Mad Men Essay Example
Mad Men
The television series Mad Men takes place in New York City in the early 1960’s. “The title, Mad Men, provides insight into the show’s psyche through a multilayered play on words. It is about the culture of the advertising industry that thrived on Madison Avenue. It tells us that the show is about “ad men” and we have to guess whether “men” here is used generically or whether it is intentionally exclusive to the women who also held significant positions in the business. The two most common meanings for mad, “crazy” and “angry” seem particularly apt, especially considering how masochistic some of the characters seem and also the stressful nature of the work—conceiving of and selling ideas to clients. The show’s title, like a key goal in advertising, is at once broadly recognizable and subtly effective” (blog.oxforddictionaries.com, 2012). In order to truly understand the era and what the writers of the show are trying to depict it is important for viewers and watchers of this series to know what was happening in the world in the years leading up to the decade of the sixties as well as the actual decade itself.
Cultural Timeline
1950’s
The 1950’s saw the end of World War II that brought thousands of young American servicemen back home to pick up their lives and start new families in new homes with new jobs. With a huge renewal in energy, American industry expanded to meet peacetime needs. Americans began buying goods not available during the war, which created corporate expansion and jobs. There was growth everywhere and what has become known as the baby boom was well underway. In 1954, stirrings of the Civil Rights movement began when racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1958, the world got little bit smaller when the first domestic jet-airline passenger service by National Airlines began between New York City and Miami (Bradley, 1998).
Perhaps one of the things that most characterizes
The television series Mad Men takes place in New York City in the early 1960’s. “The title, Mad Men, provides insight into the show’s psyche through a multilayered play on words. It is about the culture of the advertising industry that thrived on Madison Avenue. It tells us that the show is about “ad men” and we have to guess whether “men” here is used generically or whether it is intentionally exclusive to the women who also held significant positions in the business. The two most common meanings for mad, “crazy” and “angry” seem particularly apt, especially considering how masochistic some of the characters seem and also the stressful nature of the work—conceiving of and selling ideas to clients. The show’s title, like a key goal in advertising, is at once broadly recognizable and subtly effective” (blog.oxforddictionaries.com, 2012). In order to truly understand the era and what the writers of the show are trying to depict it is important for viewers and watchers of this series to know what was happening in the world in the years leading up to the decade of the sixties as well as the actual decade itself.
Cultural Timeline
1950’s
The 1950’s saw the end of World War II that brought thousands of young American servicemen back home to pick up their lives and start new families in new homes with new jobs. With a huge renewal in energy, American industry expanded to meet peacetime needs. Americans began buying goods not available during the war, which created corporate expansion and jobs. There was growth everywhere and what has become known as the baby boom was well underway. In 1954, stirrings of the Civil Rights movement began when racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1958, the world got little bit smaller when the first domestic jet-airline passenger service by National Airlines began between New York City and Miami (Bradley, 1998).
Perhaps one of the things that most characterizes