Mad Men – Original TV series Blu-ray review

The first episode of Mad Men honestly represents the drinking, smoking, sexist fifties, a time when Madison Avenue's attitude and control permeated our entire culture, including one international political blunder after another, a time before anyone ever heard of political correctness. Gays were still in the closet, women slept their way to wherever they wanted to go, and advertising executives ruled the world. Everyone smoked because we all just looked so damn good doing it.

A poster said he/she thought all the smoking and drinking was a bit much and contrived. However, I think it's fairly accurate. I'm in advertising NOW, and we always have vodka in the freezer...a couple of the men in the office open a bottle of scotch in the afternoons. Although the drinking on the clock isn't AS pronounced today as it was in 1960, I do believe Mad Men accurately depicts agency behavior during that time. My art director mentioned to me that the 70s in advertising were very similar; smoking and drinking in the office, on the clock.

The stories center around a particular advertising agent, Donald "Don" Draper, often seen through the eyes of his new secretary Peggy who can't quite figure him out. Draper is a master of the advertising spin, able to leap into imaginative ad techniques with every bound. He wins awards for his ad copies and is an invaluable asset to the advertising firm. But Draper has many secrets. Despite having a beautiful wife and beautiful children, Draper engages in extra-marital liaisons. He is aloof with not only his co-workers but with his family, often seeming like a house guest when he with his family. We also learn that Donald Draper is an assumed name, and he has a long lost brother with whom he wants to cut all ties. In addition to his mistress and his wife, Draper often can't resist a sexual fling, a JKF-like sexual appetite that never lets up.

I really liked the show! It's pretty gritty by today's standards, but it's a darkly accurate window on the near past. For us Boomers, it's a stark reminder of why the Libbers were so P. O.-ed at men all through the 'seventies. And the cars are cool! I think Draper is driving a '59 Pontiac. Man, I'd really like to have that car! And the woman that plays Rachel Menken - wow! Is she HOT!

What do you think about this movie? Please leave your thoughts below.

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