Mad Men: A fair assessment

I've long been a fan of Mad Men, for many reasons and on many levels. I'm not going to go into all that here, but I will note a recent New York magazine review that I think captures beautifully what this show is all about.

The review was written right before Season 5 began, and it bats back some critics' complaints that the show doesn't serve history as it should by perfectly encapsulating the era. The review argues -- so correctly -- that this was never the intention of Mad Men.

This show is what all great writing should be: a window into the human condition. Mad Men is a perfect (silent) canvas on which life, hope, and good and evil play.

(And a side note on any suggestions that Mad Men has a soap opera flair: Well, how many times in your life have you had a tangled day and thought to yourself, "My life is like a soap opera"? I find the show completely realistic, the characters very well developed, and each episode self-resolving. Not much of a soap opera from where I'm sitting.)

The review uses the word "intimate," a great observation, and also notes Mad Men's resistance to a "master narrative" that has to be resolved or kept wound around its characters.

A great show (although, as always, beware before jumping in), and a great review.

How Mad Men is a metaphor for the Masters

I couldn't write it better than Brian Phillips on Grantland, so I shall link to him.

This is a great piece about how some of the themes of Mad Men can be seen in the modern day Masters.

A couple of killer quotes: "Why does Jim Nantz narrate the Masters as if he's already nostalgic for the things he's describing, even while they're taking place?"

"No one wants to go back to the America of Mad Men, but a lot of people want to go to the costume party."