Analysis of Mad Men: Unemployment - Essay Example

Analysis of Mad Men

Created by Matthew Weiner, Mad Men is one of the most captivating drama television series to have ever graced our television sets. The drama premiered on July 19th 2007 on the cable network AMC and run for 8 years until May 17th 2015, after seven episodes (AMC, 2016). The story is set in New York in the 1960s in a fictional advertising agency dubbed Sterling Cooper. The series focuses on the lives of highly competitive men and women in the field of advertising such as Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss) and Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) amongst others. According to Weiner, the term ‘Mad Men,’ is a slang term that professionals in the advertising agencies in Madison used to refer to themselves (Edgerton, 2011). The series revolves around the lead character, Don Draper, who is a talented and conflicted man. As a master manipulator, Don makes his moves at Sterling Cooper amidst the changes characteristic of the 1960s. Mad Men has won 16 Emmys and 5 golden globes and is renowned for its depiction of life in the 1960s which is different from what is known about that era. This article seeks to analyse an episode in the series known as “Unemployment,” and the controversies surrounding the show.

Production of the Show

Mad Men is a series that has been accused of reminding Americans of many uncomfortable truths. From the drinking and smoking to matters of sexism, racism and homophobia. The show was created by Weiner in 2000 while working as a staff writer in another company. The show made its debut on July 19th 2007 after a long and arduous eight year process of research and writing of the first draft of the pilot script (Edgerton, 2011). The film was born out of Weiner’s growing dissatisfaction with his job at CBS Becker. According to the writer, he was unhappy with the assembly line storytelling and endless recycling of humor that took place in the production of process of the sitcoms by Becker (Edgerton, 2011). In February 1999, Weiner stared writing “Smoke gets in your Eyes” as a spec script that ran at night and during weekends. Although he was successfully in the television industry, Weiner was fuelled by rage towards his work at Becker and was also inspired by upcoming series such as HBO’S-The Sopranos (Edgerton, 2011). He re-wrote “Smoke gets in your Eyes,” and sent it to various production companies to see if anyone was interested. However, the script was turned down time and time again. Whereas the script was of high quality, a majority of companies were concerned that the period and nature of the piece was problematic and would therefore be unappealing for the audience (Edgerton, 2011). Also, a number of development executives were concerned with the film as a drama because up to that time, Weiner’s reputation was a comedy writer. After about two years of rejection, Weiner sent the script to David Chase who recruited him and made him an executive producer for The Sopranos, however, HBO passed on the story (Edgerton, 2011). Consequentially, Ira Liss, a talent manager on Weiner’s team pitched the series to AMC. Seven years later, Mad Men became a drama series on AMC.

The Mad Men drama portrays advertising in the 1960s within the frameworks of America’s history. The film provides details of key events in the 1960s, for example, the approval of the birth control pill on May 1960s. In the first series, Joan sends Peggy to the doctor to get a pill (Stoddart, 2011). Similarly, Sterling Cooper is tasked with the responsibility of creating Nixon’s ads but cannot compete with Kennedy’s upbeat spots. Each episode of the series begins with an animated sequence in which a figure in a silhouette and briefcase at hand enters an office and gradually begins to melt away (Stoddart, 2011). As the figure fades, various bodies of advertisements are displayed. Also, happy families wearing the latest fashions while slender female legs move to and fro to display the shimmer of black silk stockings. As the cascading ads float in a montage following the introduction, the animation ends with the figure of the man sitting confidently in his sofa with a cigarette in his hand while listening to RJD2’s song “The Beautiful Mine” (Stoddart, 2011). Throughout the sequence, Don Draper is presented as the mastermind who navigates the daily hurdles of his professional life at Sterling Cooper in Madison Avenue. Whatever the circumstance, the protagonist ends the day in control of his destiny with the challenges only affecting him temporarily (Stoddart, 2011). Mad Men focuses on the changes that take place in the 1960s and how these changes affect the individual and the community existing at the time. Weiner claims, “I started off writing to show as a scathing analysis of what happened to the United States….But the more I got into Don, the more I realized that this is an amazing place” (Stoddart, 2011). In another interview, Weiner states that the goal of the series is to show the cultural and personal shifts that occurred in America. Don, his family and his corporation are confronted with various societal changes such as the Cuban Missile crisis. Ideally, Weiner is concerned with how people respond to these changes while reflecting on the growing anxiety for cataclysmic change.

Plot Summary

Inspired by Draper Daniel’s, Don Draper is the main protagonist of the story. He is the creative director and junior partner of Sterling Cooper Agency and later on becomes the partner of Sterling Cooper of Draper Pryce. The story focuses on the lives of men and women working in the advertising agency. In the story, the outward confidence of Don is masked with much insecurity, such as the secrets from his past. He hides his insecurities through vices such as womanizing, drinking and smoking. As the industry develops, the advertisement game becomes more competitive (Stoddart, 2011). In the film, Don Draper is depicted as the quintessential American Hero with the ability to overcome societal challenges. Similarly, other personas in the series such as Betty, Pete and Peggy echo the character found in various American Archetypes of the era. Consequentially, the film was met with much amusement upon its release due to the detailed and creative way the producers depicted life in the 1960s. The series has received high ratings as more than 1.5 million viewers tune in to watch the series. For example, the fifth season finale dubbed “The Phantom,” was watched by 2.7 million viewers (AMC, 2016). Furthermore, the film has received high critical acclaim since its premiere with critics identifying Mad Man as the greatest series of all time.

Controversies

In spite of its significant successes and high rankings, Mad Men has been the subject of various controversies. To some critics, the show is simply an “over-costumed” soap opera whose success depicts the needs of the modern day audience (Wolfson, 2014). Others state that the series is mere puppetry and lacks authenticity, whereas others argue that the film consists of a split personality, in that it seeks to represent the history of the 1960s and at the same time exists as a glossy commodity to appeal to the audience (Wolfson, 2014). The depiction of the 1960s in the film is controversial with critics citing that it is not an accurate depiction of the social, cultural and political context of that era. Besides the identification of key events in America’s history, the series does not engage the characters with the outside world. For example, the civil rights movement occurs; however, the series fails to explain why this occurs and the counter-culture that occurs after it (Wolfson, 2014). Arguably, Mad Men has been accused of romanticizing the past by presenting it in a glossy manner which is nostalgic to the modern audience. Critics such as Greif argue that the series overdramatizes history making the audience feel superior. Also, Mendelsohn argues that the “Weiner milks the past for its melodrama to captivate the audience” (Wolfson, 2014).

Unemployment

Episode 6 in season 2 depicts the societal expectations of women and presents the issue of unemployment particularly its impact on women. In the episode, Herman Philips and Don Draper seek to create a campaign that takes on the fantasy oriented approach of competitor Maidenform (Murray, 2008). Key scenes in the episode include the Jacky or Marilyn advertisement approach in which Paul Kinsley maneuvers his way onto the account by presenting the new idea for the campaign. According to Kinsley “All women want to be Jackie of Marilyn”(Murray, 2008). Roger Sterling also drops by Don’s office to ask him to join him for lunch so that they can make peace after the American Airline saga. The episode begins with the Decemberists “The Infanta” music singing at the background as the three heroines in the series suit up for a typical day in the world of the Mad Men (Murray, 2008). The scene starts with Don & Betty at a Country Club fashion celebrating Memorial Day. In the episode, Don’s insecurities are revealed, for example, when he gets up to get a round of applause for his service in Korea. The salute seems to remind him that he is an imposter, a factor that drives him to call Bobbie (Murray, 2008). When his daughter tries to watch him shave towards the end of the scene, Don is filled with self-disgust and stops shaving.

The Marilyn versus Jackie campaign brings out the ideology of womanhood. The idea is presented that women’s core purpose is to fulfill the desires of men. These desires encompass nurturing, taking care of the children and meeting the needs of the man both sexually and emotionally. These expectations place considerable pressure on women as they seek to meet these expectations. In the episode, Peggy Olson is a literal depiction of the working girl in the sixties. Her role depicts the historical truth about the dialectic relationship between the discourse of female emancipation and the domestic ideology that still plagues women up to this date (Marcovitch & Batty, 2012). Peggy’s character is complex as she lacks glamour and the conventional femininity characteristic of the era. Her work and her life are not easily separated. Similarly, other women are portrayed in the episode including their struggles with the professional life. For example, Joan is identified by men as a Marilyn. From the first episode, she advises Peggy on how to use her sexuality to get ahead (McNutt, 2008). The series seems to be based on the ideology that for women to get ahead, they had to either use their sexuality such as Joan or use their intelligence such as Peggy to get ahead.

In the 1960s, white female unemployment was significantly lower than white male unemployment as the population of female workers holding white collar jobs increased from 55 to 74% (Tarrow, 2013). As women increased in the workforce, they faced strong cultural presumptions about the kind of work they should perform, for example, women were expected to take on secretary work, but not office management. Also, women encountered the widespread assumption that they were in the office to satisfy the pleasures of their male supervisors (Tarrow, 2013). The booming post-war economy created an opportunity for women to enter the professional field. At the time, women who experienced sexual harassment could not file for unemployment status as the law did not recognize sexual harassment as a crime (Tarrow, 2013). In the series, the struggles women face in the office is paramount, for example, Peggy is defensive over her position in the office. Whereas she is part of the team, she is not part of the boys. Resultantly, the pressure to fit in the business field compels her to take up Joan’s advice and dress up as she goes to meet John at a strip club. By dressing up and trying to appear more feminine, Peggy exposes the audience to the pressures of the era that women faced (McNutt, 2008).

Similar to Mad Men, the series, The Good Wife created by Robert and Michael King depicts the daily struggle women face while trying to meet their domestic duties and their professional tasks. Alicia Florrick in the ‘Good Wife,’ faces a patriarchal industry and like Peggy, has to adapt to the workforce to ensure she remains successful. In conclusion, whereas the Maidenform episode starts with a relatively recent song, the episode provides a vivid depiction of the male dominated world characteristic of the 1960s and the struggles women faced in the professional field. The fate of women on the show indicates that for the women to succeed, they had to be ‘mad’ in the sense that they had to engage in extreme actions that were outside the norms of the era.