Mad Men Questions #1-5

1.       The main point that Heather Havrilesky makes in Mad Men is that striving hard to have a seemingly perfect life is not what makes life good, but that it is the simple beauties and the empathy we show others that creates the best option for our existence. For instance, the author states, “What’s missing on both a personal and broader scale is empathy.” Obviously she really cares about having kindness in the world and has demonstrated this in her writing. The first part of her thesis is upheld by her tone attributed to praising Mad Men, and her explanations about how it supports her opinion against the thought process of always wanting more. An example of this is when she says, “This is the genius of Mad Men, its dramatic reenactment of the discontent between the dream of dashing heroes and their beautiful wives…and the much messier reality of struggling to play a predetermined role without an organic relationship to your surroundings or to yourself….” It can be seen in this quote that the author enjoys the unveiling of what life for envious people is like, without the stains of our own longings.

2.       Havrilesky claims her authority to write about and analyze this show through her extensive explanations of characters, the plot, and themes found in the show. This makes it clear that she is very knowledgeable about Mad Men.

3.       The author uses specific word choices and examples from the show to relate to or move the reader’s feelings. For instance, she uses words like “exposed” and tells the reader about “the sharp edicts Don and Betty issue to their children” to influence their feelings.

4.       If the show was already recognizable to me, I would definitely say that the description of it is accurate. It seems like a very likely plot and the writer seems to know a lot about it, so much, that it would probably be hard for her to ignore the truth. Though this may be the case with the first, the effects of Mad Men on the viewers of the show will not all be attracted to the show because of questions such as, “What is missing from this pretty picture?” Contrarily, I believe that people will be drawn to it because of reasons contradictory to the opinion of Havrilesky. For example, the audience may be sucked in by the demonstration of the romantic and intense life they would like to live. They may never even think to apply it to a real-life situation and instead only give it room in their mind long enough to finish the episode. In addition, watching television shows generally don’t spark deep insights such as the above mentioned by the author. Watching T.V. is generally a form of recreation and relaxing, not of intense thinking and deep rooted questions. This shows the differentiated impacts the show may have on different people.