Anyone who thinks “Mad Men” should aim to accurately depict life in the early 1960s suffers from a fundamental misunderstanding of what television/Hollywood does.
Certainly, some aspects of that era are accurately portrayed, and in stunning fashion. But when it comes to presenting a worldview, TV shows and movies are not supposed to be accurate. They’re not supposed to show you the whole picture. It’s all pretty much propaganda, which means some things are going to be omitted, while other things will be highlighted, depending on the agenda.
The much-maligned “Leave it to Beaver” does give us a good insight into how life was during the early ’60s; “Mad Men” gives another. Neither, however, gives the entire picture.
In postwar America, many families did spend more time together like the Cleavers; Dad was a stable force who provided for his family, while Mom enjoyed staying home taking care of home and hearth.
Then again, the immorality and debauchary depicted in “Mad Men” also existed. Some dads molested their children and beat their wives. Some women cheated on their hard-working, faithful husbands and abused their chidren.
We’re not shown the seedier side of life in “Leave it to Beaver,” and we’re not shown the good side of human nature in “Mad Men.” And that’s because they’re pieces of propaganda which have different goals.
But propaganda can be entertaining; in fact, it’s crucial to the process — if it weren’t entertaining it wouldn’t draw us in. “All in the Family” was pure propaganda, and I loved it. How many housewives do you know who literally ran to fetch their husbands’ beers like Edith did?
Like “All in the Family,” “Mad Men” is a great TV show. You just have to realize going in that it’s going to present a certain worldview. As long as you bear that in mind, you can enjoy it for the entertainment aspect of it.
As to the central question of why women like the show, it’s simple: Bad boy syndrome. Many women find bad boys sexy, but their sensibilities can’t tolerate the very reasons for the badness. So they convince themselves they can change their bad boys, at least until they finally realize he won’t change.
Women watch the show hoping some woman will come along to change Don Draper. After all, while he’s certainly a lout, it’s also been made clear that he isn’t all bad. And he was abused as a kid — perfect reasons for a starry-eyed bad boy groupie to hang her hat on when deciding whether to continue putting up with her boy’s badness.
“It’s not his fault; his dad beat him. And he has a chivalrous side, too. He’s only bad because he’s trying to cover up his fears and insecurities from having been abused. If I can help him get over those fears, he’ll stop being bad.”
Textbook stuff. Will some woman come along to save Don Draper from his demons? Stay tuned…
