Mad Men Analysis Response

1)      Heather Havrilesky’s main insight about Mad Men is that it is a perfect portrayal of what went wrong with America.  How stereotypes about the “American Dream” were formed and the expectations that were made. She specifically states, “As absurd as it seems to cobble together a dream around a handful of consumer goods, that’s precisely  what the advertising industry  did so effectively in the 50’s and 60’s, until we couldn’t distinguish our own desires from the desires ascribed to us by professional manipulators…”  This further proves her main insight about “Mad Men.”

2)      Havrilesky establishes her authority by giving solid reasoning and evidence to her claim (example above) when writing about this show. It’s reasonable and easy to agree with that those advertisers intentions were and still are not for our advancement, but rather so they can make a dime.

She also introduces opinions that can be agreed with because they’re things we’ve all noticed. America set a standard for us 60+ years ago that in order to be happy you must have a husband with an excellent job, 2 perfect children, and a house with a white picket fence. (Obviously this didn’t all have to be true, but the idea is what matters.)

3)      Heather appeals to readers emotions with specific points she make. First off she calls this a “modern tragedy” and sets the scene for Don and Peggy. “Don sighs deeply and unlocks the door to his lonely apartment, Peggy whiles away her waking hours trading casual quips with co-workers, but happiness is still just a shiny kitchen floor or a sexy bikini or a cigarette away.” This is all still true in this day and age, which is why when I read it I felt almost annoyed that as a country and soon a whole world, we still haven’t fixed the standards we are “supposed” to live up to. In the end it’s all a pile of nonsense advertisers are feeding us, and America especially eats it all up.

4)      I had heard of the show Mad Men because it is on the same network as my favorite show, The Walking Dead! But after reading this analysis I seem to have no interest whatsoever in watching it. I definitely understand its main premise, and I am interested in the time period it is set in, but I really have been steered against it just from this analysis alone.