Hooked on Mad Men

Okay I have a real confession to make. I am totally and utterly hooked on The Mad Men  series. I don’t usually watch television because I  tell myself I am too busy to do something so trivial.

I was in a client meeting a couple of years ago and the client mentioned that she loved the Mad Men series. At the time I had never heard of it. But she is someone that I respect so the name of the show stayed hidden within my consciousness.

A year later I was in a video shop and I saw ads for Mad Men. Triggering my memory but I cast it aside. Then I went into another shop, Banana Republic, and they had the Mad Men Collection of clothing. Romantic, womanly type clothing. Fabulous accessories. Suits with a little faux fur around them. Dresses that looked so elegant and feminine at the same time. Classic styles with a twist. Exactly my style. I fell in love with the fashions.  Heightening the memory of my dinner with the client. And I knew something was willing me to get the boxed sets of the series. So I bought all four seasons. Not even worrying that I may not like any of it.

And then my job shut down and I went into a hiatus - trying to find me. Writing like crazy. Questioning like crazy. Searching everywhere. For nine months. And I forgot all about Mad Men.

I started working in the corporate world again in January of this year and bumped into the same client from a few years back at a conference in April. And just seeing her reawakened my consciousness to The Mad Men series. When I got home, the boxed sets kept calling my name. I resisted them for a short time more telling myself I was too busy to watch. Feeling guilty about wasting time watching TV instead of doing something more important like write.  

But the urge to watch it was too great so I gave in. And when I did, I was taken aback by the tone of the series. At first I thought it was sexist, racist and condensing. But something about Don Draper, Betty, Joan, Roger and Peggy kept me watching. I wanted and needed to see what their characters were all about. The glamour of these people was so alluring. Yet it was irritating at the same time. There was an air of mystery lingering under the surface that I could not quite get enough of so I had no choice but to keep watching. By the time I got to episode 3, I was hooked.

Each character on Mad Men is so complex. And that complexity can even be found in the background characters. Each intertwined in ways they don't even understand. With layers of stuff going on beneath the surface that it is fascinating to watch. They are depictions of the way people lived in the early 60s. The beginning of my era. Me being a child of the 60s. And in some ways they remind me of the same struggles we are facing today. Fighting the demons of self, where we fit into the grand scheme of things. Ego stroking. Love. Hate. The trials and tribulations of marriage. The challenges of children. And parenthood. The challenges of image. The challenges of a career. Of facing the person in the mirror and knowing who that person is. Of forgiveness. It has me hooked because I am ready for the messages that I am getting from it. Recognising now I had to wait until I ready to receive them.

Sometimes I see myself in Don Draper. Other times I see myself in Betty. Other times in Peggy. And Joan. Letting me know that we are constantly changing. Our roles constantly reversing. Reminding me to treat others as I want to be treated because one day I will be faced with that person’s challenges . To recognise that every person that comes into my life is there for a reason. Either to reflect who I am or who I do not want to be. 

There's a little something about me that I can see in each one of the characters and that's why I am rooting for them because all of us want to succeed and all of us has something that we are suppressing about who we really are and what we really want out of life. And that's why I am hooked.

Mad Men is well worth watching and I'm glad I followed my instincts and got the series.