When I continued to reflect on the Sopranos and Mad Men I realized there was something else that was at work. In addition to being familiar with the mafia, the average person comes with certain expectations about mafia films and shows. Mafia members kill people. Mafia members steal. Mafia men often have girlfriends on the side. As a result, when these things subsequently occur on screen, they are not jarring or particularly surprising. The mob film that depicts a pacifist mafiosa, who never takes what does not belong to him, is completely honest and faithful to his family, and pays his taxes ceases to be a mob film, but has become some strange fantasy film on par with Willy Wonka and the Fat Free Chocolate Factory.
But, when I think about what my personal archetypes were for ad-executives in the late 1950's and early 1960's I have to confess that none of those things come to mind. I don't think of killing, cheating, stealing people. I think of Donna Reed. Of course Don Draper has never strangled a man with his bare hands or had someone shoot a bullet in another's head. But, he has killed co-workers to better himself in the way one kills another in the business world, and for white collar men and women this is really not as different as we would like to rationalize that it is. And I know I'm going to isolate myself a little with this next comment, but I have to be real about my own expectations. Yes, I can handle a show that tries to realistically portray life in the "secret" 60's when people looked happy on the outside and were actually miserable in their jobs and marriages. But, Donna Reed and Leave it To Beaver and Lucy existed during that time because there was a belief that people could and should aspire to something greater. That the goal of having a healthy, happy family was a goal worth having.
We currently live in a period of cinema and art where the most consistent thing we do is sit in the grey area and expose the truth that there are no truly good people. Anti-heroes have become our heroes. But in exposing the reality that even people who strive to be good do bad, we have become a people that are too content with the fact that we make bad choices. Donna Reed and I Love Lucy may have not been a true reflection of the average home at that time in our history, but they pointed to what life could be. However, when we spend all of our time elevating bad people to hero status we not only begin to accept that behavior as normal and good, but cannot help but condone it in ourselves.
Chuck Klosterman had this to say about the hero of Mad Men, "Don Draper is a pathological liar who charms women by grabbing their vaginas in crowded restaurants. He's not a good person, but he's kilometers beyond cobalt cool- and he's cool for unusual reasons. He's cool for being extraordinary at his office job. He's cool for keeping secrets and chain-smoking and cheating on his wife. He's cool for the way he talks to strangers."
Maybe I'm crazy, but all of that sounds really un-cool to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment