Mad Men, the four-time Emmy award winner for Outstanding Drama Series, isn't for everybody.
As college students, a lot of us don't have time to sit there Sunday nights and watch moderately paced, character-driven drama.
It's even tough to commit to while it's offered on Netflix because there are other shows on the service that provide more immediate satisfactions through humor (Modern Family, Arrested Development) and suspense (Prison Break). I've admittedly staved off watching a few Mad Men episodes to watch the more action-packed X-Men: The Animated Series.
As an avid fan of AMC's award-winning show, I've been particularly intrusive and persistent about finding a fellow student to watch this Sunday's season premiere of Mad Men with me. Unfortunately, my attempts have been dismissed by claims of the series being "Not my type of show."
I do respect critiques on the show's focus. There's one perceived flaw I do not agree with at all, however.
"Why are there no black people in the show?"
I've only heard two of my peers say this, but the fact that this is a critical sour point is ludicrous. While obsessing with Mad Men over the past year, I've scoured the Internet for differing views on the show to further my experience. I've inevitably come across some articles that slammed the drama for being too cowardly to address racial issues.
First, let's look at the plot. Mad Men follows the endeavors of mostly middle class men and women who work in a New York advertising agency in the '60s. There's a lot more literary and plot elements that make the story that much more intriguing, but I won't get into that.
There's absolutely nothing in the plot premise that actually requires any discussion of race. Frankly, why would high-ranking agency executives have any reason to actually care about racial issues? The revolution didn't occur near the offices of Sterling Cooper or Sterling Cooper Draper Price (the agencies the show focuses on). Plus, how many African Americans were actually on Madison Ave. in that era?
There are quite a few of negative critical columns on race in Mad Men online, but the latest one I've read dates back to 2010, which is around the time the show started, focusing less on social context and more on character situations, and a few weeks before the show went into its 18-month hiatus.
The column was written right after the episode where two of the main characters get mugged. The moment served as a lightning rod for the writer - the criminal was black. She then goes on to accuse the show of being stereotypical.
I didn't care at all about the mugger being African American (the sex scene about two minutes later had a bigger impact on the plot anyway). What I do note is the fact that Mad Men does do a fairly accurate example of blacks in the '60s.
Here's some food for thought: Maybe the absence of a recurring black character is social commentary in itself. After all, Mad Men has multiple instances of historical commentary (e.g., John F. Kennedy's assassination and the Vietnam War).
I do also find Mad Men's treatment of racial issues creative even though it's secondary to the plot, as it should be. Betty Draper (January Jones), tells her black housemaid something very upsetting regarding the infamous Birmingham church bombing.
"It's really made me wonder about civil rights," Draper says. "Maybe it's not supposed to happen right now."
Because there's nothing at all wrong with society right?
Perhaps the show's relationship with race is encapsulated in one particular piece of dialogue in the episode "The Beautiful Girls." Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), the agency's lone female copywriter, voices her concern over the fact that Fillmore Auto Parts, a client, is being picketed for not hiring black workers. Don Draper (Jon Hamm), the agency's creative director and Mad Men's main character, encapsulates the show's relationship with race in one line.
"Our job is to make men like Fillmore Auto," Don says. "Not make Fillmore Auto like negroes."
Genius.
Lastly, Mad Men just doesn't feel like the sort of show to ignore this controversial topic. In its four seasons, we've seen an on-screen rape, a masturbating 10-year-old girl, and even openly racist remarks.
In the eve of the famous Sonny Liston vs. Muhammad Ali rematch in "The Suitcase," one character quips "If I wanted to see two negroes fight, I'd throw a dollar bill out my window."
In a larger social context, I believe criticisms against the portrayals of blacks in Mad Men speak to America's obsession with race as a whole. The fact especially resonates with the development of the Trayvon Martin case.
Say what you will about Mad Men, but I will be one of the millions that will be watching this Sunday's season premiere...right after I get my weekly dose of Wolverine, of course.
Email: brian.josephs@ubspectrum.com
