mAD men

My newest addiction, a TV show about ad people. Though it's about time the creative industry got a little more media exposure, it really is hard to bring an agency to life the way 'Mad Men' does. This video from the finale of season 1 is a hint of its appeal. As it is set in 1960's, it adeptly weaves in elements from that time into its plot, showing the life of a younger America, a younger New York as it was back then politically, culturally and socially. References to John F. Kennedy, Ayn Rand, the invention of TV and social issues such as homophobia, intensive smoking and drinking, and women's position in society are all presented in the context of the lives of the men of the advertising agency of Sterling Cooper.

Perhaps it is the unstated that draws me in to 'Mad Men', as there is more subtlety than appears on the surface. The elaborate sets and costumes, the delicate elegance and flagrant affluence are a perfect contrast to the drama, the buried secrets and the 'layered complexity', a phrase I heard used to describe this show, most aptly.

There is a strong absence of favouritism on part of the writers, so each character has its own appeal and repulsions. Or to state it better, this show refuses to see people the way they are seen usually, on TV or otherwise. It allows people to reach their own conclusions without subjecting itself to conventional morality, and thereby, defies judgment based on existing codes.

It does not ask you to judge, reflect, ponder or like, it proclaims its value by achieving all those with a shocking ease.