It seems fitting when we consider that the show takes place in the tumultuous 60's. This is a very different kind of angst that we are used to seeing when the media decides to center anything in the 60's. There is barely any mention of the civil rights movement, and people of colour are nearly invisible on the show. With the exception of the Drapers maid, there are in fact no repeat characters, and she is only on the very peripheral of their lives.
I get that this show is supposed to be about White suburban angst, but would it really be the destruction of the drama to actually give more than lip service to the civil rights movement? There seems to be this false idea that Blacks and Whites never interacted and this is not the case. Even if there were not many friendships between the two groups, there were certainly social interactions. I think the lack of attention to this in the show, is because the writers and directors aren't sure how to accomplish this and still keep Whiteness as the center of attention. And seeing as how Whiteness isn't exactly dying for media representation, broadening the story would not only make it more accurate, but more inclusive. You, know that little buzz word that we try so hard to pretend so hard that we the media portrays, when in reality every station is practically WET (White entertainment television). Oh I know, it's not really racist, just normal.
What is interesting in this study of suburban Whiteness, is that it takes on the false image that everyone was perfectly happy in the time when men were men, and people had so-called family values. I don't ever remember seeing Don make it through a day without a snifter of something. He and Betty have both engaged in affairs and as parents --- well-- saying they suck is putting it mildly. Don and Betty view the kids as necessary accessories that just seem to get in the way. Roger stands as living reminder to Don of exactly where his philander ways will lead him, but he cannot seem to find contentment inside that white picket fence. Domesticity in the lives of the Drapers and indeed the entire cast, is like a cage that they are all desperate to escape, but for the sake of appearances they go through a ridculous charade.
In the decade when men were still allowed to be men, they were supposedly the protectors of women and yet, we have seen at least two rapes: one committed by Pete and the other by Joan's then fiance. Supposedly men were completely sure of themselves but were not hesitant to steal the ideas of female associates, pretending that they came up with the original concept and viewed them in a very predatory fashion. Peggy may have consented to the affair with Pete, but his continual abusive behaviour, combined with the power differential between the two, really does make this seem like something a real gentleman would not have engaged in - but then -- men were men.
The one thing that "Mad Men" truly does portray, is that Camelot was at best a mirage. Sure, there were happy families, but so many were forced to perform their race, class, sexuality and gender, that there was a lot of misery as well. Today, we are told that women's liberation, the gay rights movement, and the civil rights movement brought about the end of family values, and yet, as "Mad Men" actually portrays, a society of automatons leads to drugged out, drunk, lecherous people. Perhaps, it is time was wake up from the dream of the utopian past, and just recognize that we are better off when we are free to be ourselves.
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