Mad Fem

So anyone who speaks with me on a regular basis probably knows that I am a *little* obsessed with the tv show Mad Men these days.

What makes Mad Men so special?

1/ Set design: The show is set in the single most foxy fashion period of all time ( aside from pirates of course) the early 60's. Post bad 50's organization man suits and women's clothes all being made of wool or crepe. But pre horrible free love 60's and 70's travesties of corduroy and paisley. The modern period. The women in their rocket bras and pencil skirts basically look like sex on wheels mixed with a dash of cocktail drinkin' jouissance, and the men wear skinny ties and wide shouldered suits that make them look like they could shoot you in cold blood while talking to their bookie. Mmmm yummy.

2/ Feminist scripts. And I don't mean hyberbolic storylines that end in tears or 'revolution', I mean, if you want to understand why The Feminine Mystique flew off the shelves in 1963 this series will give you a pretty clear idea of the shit women had to deal with on a daily basis. From getting sent back to the secretaries pool after demonstrating an obvious aptitude for junior executive level work. Or living a life of quiet and desperate boredom in New Jersey, watching Mad Men leads one to realize that the feminist movement of the 60's wasn't some sort of freak accident, it was the direct result of an endemically misogynist culture.

3/ Speaking of feminism, the female characters in this script are fantastic! I am putting up pictures because I love them so much! Starting with Christina Hendricks who plays Joan Holloway. Confession: I was at my friend's house in Toronto flipping through some fashion magazine and found a spread on the lovely Miss. Hendricks and it was her hooters/awesome clothes that led me to decide to watch Mad Men.

Here is a picture of her not looking like a 60's secretary and just looking hot, for all of us, because it's a nice picture, right, sure it is ;)

Okay everyone go get a nice cold glass of water. Now let's look at a picture of her as Joan.

Still got that glass of water, okay good, now let's talk about how apart from being gorgeous Joan is also fucking cool.

#1 Reason Joan is cool. She is a smart stacked lady, who uses her sexuality as a weapon. BUT then realizes she is going to get the shaft for being so pretty. I haven't actually figured out how that is going to happen, but I see it coming. Why? Because she just lost a gig as a script reader for the tv department, to be replaced by some nebbish little man-twerp. The scene where Joan has to (reluctantly) give her replacement instructions made my nuts shrivel up and I don't even have any. I have every hope that the rest of the episodes do not leave Joan happily fulfilling every man's wet dream, while secretly being one of the smartest girls on the block. I hope that Joan finally gets sick of the fact that she is as competent as the men she takes memos for without getting an iota of the respect that they do, and then I hope (and pray) that she loses her shit and takes a few of her bosses down with her ;).

#2/ I am not even going to mention the fact that Joan is a solid hot mama. Okay I am going to mention it. I looked it up. That woman wears a size 12 A mother f-ing 12! One look at Joan should call a halt to the whole notion that women need to be skinny to be sexy. They can be skinny and sexy no problem. BUT THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE CORRELATE BETWEEN HAVING A BONY ASS AND BEING HOT. Sorry I had to say that in caps. Oh Joan, in my dreams you do start a hot curvy revolution and when I go out shopping for new clothes I no longer have to feel annoyed that there are no fitted shirts that fit my shape, and when I go to the gym I will not see the horrible anorexic women going up and down on the stair-masters like neurotic dancing stir sticks.

#3/ Joan is old. There is this great scene where an angry ex beau tacks her drivers license to the wall of the break room. Turns out Joanie is past 30 and two other secretaries walk out of the room giggling as Joan walks in. She later has a mini- tantrum about how everyone is petty, mean and out to get her, which is kinda true, but that's because she's got balls of steel and rules the office. In this scene we realize Joan is a complete paradox; an ambitious, interesting and smart woman who is making-do as a sexy secretary because the alternative (sexy housewife) is even less appealing to her. All the stories that feature Joan underscore this point; that sexy women who are understood only as sex objects, are a testament to the potential wasted when a culture focuses all it's attention on a person's physical attributes, to the exclusion of other qualities.

The second scene where we recognize this fact is on the day that Marilyn Monroe commits suicide and Joan goes to have a little cry in her bosses office, the parallels between Joan and Marilyn are unmistakable to the audience, but her boss walks in and says; "not you too?" Treating her sorrow as a shallow reaction instead of the profound recognition that Joan is also typecast by her physical attributes and her gender.

I have to leave this for now because it's 10:00pm and I have to watch today's episode before calling it a night. Tomorrow: Peggy, Betsy and the fact that I bought myself a pinstripe pencil skirt yesterday. Problems separating TV from reality ? You betcha.