the '50's. All the men smoke and drink and screw constantly in the office, they relentlessly ogle the women and make crude racial judgments.
The plotting is glacial, and the characters never really grow or change (we learn the main character's back story piecemeal, through flashbacks, and this is meant to substitute for having actual dynamic characters). However, I find the show fascinating for the insight it gives us into that era and that generation. Therefore, the question I always find myself asking is "How real is this?" How much of Mad Men is genuine, and how much is invention?
My Grandmother answered that for me last night. Turns out, she had found the show independently, and was so taken by it that she began watching regularly. It takes a lot, I think, to persuade my Grandmother to embrace a new show, but Mad Men did. That she watches it is probably the best recommendation I could hear. I wonder if others from that generation are as interested in the show as she is.

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