Why Don Draper IS Lounge

[Angus Forbes]

A symbol for his society/class/sub-culture.

No, no, no. He simply is a handsome schmuck, signifying nothing, put forth to attract eyes to TV ads.

 

[Feraud]

Or, Don Draper could be seen for what he really is - a well-dressed but severely damaged individual who can not truly relate to his own children, women or most other people in his life. I'd certainly leave the Lounge if that was the ideal members on here strive for. Yikes. I also reject the term "little woman". What is that supposed to mean? That it's okay to be a complete jerk and treat women like dirt, because they're just little=inferior?

Well said. Draper is a misanthropic creep who stole another man's identity! Hardly a guy to epitomize the '60s Lounge scene.
I may be in a minority here but I couldn't get past a couple of seasons of the show. It's struck me as a period soap opera. Nasty people leading nasty lives.

 

[Angus Forbes]

Nasty people leading nasty lives.

Who are the good guys? Seems like just about every character is a schmuck.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

I had a friend go on and on about "Mad Men", telling me how funny it was. Not sure what I expected, but when I finally tried to sit through an episode (season 2 or 3, I'm not sure), it just didn't do it for me. Of course, I'm much more a between-the-wars kinda gal rather than mid-century, so maybe that was it. Anyway, I never got into it, and now that the cable's gone, it's one more thing I don't have to bother not to watch.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Well said. Draper is a misanthropic creep who stole another man's identity! Hardly a guy to epitomize the '60s Lounge scene.
I may be in a minority here but I couldn't get past a couple of seasons of the show. It's struck me as a period soap opera. Nasty people leading nasty lives.

You have more fortitude than I do. I couldn't get past the first episode!

Brad

 

[Feraud]

Mad Men seems to have its moments but everyone is so unlikeable I couldn't find a reason to want to know more about these characters.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I've watched almost every episode to date and while Draper has many, many flaws, there's good in him. There's not a lot of good, but it's there. I don't agree with the fact that he stole an identity, but he loved Anna very much. He may not know how to handle his kids, but he loves them.

He's a fast and loose ad-man from Madison Avenue, so he'll always be scummy to a degree. He emits a certain level of 'cool' through his confidence and the fact that he can pull off a suit, formalwear, leisurewear, or anything else. He's got a bit of Dean Martin edge to him. I think he's a well-done television character, more complex than many we see today.

 

[ButteMT61]

[video=youtube;j03RWXoGoYU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j03RWXoGoYU[/video]

I actually remember that! Awesome. One root beer coming up!

 

[ButteMT61]

I had a friend go on and on about "Mad Men", telling me how funny it was. Not sure what I expected, but when I finally tried to sit through an episode (season 2 or 3, I'm not sure), it just didn't do it for me. Of course, I'm much more a between-the-wars kinda gal rather than mid-century, so maybe that was it. Anyway, I never got into it, and now that the cable's gone, it's one more thing I don't have to bother not to watch.

We watched the first two then quit. Couldn't stand it any longer. Clothing and sets and cars were the only things of value...

 

[LizzieMaine]

I tried to watch an episode after all the talk about it on the Lounge, but it struck me as way too much self-satisfied "Oh wow lookit all the smoking and drinking and butt-pinching in the fifties" exaggeration to be bothered with.

 

[Spitfire]

I find that Madmen is a cool show - because everybody is so unlikeable, egocentric, sexist and what have you. Almost like the real world.
Looking SO much forward to the new episodes, which still hasn't been aired over here.

 

[ButteMT61]

I'll take Justified or Downton Abbey. For fun I like Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. At least those shows all have likable characters, along with the creeps!

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Mad Men seems to have its moments but everyone is so unlikeable I couldn't find a reason to want to know more about these characters.

This.

I bought a Jeeves and Wooster box instead.

 

[Drappa]

I absolutely love Mad Men now, but also struggled through the first few episodes. There is a lot of character development and between the lines storytelling which most other shows lack I find. It gets even better once one reads the blog on Mad Men fashion by Tom & Lorenzo, and the significance of colours or styles in the wardrobes. Some of it I have to watch twice to catch everything, but I do think it is a great show.

 

[Edward]

I found the show entertaining, what little of it I have seen. Don Draper, however, is a vile little misogynist, and insofar as there is any reality to his ilk, one of the "vintage" things best left dead and buried in the past. I'm more than happy to be selective in what I do and don't adopt from that era, thanks!

Draper may show signs of eventually being redeemable, but he is a character I will never admire - at best, I can only pity him.

 

[Chasseur]

This.

I bought a Jeeves and Wooster box instead.

And this too. Season 1 of Mad Men is worth watching, the other seasons less so... 3 and 4 were pretty hard to slog through.

But I do keep going back to my Jeeves and Wooster box set!

 

[Fletch]

I can't stand Mad Men. It's too reverent to its characters and to its own lens, or gloss, on the past. The drama is stilted, the characters unlikable and uninteresting, and the pacing and dialog heavy. As far as I can tell from people I know who lived and worked in that era, it bears about as much resemblance to their experience as Burton and Taylor did to Antony and Cleopatra.

 

[Feraud]

This.

I bought a Jeeves and Wooster box instead.

Money well spent!

 

[scottyrocks]

It wasn't until post 13 that I knew this was about Mad Men, mainly because I have never seen the show.

I like retro shows, but the 60s stuff never agrees with me. That's probably why I've never seen it.

And what's with all the asterisks?

 

[Weston]

I love the show - partly for the warts and all showing of the era (which admittedly, I did not exist in). When people in the earlier decades scorned the excess and moral depravity of NYC, I think Mad Men shows you what they were disgusted by. Not everything of yesteryear is Sheriff Andy Taylor and Floyd the Barber.