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Fielding opinions on Mad Men and if I should keep watching it.

I'm halfway through season one and I'm starting to get the impression that this is a show for women. I had a suspicion about it from the start but figured it couldn't be because the the male characters weren't attractive enough. And yet the premise is suppose to be about life in the cut-throat advertising world but so far most of the drama revolves around having affairs, marital problems, and catfights - the most interesting thing that's happened so far is Draper's wife slapping the divorced single mom at the supermarket. The parts that are suppose to depict the competitive business world they live in is just a business meeting where draper gets up and says "Gentlemen... let me ask you something: Got milk?" Again, it seems like boilerplate "high stakes business drama" that the women viewers are suppose to take in the appearance but not the substance of to intuit the social status of each man.

I read some online discussions about it to figure out the viewership demographics and to find out what specifically people like about it beyond the melodrama, and a lot of the bring up the 'enigma' of Draper's character, which is something I've gotten no sense of myself. Other characters constantly hint about how they don't know anything about him, but I don't notice any idiosyncrasies about him that demand explanations that are suppose to make me care; dude sleeps with lots of women and feels conflicted about it, but I figured that was an attempt by the writer's to give a conscience to the standard licentious male protag. If this is a major thing that's suppose to drive the course of the show then it leaves me uneasy because this 'mystery box' style of writing is something I've started to loathe because of the bad payoffs: am I in for more melodrama here?

There's also the incessant browbeating about muh racism and muh sexism, which irks me because I'm a turbochud, but I can tolerate that as long as there are other redeeming qualities to watch for. So far what I like about the shows are brainstorming sessions where Draper comes up his insights about society or human psychology in order to make ads; that at least shows promise about some interesting things the show might have to say. I also like the quips from the male characters; the female sass is pretty grating though.

So am I off the mark here for clocking this as womenslop? I watched like two seasons of downton abbey before I clued in because I'm neurodivergent so my radars are probably way overcorrected when it comes to period drama. What's drama's appraisal?

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IMHO it's purely a vibes show. If you like the 1960s aesthetic and dreaming about smoking in the office and grabbing your secretary's butt without repercussions, Mad Men is your jam.

None of the story matters. Don Draper's big mysterious secret is :marseysleep: to the point where when it comes out in the show no one even gives a shit.

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I wish you were my secretary that i could force to get an abortion and then fire due to the emotional fallout. Ultimately resulting in you being committed to a mental facility. I tell my wife you were just crazy and everything in that letter you wrote was a lie. But deep down, she knows.

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Don Draper's big mysterious secret is to the point where when it comes out in the show no one even gives a shit.

wrong

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No, really. What are the in-show consequences that Don Draper is really Armin Tamzarian? Pete tries to blackmail him but fails because no one cares. His life continues the same as before.

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Who cares about the consequences? It was a cool piece about his backstory and I liked the wartime scene.

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For what it's worth I tried watching it at age 19 at the height of its popularity and I didn't get it. Tried again ten years later and I loved it. I like dramas though

>because the the male characters weren't attractive enough.

Sterling is a silver fox and John hamm is John hamm. The rest of the male cast is eh though.

Depending on where youre watching it there may be a missing episode as sterling does blackface in one of the eps, and Netflix removed it during the Saint Floyd era.

Just a heads up unless you're torrenting it

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Frick, that's a good episode too. Every show is turning into Swiss cheese and they never add those episodes back.

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I like it, people were more sexist and racist in the 60s and the show doesn't tone it down.

Draper is a self-destructive c*nt but a charming one at times, Roger is awesome, Betty is a whiny self-absorbed crazy foid, Peggy is a modern writer self-insert and Pete grows up and becomes highly competent.

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>the show doesn't tone it down

Yeah, but it does this proglib bullshit when they do something they disapprove of nowadays.

Slap a mouthy child in the face? :!soyjak:

Doctor smoking during examination? :!soyjak:

https://i.rdrama.net/images/1718547477756333.webp :space: :!soycry:

And then an uncomfortable pause while they try to drive home how backwards the 60's was.

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Yeah, the showrunners are libs, but would you rather they be anachronistic? Like the Gilded Age show where an Old Money NYC lady hires a black secretary and politely refers to her as “colored”.

!nonchuds What exactly do chuds want in their period shows?

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BIPOCs! Mountains and mountains of BIPOCs! :soyjaktantrum:

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You think everyone in America was racist in the 1960s?

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By modern standards? Pretty much, yea.

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Thinking blacks are, on average, dumber than whites is racist by modern standards, though

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Not everyone was racist on the show, most characters weren't racist, just indifferent, there were some who were implicitly racist and others like Pete were outspoken against it.

But certainly a large portion of the US population of the time was racist, the country was just desegregating.

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Why I do declare, @JohnDevereaux is a BIPOC.

:#!speechbubble:

https://i.rdrama.net/images/1718547477756333.webp

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It's my favourite TV show ever, I'd say stick with it but :marseyshrug:

Also Alison Brie

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:female:?

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It made more sense in 2007 when we were all wearing thick rim glasses and skinny jeans, rode fixies and artsy nerds wouldn't shut up about Helvetica. It was a time distressed barn wood was edgy and you could go and get laid at electro swing parties.

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wat means?

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Product of its time

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I watch mad men every day. They are on the streets, in our government, even in my home. I guess you are too stupid to notice and need some story about it.

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If I had to sit through that much woman nonsense, I'd quit.

(Never seent it; never will :marseythanks:).

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It's about rich chuds getting drunk and bro-ing out, if you think it's feminine it's because you're feminine.

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You'd love the Handmaid's Tale.

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Probably, I'd sexualize the chicks and relate to the wealthy r*pechads. Break out of your female mindset.

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:marseywo#menrentfree:

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What else is suppose to be living in my head while I'm watching it? Muh sixties kitsch?

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It's a reddit show

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I liked it

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:marseysquint:

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I watched 2 episodes and thought it was a boring show for women

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It was boring and starred that woman with the huge forehead and I couldn't watch it.

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https://media.giphy.com/media/VEoQLfJPLNGPS/giphy.webp

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Look at the size of that thing

https://media.giphy.com/media/1QfiuEKqokO2QaGLdJ/giphy.webp

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No

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Okay

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I liked it for like the first four seasons. It doesn't change that much in s5 but I stopped watching for whatever reason. Doesn't jump the shark but close to it

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:#marseykvlt:

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