‘Madmen’ revives today’s taboos

The series shows an era of
blatant sexism and bigotry.

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Cigarette smoke curlicues around the heads of the actors on AMC’s 1960-set drama “Mad Men,” but no smoking was spotted at a party celebrating the series last month at the Friar’s Club here. Some actors were running around carrying unlighted cigars, and reports later emerged of a “sand room” where, back in the day, the guys could toss their ciggies anywhere on the sand-covered floor.

It was certainly an appropriate venue for a period drama set in a New York Madison Avenue advertising agency — at least part of the inspiration for the “Mad” in the title, which might also refer to attitudes of the characters. These men have it all — money, beautiful wives, creative careers — and they’re still not satisfied, having affairs and behaving glumly.

Series creator Matthew Weiner first wrote the script seven years ago while working on the sitcom “Becker.” It so impressed David Chase, creator of “The Sopranos,” that Chase hired Weiner to write for the HBO classic.

“I reached a certain point in my life where I started thinking about myself as a man and where I was and what I was feeling,” Weiner said, noting he had always had an interest in the period and advertising. “It just intersected with this period in the United States and I said, ‘This is what I feel like.’ ... And it had to do with the fact that I was a television writer. And I looked at these guys, at this world, these men who were overpaid and drank too much and smoked too much and were glib and cynical and bit the hand that fed them all the time and showed up late and had no respect for authority, and I thought, ‘These are my heroes.’”

Time of bigotry

In its month on the air, “Mad Men” hasn’t been just a throwback. At times, it catapults viewers back to an era of blatant sexism, racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia. Nowadays, such obvious bigotry is taboo; people with those opinions are more likely to keep them in check.

“I don’t think it’s changed so much,” said actress Christina Hendricks, who plays lead secretary Joan, relating a newspaper article her father sent her about businessmen at his country club who were arrested for paying women to strip on the golf course.

“It’s just a lot more covered up,” said actress Elisabeth Moss, who plays naive but smart new secretary Peggy. “Women are allowed to speak out against it now, and men know that it’s not OK and they’re not supposed to talk about it, whereas then it was just sort of the way it was.”

As much as the “Mad Men” company may be glad for advances in the way women and minorities are treated in the workplace, Weiner decries the lack of civility that has been on the rise. He notes that while there was mistreatment in the workplace, it was not a frat house.

“There are actually rules, and there’s actually a lot of language that’s respected and achievement that’s respected,” Weiner said. But he noted some disgust with the young actors who auditioned for the role of Pete, which eventually went to Vincent Kartheiser. “I don’t think they have ever had sex with someone without another guy in the room and a high-five at the end. They could not keep from saying, ‘Dude.’

“I wonder how adrift this concept of what being a man is. It’s so crude right now.”