Footnotes of 'Mad Men': The Bikini, the Ham, the Firm and His Hooker
Decency is being traded in for freedom, divorce, bikinis and soulless PR campaigns used to drum up consumer excitement over something as mundane as congealed canned ham—remember the gals are paid to fight, then they actually do fight, but every one buys more ham. The good news is that with the burgeoning state of kooky consumerism, we have more access to the market and other store-bought (or by-the-hour) indulgences, so it becomes easier to simulate pleasure. The things we buy, the story we tell ourselves and others, is more in our control as the caste system dissolves in a deluge of consumer goods.
I’ll have a longer write-up about my thoughts from last night later, but for now, I think this paragraph does a nice job of describing my initial reaction to the show. I’ve watched the episode twice now and still can’t shake this feeling that this isn’t the same Mad Men that I once loved.
