I want to read that really badly, but the link goes to the "post a reply" page on here. I'm assuming it's this, right? Speaking of things I didn't believe, is anyone else confused as to why Peggy is so fond of Megan? I don't buy it whenever she's talking about how much she admires Megan, it's like she's lying through her teeth. But maybe that's my own opinion being projected there. It just seems out of character. I think she'd be pissed that a) Megan got to pretty much become her equal because of marrying into it when she still isn't taken completely seriously at her job but clients, or many people at the office except Don and b) Megan had all of this fall into her lap and is now turning it down. Didn't she and Joan bitch about all this in private a couple of times? And now all of a sudden Peggy's one of her biggest fans? I don't get it.
That Alien Mystique piece makes me hate Megan - as a concept, a poorly executed one at that - even more. She's not a compelling character at all, that piece was way over the top pretentious, as besides her calming effect on Don, has had no impact on the show whatsoever. This is a show where Don goes from bottle of the barrel alcoholic to fit swimmer diary writer over the course of 120 minutes. If Mad Men tries to use Megan as a fulcrum to hurl the SDCP crew into the culture wars, it will be a disaster. The Beatles are not that important, get over it Weiner.
More of a Stones guy but this was my thought as well, you think the Beatles weren't an important influence? Surely you jest sir....
Yeah, exactly. Why did he need to introduce a new character whose purpose seems to be bringing the culture wars into the show? They have plenty of young people who can already do that, who I think are right around Megan's age. Peggy has her beatnik boyfriend and friends. That other copywriter seems to be with the times, man. Kinsey was going to early civil rights things with his black girlfriend. What about Ginsberg and Dawn, two much more interesting new characters with great potential who have not gotten enough screen time yet? I liked when they were doing it more subtly, not with one character representing the entire changing of the times in one person.
Certainly they were a huge influence, my comment was somewhat tongue in cheek given the earlier discussion on how much he paid for the song. However, I've never "got" the Beatles, and most fans I've met are former hippies turned "me generation" baby boomers that fill me with my own generational strife. This also makes me wonder how important pop culture is in general to the overall culture/society we are watching in Mad Men (would think very in the Ad world) and in our own lives (hard to tell given the current state of pop culture). Did the Beatles really spawn a broader progressive movement in society or "just" revolutionize music?
I think The Beatles, along with Elvis, were the first big indicators that young people were going to dictate what's popular and what culture is rather than old people.
This. In the marketing world the pop culture revolution of the sixties, ushered in heavily by the Beatles, changed the focus of marketing from the adult demo to the youth demo. Before Elvis and The Beatles marketers didn't really focus on the youth markets, once they saw the ravenous appetite and spending power of the demo there was a major shift to marketing popular culture. There was a cultural shift from old age and wisdom dictating basic popular culture to youth and personal desire. I forget my marketing history clearly but they went from basically marketing the brand only to marketing to customers desires in this era (Parker help me out here, you have an MBA in this don't you?) The Beatles represented and espoused the shift away from traditional 50's Leave it to Beaver Nuclear family and ideals. There were other people/groups in the era as well, like beatniks, but The Beatles were largest most popular and most resonating of the time.
I wonder how much of this is attributed to the sheer size of the baby boomers when they were young. Clearly much of this has persisted with Gen X and Millenials, but I wonder with the pending retirement of all the Bobby's and Sally's out there if cultural control will shift back to the old heads. But I maintain some degree of skepticism if this show goes super heavy on Pop Culture/Beatlemania influence. Remember the show is being created by artistic types who make their living and mentally exist in the pop culture of today, so they are potentially more likely to over emphasize the importance of pop music and art into their view of society as a whole. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon of a 30 year old but in our current time, I don't think we (adult society) are as influenced by pop culture as much as we are by political, news media, and economic forces.
I don't think the cultural control as you put it will shift back to the boomers. Not only did that generation define the personal desire focus that is still pervasive in our culture but do you really think the obsession with youth and the lifestyle that comes with it will fade because that generation is getting older? I don't think so. As for marketers they've already got this stuff clocked, they know birthrate data and use it to guide what ever they're selling. Still even with the boomers representing a large segment of the population the 18-45 year old male demo is still the most coveted selling point.
Sweet, Meghan's gone and already Don is back to being the awesome asshole we all know and love at work. "I don't think about you at all." OOHHHHHHH SSSNNNNAAAPPPP!
Yes I was thinking the same thing. I also screamed out loud "Fucking BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICTH!" when Betty told Sally to ask Megan about Don's first wife. Also Sally turned into quite a manipulative little cunt for a minute there didn't she? I liked the running theme of this episode where people were kind of reveling in other peoples misery. Peggy had quite a vindictiveness in her look when she knew Don had left the mock ups in the taxi. Betty hoped to do the same with Megan and Don, except it blew up in her fat face.
I didn't like this episode at all, I feel like the show is somehow less satisfying than it used to be. Everyone is so fucked up and dysfunctional, it's starting to get on my nerves. At least Meghan gets less screen time now.
How is this different from the previous seasons? And yeah, Sally-as-mini-Betty is terrifying. She's had a couple of lines or moments where I've been like "Aaaannndd there's the beginning of your eating disorder."
I don't know, I feel like they used to be more fun. Don and Roger going up the stairs, Vert and the shoes off rule, betty shooting the neighbor's birds...
This last episode was a little scattered, but so many things were killer. The return of Don, albeit a little rusty. He gave MG the same cold shoulder we're used to seeing from him, which is awesome. Advertising is a cutthroat business, if the boss likes his idea more than yours, then his is winning. Sally loves daddy more than mommy, so that'll keep her off the pole. Sally is at that age where she is learning her parents are bastions of all that is good in the world, they have problems also, but they know how to deal with them a little better. Sally went back and played the perfect double agent. I think Megan is going to fall in line with everyone else since they wanted to make her a character thats been there for 5 seasons, but hasn't, so now we're all caught up, she'll do what she needs to do without being a HUGE focus, but she's not going to vanish for episodes at a time.
For anyone who has ever been in a divorced-parent situation where your parents were bastards who used you as a pawn in their own emotional hangups, this episode was incredibly spot on. Sally is getting smarter than a motherfucker, realizing how to hurt her mother in ways that won't get her any backlash. Considering all the abuse Betty has heaped on her, I say way to go. I think Don is feeling lost now. Megan was shaping up to be his salvation from his former life, and now she's let him down by wanting to be an actress instead of a badass. I think his foray back into creative and his comment to Ginsberg were a bit of a backslide into his old ways, which, while I doubt it's what he wants, is totally what I want. And no one is talking about Roger's aimless wandering around being self-indulgent? I don't want to be right, but I feel like he's the one who is going to go. He's increasingly feeling useless at the company and his moment of clarity with Jane makes me think something dreadful will happen to him. But goddamn will I be pissed if it does.