It's been a busy time for me. I'm finally feeling like a human being again and I can get out and about without too much discomfort. Heat and humidity have always been my worst enemies and now that I know I'm diabetic I have to be very careful when I go out. I try to keep my time out of air conditioning to a minimum. That may mean I don't get to go to the US Open this year during the day. Going during the day allows you to miss the drunk yuppies and enjoy the tennis. Night matches are horrible.
But this post is about Mad Men. I used to fall asleep every time I tried to watch it but I was doing some personal research for the Emmy's and started watching. The show is now must see TV for me.
You don't hear Black people talking a lot about the show but it should be required watching for those interested in how we got to where we are today and what made it possible.
The last two episodes are simply awesome. Last week's episode is called "The Rejected". Not to go into too much detail one of the women who works for the ad agency ends up totally out of her comfort zone after a lesbian who works for Life Magazine -along with Look it was a staple in my house -we never had Ebony - invites her to a party in Greenwich Village. The Village back then was not a high rent rich bitch playground. There were a lot of artists, mostly poor, and parties were held in lofts or run down buildings that now sell for millions. At any rate after a few tokes the woman who invited her came on to her and she told her she had a boyfriend and that he was definitely renting her vajayjay. There were no histrionics, no crashing music, nothing but two women talking. Then she met a guy she was attracted to but someone had called the cops and after they agreed to meet later she and the woman who invited her make a mad dash out of the factory building via a rear entrance. You see the two of them running gleefully and stopping at the corner to catch their breath. It was a glorious scene and brought back so many memories of that time. Things like that happened on a regular basis and after it was all over you felt so alive because you'd had an adventure.
And that is the point. You could have an adventure and if you escaped you could laugh and go on about your business. I think that's something missing today and why people my age feel a bit sorry for the young people now. We had joy and I don't see a lot of that now.
This weeks episode was called the "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" and dealt with post WWII racism towards the Japanese. It also dealt with the role women were expected in 1965 and the roles women were moving towards at the same time.
I should mention that the show does a very good job of showing how the ongoing Civil Rights movement was creeping into the consciousness of the white upper classes. Again there haven't been any speeches that I've seen but last week they situated you in time by having a character ask another what they thought of the Malcolm X assassination and this week they referenced Selma. You see black people in what their traditional roles were then - quiet people moving through the shadows never acknowledged by the whites whose children they kept or buildings they cleaned. The child care function plays a major role in this weeks episode.
The post WWII racism story is riveting on its own but the story revolving around Betty and her daughter Sally is what kept me rapt. Betty has divorced and remarried an older man. Her daughter Sally is having a lot of trouble coping with it. Sally has become very interested in "doing it" and is asking everyone but her mother about what "doing it" involves. A friend at school told her the man pees inside the woman but she wants to know more specifics. She was on a sleepover at a friends house and while the other girl fell asleep Sally was watching "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and felt attracted to the character played by David MacCallum. We see her pulling up her nightgown and know what is going to happen. The host mother walks in and catches her in the act. She immediately takes her back home and tells Sally's mother what happened. After the other mother leaves Betty upbraids Sally for her behavior and then takes off for her bedroom in a huff saying they'll discuss it in the morning. In the next scene we hear Betty telling her husband that the other mother will tell everyone what happened and that she will be shamed.
It is very hard for young women today to understand the sense of shame that women of that time were raised with. It was always in the back of your mind that your actions had the potential to bring shame on your family. Remember that if a girl got pregnant she was shipped "Down South". The mother would show up a few months later with a surprise addition to her family. A woman engaging in self pleasure was on her way to promiscuity which is what Betty says about her daughter. Betty decides to send her daughter to a child psychologist, a woman with a warm open demeanor who quickly sees that Betty needs help too and sets it up so that Sally will have sessions four times a week and that Betty will come in once a week to review her daughters progress. There is the tense phone conversation with her ex husband who says that since the decision has been made what is there to say. The doctor wanted to talk to him as well but he's already been seen saying he doesn't get why people want to talk about everything.
To say I was stunned to see Carla, the maid sitting with Sally for her first visit is putting it mildly. You would think after all the shit Betty and Don put each other through about who is to blame for their daughters issues one or both of them would've been with their daughter for her first visit. Instead the send the maid. The black maid. Sally looks at Carla as if to ask if it's okay to go into the office by herself and Carla nods yes. The last scene is Carla standing staring at the closed door.
To me Sally, who is ten in the series is the woman of the future who rebels against the strictures on women investigating and being comfortable with their own sexuality while her mother is the past. There is a lot of talk about whether Sally or Betty were sexually abused. Supposedly the creator of the show has stated publicly that is not the case for either character.
The show also speaks to the cult of the uninvolved father prevalent at that time. The lead character, Don Draper/Dick Whitman shares custody of his children but only sees the older two and never puts aside work to spend time with his offspring. His son doesn't seem bothered by his father's aloofness but the daughter clearly needs attention and so far is not getting it from either parent.
I had thought this show was all hype and that it had nothing to offer a woman of color. I was wrong. It takes some work but find an hour where you will be uninterrupted and watch at least the last two episodes. Amazing television. Amazing acting. Amazing social commentary.
