I have rarely seen a tremendous number of blogs and articles penned for a single movie or series. It was definitely a must-watch for me since it was set in old-time America, revolving around posh offices with brown and red leather sofas and carpets with rich aesthetic vintage shades.
The men in it were pulling off nothing but exquisite 2 piece and 3-piece suits. Expensive cigars, high corporate life, and a decent share of drama.
And most importantly, it was about people in advertising, a profession I deeply revere and avidly profess. The name said: Mad Men.
The project encapsulates the dramatic lives of marketing and brand professionals. The copywriters, the creative directors, and the visual designers- it is all about them and the spiraling world and the extreme scenarios they find themselves in.
Mad Men pretty much resembles Netflix’s Suits in multiple manners, differing only with the height on emotional aspect of the latter which makes Suits a quite visible fiction.
Madmen is a seven season long series depicts the chronicles of a fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper- tucked somewhere in one of the imposing New York City skyscrapers.
Don Draper (starring Jon Hamm), the suave and exceptionally talented creative director at the agency spends his life like a fantasy novel hero. He makes deals done, he creates compelling ideas, and he has an attractive attitude with an inherent personality which helps in winning everyone‘s heart.
The guy is handsome, rich, has a knockout wife who loves him dearly and two beautiful kids, the American dream American and non-American desires.
Women want Don Draper and men want to be like him, but there’s more to his enviable life than just money and admiration. Don holds ground breaking secrets that no one is aware of.
Apart from Don, the script consists of some finely putted characters who grow in their own world of greed, power, and love.
The American drama has been a recipient of some of the most prestigious national and global awards that range from the one of the prestigious British Academy to the glamorous Emmy’s to the highly competitive TCA (Television Critics Awards).
The series has been unconditionally applauded for giving the nostalgia of pure classic era movies in modern times, to modern people. When I first saw it, I could not help but notice the inspiration drawn from the classic Martin Scorsese movies in tandem with 1960s advertising jargon and clichés..
This drama of Matthew Weiner, it has something astonishingly appealing. It captures you right after the first three to four episodes, or maybe even earlier.
Another thing that has amazed a number of critics is that the drama does not focuses on one character despite the fact that Don Draper is highly aimed at, especially in the initial episodes.
But as the show progresses, one could notice a gradual shift that the makers have made from Don Draper’s character. They enhance their aim at other individuals. Sometimes it’s Don’s wife Betty, sometimes it’s his colleague Mr. Campbell, and sometimes someone else.
It smoothly conveys importance to all the characters at Sterling Cooper. It defines the ups and downs of these professionals working lives in the advertising industry. Things become quite dramatic when the line between personal and professional badly intertwines.
The Drama takes us into the 1960s bustling era in which everything was becoming fast and unstoppable. America was on the race on becoming the long lasting economic powerhouse it is today.
Viewers go through the era of the historic Cuban missile crisis between the USA and USSR, the death of superstar Marilyn Monroe, and the assassination attempt at the US president John F. Kennedy in the city of Dallas.
The incidents mentioned above are not in chronological order, the point they convey is that the USA was hardening and toughing up, at least in the eyes of Americans. The wealth in fact was pretty much accumulated in the city, but it was about how it was spent.
The episodes lead to the gradual maturing of characters, how their lives evolve into new chapters to how the old chapters are unveiled. The story becomes wider as viewers notice that it leads with no specific purpose.
It does not, that’s the point. And that is what makes Madmen among the few chosen ones. The narrative simply shows the humdrum going into the lives of these people without adhering to one specific goal. It is like Mad Men is just about how people lived and worked in the 1960s.
But that does not put the show in any bad spotlight since seeing these scenarios seems to be oddly catchy.
We see company’s daily projects to the dealing of clients, the usual time consuming meetings, how the top executives spend their time, and how things go when they are back from work.
We see how Don comes up with an idea to market cigarettes openly in public. And we see how the firms reacts when it is about to experience a merger. These are all powerful scenarios and are present in ample in the show.
The drama just takes us for a ride we are very likely to find enticing. It shows us every bit and corner of a famous era. It is a show likely to swoon you if you like tough movies and traditional dramas.
And it is likely to sweep you off your feet if you are in today’s marketing business, thus highly recommended.
