Slow stories

I am a big fan of Mad Men, and since it just started its third season it is getting a bunch of publicity (note that I just got on board with seeing episodes of all of the first two seasons right before season three started). It tells its stories in a way that most TV shows do not right now. You have to pay attention and you have to be patient and hang in there to get the reward. It is lush in its art direction and costume design, but very subtle in its storytelling, and it tends to go for more character driven, character revealing tone and mood pieces than it does plot. Plot happens but very, very slowly.

Like I said, it isn't like most TV right now. Most TV doesn't trust its audience to be paying attention and to return without big brash cliffhangers each episode.

Well, and sadly Mad Men's ratings would seem to suggest that there isn't a tremendous audience for those shows that do put their faith in the viewer. But it is magical. And awful. It is about the way that things are not always what they seem on the surface and it uses the backdrop of the (so far early) 1960's to lay that story out.

This is the Camelot 60's not the flower power 60's yet. It is much more what you would expect of the 1950's. And knowing what we do of Vietnam, the Civil Rights movements, the SDCC, etc we know that this pale, fragile facade is about to crack wide open. This show revolves around a man who is very clearly not what he seems. Early on we discover that the lead character has at some point stolen the identity of someone else. The longer you watch, the more clues you get into how that came about, how the new man with the new name and the new life came about from the old man and his old life.

It is beautiful, but ugly all at once. Things have come a long way since that time. The show doesn't hide from the racism, sexism, smoking, alcoholism, segregation, etc. that was commonplace for people of the time. Kids don't wear seat belts, people litter, everybody smokes-even pregnant women.

Lots of people who have tried the show don't like it (not TV critics though, they pretty universally praise it, but it is a brilliant story told brilliantly, of course they love it, especially in the sea of hurried, slapdash, insipid shows that fill a lot of their time). I read a blog by a TV critic who does indepth reviews of every episode--even in his day job where he at best writes a few articles each season on the show. Each post is usually quite long and always insightful, and fanatic fans like me devour it and often comment on it with comments leading into the hundreds. This morning there was a new post up. And some of the commenters are clearly not fans of the show, but they come in to post that they find it boring.

Ok, great. You don't have to like it, but why do you have to interject that you don't in a place that is clearly for the people who really, really love it. Those people make me mad! I get that those people clearly do want to ruin other people's fun, but I am sad for them that they do.

If the above sounds like something you might be interested in, I think you should take a look at Mad Men, but if you find you don't like it, I will understand. Although I would advise that it is the kind of thing that should be given your full attention, unlike many other things that can be followed in the background of using the computer or playing solitaire or whatever.

Also for Serenity fans, the crazy red headed chick who tried to convince Mal that they were married and was really like an assassin is a major character and TOTALLY awesome in this show. It also has Zoe Bartlett in it, and Wendy Preffercorn (lotioning and lotioning, oiling and oiling) from Sandlot.