joi, 4 mai 2017

Mad Men, creator Matthew Weiner, with Jon Hamm and a superb cast

Mad Men, creator Matthew Weiner, with Jon Hamm and a superb cast

A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:


This is absolutely one of the best series ever produced.
The proof is here:


It has won 5 Golden Globes and another 130 important awards, with a further astonishing 362 nominations.

This is the story of an ad agency that in fact keeps transforming itself and then the original employees create other firms.
It is brilliant, clever, fun to watch and it has become a classic for every fun of good programs, but especially for ad men or…

-          Mad Men

As a matter of fact, I have been reading in positive psychology classics that the effect of advertising is vicious.
We are basically conditioned to buy things we do not need.

Consumerism is not just bad for the planet that suffers immensely on account of the climate change however some deny it- The Donald for instance
It is pointless, because positive psychology studies and tests have proved that the things we keep buying do not bring happiness

-          Hedonic adaptation is the phenomenon that explains all this

In the small state of Bhutan, television and advertising had been banned until 1999 and once they were permitted, a dramatic change took place.

An incredible increase in violence was experienced.

I guess we can’t all have the attitude of the Dalai Lama, but the exaggerated, addictive urge to keep on shopping needs to be tempered.
At the very least.

When the Dalai Lama entered a shopping mall he has said:  

-          Wow, So many things I do not need!!

Don Draper is the hero of the series.
He is the ultimate romantic figure.

Charming, smart, handsome, secretive, cool, perhaps somewhat cold, determined and fair, well...for most of the time.
He is married, but I think I can say that he is involved with a good number of women, this constituting part of his dark side.

There are secrets that he keeps away from everyone, but the audience and some characters find out about his past.

-          I am not what I am
-          Othello: act 1, scene 1, page 3

Without being an Iago, Don Draper has managed to hide the fact that in his past, he took another identity.
And indeed, part of the charm and the incentive of watching these exceptional seven seasons is trying to learn more and perhaps understand something more about this ambiguous, sometimes rather sad man.

There are other very interesting characters in this excellent production and so many memorable moments.
Accidents, divorces, romances, sex and betrayal, eccentricities, politics, creativity, fights, love and of course…advertising.

They all feature prominently in this fabulous drama.




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