Tuesday 20 October 2009

How Would you Define 'Mad Men' as a Postmodern Text?

Postmodernism first became popular when it was used to describe various forms of art in the 1970's and 1980's. Today, it can be defined through culture and society; with its ideology rebelling against the popular cultural signs and media images which dominate our audiences into how they define themselves as to how they view reality. It is the "breakdown of the distinction between culture and society"; going against "the norm" and creating an entirely different world altogether.

In its world, surfaces and styles become more important; thus creating 'designer ideology’ where images dominate narrative through their deeper level of content and meaning. Postmodernists argue that society are much more interested in consuming images and signs for their own sake, and instead need to look further into their significance and gain the deeper values they may symbolise. Through its diverse and varied style, anything in postmodern culture can be developed, explored, or made into a parody. Yet if popular cultural signs and media images are taking over in defining our sense of reality for us (thus taking over content and meaning); then it is much more difficult to keep a meaningful and deep distinction between art and popular culture.

Does post-modern popular culture refuse to respect the pretensions and distinctiveness of art? Perhaps to a certain extent; it may be seen as disrespectful to lightly mock the visual images in which the majority of society a few centuries ago would have initially relied on for entertainment and communication, being mainly illiterate. If it wasn't for these vital paintings, adverts, and television drama's then we wouldn't even be able to make parodies now in modern day. Rather than disrespecting, post-modern popular culture expresses the art, it explores in the different ways it can be interpreted and presented, and compliments it by taking it to a different level. Nothing is original in post-modern society, only copies (according to Jean Baudrillard), and this is what he calls "simulacra". Only the first product or creation is the most valued, so art shouldn't be seen as disrespected by post-modern culture since it isn't being upstaged- postmodernism isn't trying to compete with the original art.

So how does Matthew Weiner's Emmy suave and sophisticated sixties set "Mad Men" qualify as post-modern? Starting with its opening credits, the audience is shown a sequence of an opaque figure, known as Don Draper, entering an office and dropping his black suitcase to the floor. Following on from this, he too starts to deteriorate as everything around him in his office melts downwards, signifying weakness and surrender. Draper then starts to fall past buildings imprinted with images of women, marriage, work, and families; with the implication of temptation as all these women, styled in a 50/60's fashion, appear lustful in their fishnet tights and red cocktail dresses. These surreal images evoke questions of gender and standards of both the drama and the character; is he faithful? Is he homosexual? What is his role if he is dominated by femininity? (At one point it seems as if he is being kicked by a lady's foot as she elegantly crosses her legs- or perhaps it is a failed attempt to save him?).

Gender and status are two of the main themes in 'Mad Men', reflecting on how men and women were represented in the 1960's and how their genders affected their roles in life. In the opening sequence, Draper is obviously dominated by these images of the different women; they are the sex showing authority as they tower above him and he is too small and powerless to handle any of it. But their smiling, alert faces show that these women are not full of hatred or revenge, but that they are more than happy to be a part of his life and they are eager to please him. They know that he is only using them to strengthen his own position and status, but he still needs them- and from this they obtain their own level of power.

Nonetheless, it still appears as if his whole world is crashing down around Draper, with the solemn sound of the violins contributing to this feel of depression and despair. His garb of a shirt and tie implies that he is a prisoner in his own career, that he cannot escape his hunger for ambition and money and as a result is rejecting his family and the vows and promises he has made. His "falling from the sky" relates to the tragic images of 9/11. According to USA TODAY, over 200 citizens jumped out of their office windows prior-collapse of the World Trade Centre in a desperate attempt to prevent the endurance of a more painful death, despite knowing that they would still be killed if they were to fall 1000 feet from the air. This implies that Draper may well be suffering from his own traumas, and if were to endure any pain at all, he would rather be in control of his own death and inflict the pain on himself instead of being the victim of another person's punishment. In other words, he would rather jump than be pushed.

This imagery of 9/11 is also the indication for 'Mad Men' being set in New York, which is of course was and still is one of the predominant states in America for business and economy. It also relates back to what was known as 'Black Thursday' on October 24th 1929 in Wall Street, New York, where the stock values dropped very quickly and many stockholders lost large amounts of money. 12 million Americans were left jobless with no money as banks, factories and stores closed; and as Will Rogers recalled in his nationally syndicated newspaper column for that day: "When Wall Street took that tail spin, you had to stand in line to get a window to jump out of, and speculators were selling space for bodies in the East River."

As a leading global city famous for its finance and popular culture, New York is a target for conflict and mixed emotions. Draper could represent the city itself, as jumping out of your window in New York could now be associated with desperation and fear of failure. Behind the glamour of Broadway and frenetic atmosphere of Times Square, there will always be the struggle of "bad times", and this refers to Draper's job as creative director of the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency. Does he himself live in a world of propaganda? He obviously has his own affairs and problems, and so it resembles how even the wealthiest and most successful members of society can be vulnerable and deteriorate into poverty; making the audience wonder what this character has done to cause his fall from a high status.

Later into the series, we are given insight into Draper's dark past and how his troubled childhood could have influenced his current infidelity and rejection of family values. We learn how his mother was a prostitute and his father her client, and after his mother died in childbirth, Draper (then known as 'Dick Whitman') was raised by his father and his wife Abigail. Draper suffered years of physical abuse until witnessing his father being killed in a fatal horse accident, and he was thus brought up by Abigail and a man known as "Uncle Mack", whom he states in 'The Gypsy and the Hobo' that he shared a close relationship with, as well as with his half-brother Adam. Draper's bond with men and negative experience of women could be the cause of how he treats both sexes now; exploring in brotherhood to achieve a sense of security and avoiding emotional attachment to his mistresses in fear of being abandoned or betrayed.

Since the drama is set in the 60's, the audience could assume that the treatment of men towards women were because of the era in which it was set; men were seen as the dominant gender and women were placed as second class citizens. Yet Draper's attitude towards women could have originated from his own personal experience, with this also applying to Salvatore Romano; the homosexual Italian-American art director at Sterling Cooper. His sexuality is possibly the reason for his kind and compassionate treatment of the women in the office; he can relate with their needs and probably feels at his most comfortable with them. If the viewer were to look deeper into the character's pasts, they should be able to recognise that there can be reasons- instead of just generalising that all men behave the way they do in 'Mad Men' simply because "it's the sixties".

Draper's urge for identity and escape is shown when he was sent to serve in the Korean War in his twenties; where Don Draper, an engineer, was in charge of building a field hospital and Whitman was to assist him. After Don Draper's death (unknown to Whitman, Draper had gasoline on his trousers and Whitman accidently dropped his lighter- causing Draper to die in the midst of the explosions); Whitman took Draper's identity and returned home to begin his new life with the new identity as Don Draper. This highlights Draper's desperation to shut out his feeble and lonely past, where he was never respected and could have even been ridiculed for his name, 'Dick'. With his new identity, he can become something new and 'better', yet he will always have it on his conscience that he is living a lie. His dark secret is the cause of his mysterious and reserved persona and is the reason why people will never know the real Don Draper.

Parodies of ‘Mad Men’ have ranged from The Simpsons to Sesame Street, which proves that the drama has a deep resonance and appeals to a wide range of audiences' if viewers want to relate it with popular cartoons and kids comedies. On YouTube, The Simpsons parody of the opening sequence to ‘Mad Men’ has 381, 982 views (2/1/10), only approximately 5,000 views less than the original sequence (435, 917). Plus, this first post of the ‘Mad Men’ original sequence on YouTube was published on 20/07/07, whereas The Simpsons parody was published on 28/10/08- over a year later, and indicating that if both sequences were published on YouTube at the same time, then The Simpsons would have probably achieved more views and prove more popular.

In the parody, Homer Simpson seems to mock Don Draper of his serious and grave entrance as he drops down a lunchbox with a doughnut in it instead of a briefcase, falls down towards the ground imprinted with an elderly lady, and is left holding a lollypop at the end as he leans his arm across the chair in the classic pose. The parody invites interesting possibilities of what Homer Simpson would be like if he was the next Don Draper, and Sesame Street does the same in its opening as the puppet playing Draper falls after slipping on a banana skin.

This parody is actually a short scene showing all three puppets sitting around a table in their suits and hats, exaggerating the character’s bold personalities and inflated ego’s by repeatedly slamming their hands down on the tables, nodding their heads, and revealing their idea of ‘advertising’ (three adverts are shown of a bear and a pot of honey). The puppets cleverly show how the two characters are inferior of the puppet playing Draper, as they eagerly agree with whatever decision he makes. They also use cliché quotes such as “where’s the advert that’s going to grab us with happiness” and “well it’s been an emotional rollercoaster” and manage to educate as well as entertain. The parody appeals to young children because of the puppets and teaches them the simple techniques of advertising; what is on a poster that makes audiences “mad”, “sad”, and “happy”.

‘Mad Men’s’ opening sequence is a pastiche of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” (1958), where the trailer shows the main character, dressed in a familiar smart suit and hat, afraid of heights: “a man possessed by the paralysing vertigo that made him afraid of high place”. Again, there is the wealthy and successful man terrified of becoming too superior and living in fear of separating himself from humanity and the enjoyment of life. The female in the trailer is also in awe of him and he takes complete control of her, clutching her to his chest and being the one to solve her problems. Only Don Draper can’t solve his wife’s problems or meet her needs, and he can’t prevent himself from becoming too involved in his craving for success.

It is at the end of the opening credits when the rapid pace of the music becomes more relaxed, that Draper transforms his outstretched falling pose into sitting down and casually leaning his arm up against a chair; revealing that even in times of danger he will somehow manage to regain his strength and power. His daring and intrepid character makes intertextual references to the opening sequences of James Bond; he too appears polished and clean-cut as he strolls onto the screen in a black and white suit, and at first it seems as if he is the one who is about to be shot through the point-of-view angle of the sniper. But the audience is tricked into thinking Bond will be the one to be killed when he suddenly turns to the side and shoots the sniper himself, and the similar colours used in the opening of 'Mad Men', black, white, and red; are also used in the opening sequences of James Bond; symbolising intelligence, mystery, and audacious confidence. The colours can also resemble the main colours of newspapers, referring back to advertising and how the characters in 'Mad Men' will always have their own private stories behind their image in the agency.

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