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Apr. 6th, 2015 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatCaught up with some television series:
1. The season premiere of MAD MEN -- which still seems to be more thematic and style driven than character driven. The characters neither evolve or really change in any real way, to such an extent, that my mother who had skipped a season felt that the story was exactly the same as the last time she watched it.
That said, it is a rather interesting and at times satirical take on societal and cultural changes, and the advertising industry which drive them. If you don't move with the times, you are left behind, an aging relic of the past. Which in truth, is Don Draper, whose charming demeanor has gradually become less and less classy Carey Grant, and more sleazy salesman doing ads on late night tv. He no longer trolls cool divey bars, but late night diners.
There's also an interesting book-end moment, where Don the former fur coat salesmen is auditioning fur coat models for clients. Each women comes in, and he teaches her how to sell the coat, as opposed selling her the coat - although the difference is blurred.
Also the cool clothes, and hair styles of the 1960s and 50s, slick, and neat, and tailored are replaced by the sloppy sideburns, wavy hair, and moustaches of the 70s.
Ken flips the tables on Rodger and Pete Campbell, by becoming their client, and a hard to please disgruntled one at that. They fired him. Now instead of Ken having to please them in order to obtain his severance package, they have to please Ken in order to retain his business, which they desperately need.
And Peggy and Joan...Joan laments the sexist thrown at her, that she isn't taken very seriously, and Peggy states well...you can't have it both ways. Not that they took Peggy all that seriously either, in fact she may as well not have even been present. But Peggy hems and haws, avoiding yet not quite what both know all too well, that Joan has used her sex appeal to get to the top of their business, while Peggy used her brains and smarts to do so. And in doing so, Joan has more or less reaped what she sowed. As Peggy states, you're filthy rich and don't even need to work. Joan isn't any kinder - her retort is, what you're trying to say isn't you aren't as pretty as I am, and you're right. Except, to be fair, it's true of the men as well - Don Draper has gone further than others in his business because of his looks - he's 6 foot and looks like a movie star. And that natural charm. Except he's taken seriously, not because he's necessarily bright, but because he's a man.
Peggy of course has always known this. To have power, real power, you have to wear pants and have balls. Or be pretty, and willing to use sex as a trade off. She resents Don and Joan's power, in much the same way that Peter Campbell does. Although she's usually better at hiding it.
Neither are happy though. Peggy hasn't had a vacation in years, she has no personal life to speak of, and no hobbies. All she does is work. At least Joan has found a life outside of the office.
And Don, who remains the center of the piece...wonders if there is anything to this existence. An old flame and client, Rachel Katz, has recently died. And soon after she popped up in a fur coat auditioning for him. He also sees and sleeps with her look-a-like at a diner. One of the many women he slept with, but could not commit to.
When her sister asks if he left his wife for his current one...he states, no, it wasn't like that, and besides she's divorcing me too. He's right, actually, Betty left him long before he left her. Don was perfectly happy with his affairs on the side. He lies for a living, his life is a lie, his image, his name, everything about him is a lie - to such an extent that he is a walking advertisement, with little truth wrapped inside. All style no substance. A hollow man. He sleeps and loves women, but there's nothing there to hold onto, to love in return. It's fleeting and an illusion. Everything about Don Draper is an illusion including his name.
It's ironic really, because he stands out amongst his colleagues in his biz, a shining star from a bygone age of gin martinis and cool jazz, Frank and Dean and Rat Pack singing on the radio. But look closely, and there isn't anything there. A fading memory, an illusion.
Which may explain why nothing seems to change in the series, except the hair styles and the clothing and the sets. Because the characters themselves lack substance, just as Don Draper does. They are hollow men and invisible women.
2. The Good Wife - eh, this show is beginning to aggravate me. They need to stop ripping cases from the headlines. Procedurals like to do that - and while it's nice to be topical, it's also somewhat irritating and preachy. Although, Good Wife handles it better than most tv shows do. But it is a personal pet peeve of mine and part of the reason I gave up on Law and Order.
Also, I'm tired of the email hacking case (it was initially funny...now not so much), and the political problems, of which there are far too many and some just keep ricocheting back again and again like bloody boomerangs.
Still an enjoyable show, just uneven this year. Oh, in case you were wondering? It has been renewed for next season according to the forces that be.
But Agent Carter unfortunately did not get good ratings, so most likely won't be renewed. I can see why - it was slow in places, and they were a bit too preachy regarding the sexism - which would turn off a male audience. (Although it didn't appear to turn off people into Mad Men, but then Mad Men is on AMC which has lower expectations.) Superhero series are targeted at the desirable 12-35 year old male demographic. I liked it better than the other ones currently on though, but can't say I loved it. There really isn't anything on tv at the moment that I feel fannish about or would care if it got cancelled. Which is most likely a good thing.
3. Haven't seen Wolf Hall yet. Might watch tonight. Might watch a video instead.
Have Diving Bell and the Butterfly (courtesy of netflix) and Into the Woods (which I bought, because I loved it).
On book front I'm flirting with lighter reads. Also flirting with Kass Morgan's The 100 series, which isn't lighter, and seriously, I need to read another series like I need a hole in the head. They are expensive and require commitment. I really don't book series.
Although I can see the appeal, you don't go through this sort of angsty...between books period or "I've no clue what I want to read dang-it book slump" - which happens when you finish a great book with characters you love.
1. The season premiere of MAD MEN -- which still seems to be more thematic and style driven than character driven. The characters neither evolve or really change in any real way, to such an extent, that my mother who had skipped a season felt that the story was exactly the same as the last time she watched it.
That said, it is a rather interesting and at times satirical take on societal and cultural changes, and the advertising industry which drive them. If you don't move with the times, you are left behind, an aging relic of the past. Which in truth, is Don Draper, whose charming demeanor has gradually become less and less classy Carey Grant, and more sleazy salesman doing ads on late night tv. He no longer trolls cool divey bars, but late night diners.
There's also an interesting book-end moment, where Don the former fur coat salesmen is auditioning fur coat models for clients. Each women comes in, and he teaches her how to sell the coat, as opposed selling her the coat - although the difference is blurred.
Also the cool clothes, and hair styles of the 1960s and 50s, slick, and neat, and tailored are replaced by the sloppy sideburns, wavy hair, and moustaches of the 70s.
Ken flips the tables on Rodger and Pete Campbell, by becoming their client, and a hard to please disgruntled one at that. They fired him. Now instead of Ken having to please them in order to obtain his severance package, they have to please Ken in order to retain his business, which they desperately need.
And Peggy and Joan...Joan laments the sexist thrown at her, that she isn't taken very seriously, and Peggy states well...you can't have it both ways. Not that they took Peggy all that seriously either, in fact she may as well not have even been present. But Peggy hems and haws, avoiding yet not quite what both know all too well, that Joan has used her sex appeal to get to the top of their business, while Peggy used her brains and smarts to do so. And in doing so, Joan has more or less reaped what she sowed. As Peggy states, you're filthy rich and don't even need to work. Joan isn't any kinder - her retort is, what you're trying to say isn't you aren't as pretty as I am, and you're right. Except, to be fair, it's true of the men as well - Don Draper has gone further than others in his business because of his looks - he's 6 foot and looks like a movie star. And that natural charm. Except he's taken seriously, not because he's necessarily bright, but because he's a man.
Peggy of course has always known this. To have power, real power, you have to wear pants and have balls. Or be pretty, and willing to use sex as a trade off. She resents Don and Joan's power, in much the same way that Peter Campbell does. Although she's usually better at hiding it.
Neither are happy though. Peggy hasn't had a vacation in years, she has no personal life to speak of, and no hobbies. All she does is work. At least Joan has found a life outside of the office.
And Don, who remains the center of the piece...wonders if there is anything to this existence. An old flame and client, Rachel Katz, has recently died. And soon after she popped up in a fur coat auditioning for him. He also sees and sleeps with her look-a-like at a diner. One of the many women he slept with, but could not commit to.
When her sister asks if he left his wife for his current one...he states, no, it wasn't like that, and besides she's divorcing me too. He's right, actually, Betty left him long before he left her. Don was perfectly happy with his affairs on the side. He lies for a living, his life is a lie, his image, his name, everything about him is a lie - to such an extent that he is a walking advertisement, with little truth wrapped inside. All style no substance. A hollow man. He sleeps and loves women, but there's nothing there to hold onto, to love in return. It's fleeting and an illusion. Everything about Don Draper is an illusion including his name.
It's ironic really, because he stands out amongst his colleagues in his biz, a shining star from a bygone age of gin martinis and cool jazz, Frank and Dean and Rat Pack singing on the radio. But look closely, and there isn't anything there. A fading memory, an illusion.
Which may explain why nothing seems to change in the series, except the hair styles and the clothing and the sets. Because the characters themselves lack substance, just as Don Draper does. They are hollow men and invisible women.
2. The Good Wife - eh, this show is beginning to aggravate me. They need to stop ripping cases from the headlines. Procedurals like to do that - and while it's nice to be topical, it's also somewhat irritating and preachy. Although, Good Wife handles it better than most tv shows do. But it is a personal pet peeve of mine and part of the reason I gave up on Law and Order.
Also, I'm tired of the email hacking case (it was initially funny...now not so much), and the political problems, of which there are far too many and some just keep ricocheting back again and again like bloody boomerangs.
Still an enjoyable show, just uneven this year. Oh, in case you were wondering? It has been renewed for next season according to the forces that be.
But Agent Carter unfortunately did not get good ratings, so most likely won't be renewed. I can see why - it was slow in places, and they were a bit too preachy regarding the sexism - which would turn off a male audience. (Although it didn't appear to turn off people into Mad Men, but then Mad Men is on AMC which has lower expectations.) Superhero series are targeted at the desirable 12-35 year old male demographic. I liked it better than the other ones currently on though, but can't say I loved it. There really isn't anything on tv at the moment that I feel fannish about or would care if it got cancelled. Which is most likely a good thing.
3. Haven't seen Wolf Hall yet. Might watch tonight. Might watch a video instead.
Have Diving Bell and the Butterfly (courtesy of netflix) and Into the Woods (which I bought, because I loved it).
On book front I'm flirting with lighter reads. Also flirting with Kass Morgan's The 100 series, which isn't lighter, and seriously, I need to read another series like I need a hole in the head. They are expensive and require commitment. I really don't book series.
Although I can see the appeal, you don't go through this sort of angsty...between books period or "I've no clue what I want to read dang-it book slump" - which happens when you finish a great book with characters you love.
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Date: 2015-04-07 08:02 am (UTC)When her sister asks if he left his wife for his current one...
I read this differently - he dreams of Rachel before he finds out she dies. Dreaming about her is what prompts him to call her store in the first place, after which he learns of her death.
I think Rachel's sister was asking if he left his wife for Rachel - because he hadn't yet mentioned marrying and divorcing Megan too.
Rachel is a rare case of a woman who turned Don away - he asked her to run off with him in S1, but Rachel correctly pegged him as a man who was looking to run away from his life, not run to her. I think this has been why the idea of Rachel stuck with him so long - that she saw through him in ways other people didn't or didn't want to.
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Date: 2015-04-07 10:32 pm (UTC)