Good Evening, My Fellow Americans, ‘Mad Men’ Is Back, And Roger Is Sporting A Mustache
The jury is out on Mad Men being a historical documentary or modern drama. Is it’s political incorrectness a self-effacing male perspective or an attempt by the writers to take a satirical view of recent history?
Frankly my dear, who gives a damn. Mad Men is just great. A caricature fest, with cringe-worthy comedy moments that have kept us glued to the screen for the last six seasons.
We have evolved with the hour glass, nipped in female silhouettes that clickety-clack away on original 1950 and 1960s typewriters. These curvy bombshells become giggling damsels as the chain smoking and probably drunk Don Draper (who plays a fast and loose advertising executive) slinks by.
Our last view of the show was the end of Season 6 as the American dream was getting somewhat faded toward the end of the ’60s with the election of Richard Nixon ending the years of political radicalism.
Season 7 launched on to U.S. screens this week, with a fresh new fashion look. We can only hope the groovy 1970s storyline lives up to the sharp clean lines of the late fifties and early sixties.
The new script and set oozed with early seventies kitsch: nylon suits, big hair, floaty puffed up dresses, and a few dodgy mustaches for good measure.
Toto, we’re not in the 60s anymore http://t.co/xgXnUY5Wgcpic.twitter.com/THQWdilQo4
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) April 7, 2015
The first episode has literally set the scene, allowing us an emotional buy-in with the death of Cooper who was one of the founders of the Advertising Agency where all the action happens. The timeline has come slightly forward, returning Peggy to the fold as the creative equal to Don.
Episode one lets us peek through the keyhole to view whose relationships have remained intact. It sets up the tense dynamic, with hints of where the story might turn and of course the constant magnifying glass on Don’s drinking and level of sobriety, that allows him to return to work.
I am a fan so I may be somewhat biased, but there is no doubt that Mad Men has touched a nerve of nostalgia, presenting a delicious throwback, to a decadent age of awkward political shifts, a fading romance and the re-positioning of the femme-fatale.
The initial episode of Mad Men season 7 has set us up nicely, with just enough to get us hooked once more and knowing this is the final season, I would suggest we sit back and enjoy the visual ride.
[Image Credit AMC]
