In fifty years, how will people remember the 2010s? Will the defining feature be the shift in what we perceive as being socially permissible, or perhaps the way that the internet and social media evolved to dominate our lives? What about our fads, meme cultures, and even defining events like presidential elections? Every era throughout history has unique traits. Will we even recognize the 2010s or will we be so distinct that the decade feels like a wholly foreign culture?

Mad Men is an award winning, seven season television drama which answers this question for the 1960s. We see the glamor of being a marketing executive on Madison Avenue — side note, the ‘Mad’ in the title comes from ‘Madison Avenue’ — during the ‘golden age of advertising’. The show stars Jon Hamm as Don Draper and Elizabeth Moss as Peggy Olson. Don Draper is the typical drink-a-scotch-at-work type of executive you’d picture as the creative director for an advertising firm at the time, though he also has a mysterious past. At the onset of Mad Men, Peggy Olson is hired by the firm as Don’s new secretary. Due to her advertising acumen, she eventually rises to the position of copywriter.

Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm

Peggy Olson, played by Elizabeth Moss

The ‘60s were marred with a misogynist, womanizing culture – especially in the world of business. In the first episode, there are countless examples which range from subtle remarks to sexual assault. Despite the common beliefs presented in the show being outlandish today, they are presented matter-of-factly. The way in which the show follows the journey of Peggy Olson’s career in a world that demeans her, yet simultaneously having the main protagonist, Don Draper, be representative of that misogyny shows an era of our history that we don’t want to relate with. Contrasting expectations of our modern culture is a defining element of the show. Not only has gender equality shifted dramatically since the period, so have beliefs about race, mental health, and physical health (advertising smoking despite the FTC cracking down on health claims is an important aspect of the show of the beginning of the show). 

While the show is obviously politically incorrect in nature, the way in which audiences reacted when parts of the show aired was disturbing. Near the end of season two, one of the characters, Joan Holloway, was raped by her spouse. Christina Hendrix, the actress who played that character, remarked in an interview that fans would say she was “sort of raped” or use air quotes when describing what had happened. Similarly, an article in The Atlantic described how when reviewing a separate episode, many critics were not sure whether or not to describe coerced sex with an au pair as ‘rape’. For reference, Mad Men began airing in 2007 and the articles referenced came out in 2009 and ‘10 respectively. If these episodes aired today, it’s entirely possible that they would have gotten a different reception from a more woke audience.

Mad Men is an iconic television series for it’s drama, characters, portrayal of the time period, and stunning visual direction. It is also one of my favorite shows. Prior to writing this, I decided to rewatch the first episode to jog my memory… and I’m definitely going to keep watching. This show is great, and I hope that you decide to check it out!