How is this program different from other shows on TV? How has it influenced television or culture? (There is a at least one blog that has followed it since its premiere) What about the representation of women and gender? Are there hints of the burgeoning Civil Rights movement? What does the show imply about the advertising industry at the time? (this episode takes place in late 1962). What about morality, cultural norms, standards of behavior in the workplace?
Are there stylistic elements of the show worth discussing?
Oh, and this is the best thing ever.
--Jeremy Strahan--
ReplyDeleteThe most entertaining moment to me was when we saw prototype advertising in progress. "Our hero" is presented with potential advertisements for a hotel chain, and shoots them both down because they used a mouse for the mascot. No one wants to associate high class hotel rooms with rodents!
It's a reminder of how much thought, research, and care is put into the advertisements and commercials meant to gnaw on our brains, back then, and now. And, it showcases how one of these very researchers could miss something so blatantly obvious and potentially destroy their own product with a single stroke.
There is a battlefield hidden within the commercials that bombard us, but we only see the end result.
-Tyler Adams-
ReplyDeleteOne of the questions that stuck out to me from your plethora of things to think about (above), was the question of the representation of women and gender. I found it interesting that there were some remnants of the traditional roles of women that are hinted throughout the show. The women are still having dinner prepared for the men when they get home, the needs of the men are to be met quickly as they walk through the door. However, the viewer can see that there are differences that are the cause of the women's rights movement that 'ended' in 1920. There was a woman who (if I remember correctly) had a higher role in the company, though lower than the men she was looked up to by the other women.