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Mad Men Goes Mad on Purpose

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 28, 2009 2:40 PM CDT

(Newser) – Critics have begun to worry about Mad Men. Gory lawnmower accidents? Unexpected death? Grueling, drugged-up childbirth? “Where have all the snifters of brandy and jaunty shrimp cocktails gone?” asks Heather Havrilesky of Salon. She’s kidding, of course. Mad Men has spun into insanity so quickly because that’s exactly what American life did then, and is still doing now.

We all fell for Sterling Cooper’s devil-may-care attitude the same way we fell for “Botox and real estate and every other slice of American pie that we just had to get while it was hot, hot, hot.” Sure, the lawnmower incident requires a healthy suspension of disbelief, but so did the dot-com craze. “Mad Men’s tendency to lean in to the almost surreal inhumanity of modern times” is “exactly what makes it worth watching.”

The Mad Men guys get a face full of blood in this YouTube screenshot.
The Mad Men guys get a face full of blood in this YouTube screenshot.
In this publicity image released by AMC, Jon Hamm portrays Don Draper in the AMC series, Mad Men.
In this publicity image released by AMC, Jon Hamm portrays Don Draper in the AMC series, "Mad Men."   (AP Photo/AMC)
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The infamous lawnmower scene from Mad Men.   (Cait8915)

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Matthew Weiner beautifully illustrates the unnerving invasiveness of modern, postwar culture, the ways that empty trends and bad ideas seem to crash down upon the populace like a sociocultural tsunami. - Heather Havrilesky

The dark humor is utterly in step with Mad Men’s barbarous take on the tenor of the times. - Heather Havrilesky

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Spudsy
Sep 29, 2009 7:39 AM CDT
I was lucky enough to get into advertising at the tail end of that generations careers. They were a fun bunch of hard drinking men. Brown liquor lunches. Their experiences in Europe and the Pacific during the war gave them a bullsh!t meter that could not be defeated. I miss them. RIP.
Blackbird
Sep 29, 2009 3:50 AM CDT
The first few shows of the new season seemed to have something missing. Tonight got things back on track, excellent episode...
armywife
Sep 29, 2009 2:52 AM CDT
i havent seen any of the new season yet, but this lawnmower thing sounds like a bit of jumping the shark. i'll have to wait to see the episode to make up my mind.

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