Mad Men -- The Episode About Betty Getting Fat

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Mad Men.*

Last week, it was Megan's foxy little "Zou Bisou Bisou" song and dance, where she flashed ample thigh to Don while his colleagues looked on in astonishment, that caught everyone's attention. This week, Betty made her first season five appearance and viewers were, um, gobsmacked to see the transformation she'd undergone, eating her unhappy self into oblivion. (That was a genius way to deal with January Jones' real life pregnancy. Much better than a laundry basket propped up in front of her belly.)

Remember back in season one, when Peggy began to put on weight everywhere, including on her face and neck? Before it was revealed that she was pregnant (and unwilling to admit to herself that she was with child), people suggested that perhaps Peggy was purposefully getting bigger in an attempt to ward off sexual overtures from the Sterling Cooper neanderthals. She wanted them to see her as a copywriter, not an object of affection, or so the argument went.

Well Betty now seems to be doing exactly what folks thought Peggy was doing, putting pounds of flesh between herself and sex, specifically her husband Henry, to keep him away from her. Now I've always had a soft spot for Betty, her feelings about being confined in a gilded cage with a duplicitous, cheating husband and her struggles with the fears her mother instilled in her about becoming "stout." Even though she was depicted as cold and cruel last season, I still had sympathy for her.

But there was something a bit creepy about the way Betty's weight gain was handled. It was treated in a fetish-y fashion, from the scene of Betty's kids trying to unsuccessfully zip her into her dress, to the unnecessarily exploitative shot from behind when she was getting out of the tub. It's one thing to explore Betty's emotional issues, how she's dissatisfied with her life, so unhappy that she became overweight, that what she feared the most when she was younger -- gaining weight -- had occurred, with making a spectacle out of her body, the way in which Megan did by design with her performance. We can all see that she put on weight. We get it. The show's writers didn't need to make the point over and over and over again with visuals that don't seem to elucidate as much as they do exploit, as the internet is doing in the aftermath of the "Tea Leaves" episode.

The wrinkle in all of this was the specter of cancer, the possibility that the growth that was found on her thyroid was malignant. This brought to the surface Don and Betty's emotional connections, which still exist despite the extreme acrimony they've experienced as Don fretted over his potentially motherless children, admitting that Megan was no substitute. (There are mommy issues galore in this show.) It was particularly interesting that when Betty was afraid for her life, she sought out Don for comfort -- and his hollow "Everything's going to be okay" motto -- and Henry, who remains threatened by Don, didn't like it one bit.

Meanwhile, Megan was parading around in a bikini top and trying to get Don to come to a gathering with her twentysomething pals, with whom and from whom Don feels a generational disconnect. Seeing Don look "so square" that he "had corners," as Megan said, at the Rolling Stones concert amid all those teen fans, Don seemed even more out of place in his own skin, realizing that he wasn't "it," upstart young man any more. (Ironically, in season two, Don chastised Betty as "desperate" for wearing a bikini.) How times have changed.

What did you think of this episode?

Image credit: Michael Yarish/AMC.

Loads of 'Mad Men' Season 5 Goodness

Entertainment Weekly has devoted its new issue to the long-awaited return of the quadruple Emmy award winning AMC drama Mad Men which, given all this hype and longing after a 17-month absence, I'm afraid won't be able to live up to fans' expectations (mine included). Nonetheless, as I cross my fingers, knock on wood and hope that Matthew Weiner & Co. have created another insightful, surprising and smart set of 13 episodes, I'm eagerly gobbling up all things Mad Men.

Like that new issue of Entertainment Weekly which devoted nine pages to the returning series that premieres on March 25. What did I learn from the magazine, amid artsy photos of Jon Hamm in his role as the troubled Don Draper?

• There will be some time jump from the end of season four to the premiere of season five but there's no word on how far forward they will leap. Says Weiner, the series creator and head honcho: "I want people to feel like they're going to visit their best friend, and they open the door and everything's been going on without them. The story is on page 30 when they open the door, so they'll have to catch up.
• Elisabeth Moss (Peggy) said she's "completely, completely surprised by season five. For a few of the characters that have big things happen to them this year -- big surprises and changes -- the audience is going to go back and go 'He said that in episode one!'" 
• Talking about the sudden and stunning marriage proposal Don gave to his young secretary Megan in the closing moments of season four, Weiner said: "A lot of the decisions that Don makes may seem strange to the audience, but they're going to seem strange to people around him, too. He is coming into middle age, which is closer to old age back then. Existentialism is a young man's game, and you can say what you want about how death nullifies things. But when you get closer to death, it starts to become more serious, and it's harder to laugh it off and say, 'I'm living for the moment.'" 
• Betty will be back but won't be seen as often as Betty fans (like me) might like because January Jones gave birth to a baby while Mad Men was in production. "It was interesting to work around that [the pregnancy] but [Matt] works best with a challenge," Jones told EW. "That turned into an amazing storyline for me and for Betty. You'll definitely see a different side of her."

Meanwhile, New York Magazine published seven pages worth of Mad Men material, from summarizing each of the show's 39 episodes in pithy fashion and delving into Don and Peggy's "special relationship" (it drives Moss nuts when people constantly ask her whether Peggy and Don will hook up) to a creepy editorial feature where the magazine asked an actuary to estimate when Don, who was born in 1926, will die and aged a photo of Hamm/Draper (see above). The actuary estimated that Draper will pass away in 1985 at age 59.

One last thing I found today while marinating in Mad Men pre-season excitement: Draping is apparently the new Tebow-ing. You take a photo from the back of someone and that person is draping his or her arm over a person or object like the silhouette of Don Draper does in the show's opening credits. Then post the image on Tumblr and/or Twitter. Fun for Mad Men fans of all ages.

Image credits: Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine and Tumblr.

At Least the 'Mad Men' Fan Videos Have Some Life in Them

While I was disappointed by the same-old, same-old season five Mad Men promos AMC has released, I decided to satiate my desire for new Mad Men material by hunting around on YouTube for some Mad Men-themed videos that contain some real emotion, that have real life in them, which means, of course, that they've been made by fans.

One video that I especially enjoyed was by 7Kell Productions (above) which focused on the Don and Betty Draper relationship. (While there are many Betty haters out there, I am not one of them, at least as far as seasons 1-3 are concerned.) The video chronicles the circuitous path the duo took during the show's four seasons, from moments of domestic bliss, longing and betrayal, to the complicated business of being divorced parents. (If you ask me, I think that Don would drop any woman he was with in order to reconnect with Betty, who represented an idealistic dream to him -- one he didn't quite think he deserved -- but whether he'd remain monogamous with her is an entirely different story.)

Then there's "Don Draper Undone" by EditorLosAngeles (above), which heightens the dramatic rivalry and power struggle between Don and Pete Campbell, the only one, aside from Betty, who knows the truth about Dick Whitman.

This video by MovieExtra deftly captures the rampant sexism and harassment, as well as the lame attempts at seduction by the various, moronic men of Mad Men.

On the more serious side, there's this black and white, deeply moody Don and Peggy video that depicts how desperately lonely the pair are for an authentic, emotional connection with someone and how, despite their rocky relationship, they've remained loyal to one another. Heavily reliant on scenes from the outstanding "The Suitcase" episode from season four, the video openly hopes that Don and Peggy will take it to the next level, suggesting that Peggy pines for Don. I don't think she really pines for him and believe that a romantic pairing between those two would be disastrous.

Are there any fan-made Mad Men videos out there that you really like that you really like?

AMC Keeps Teasing Us with Nothing’s-New-Here ‘Mad Men’s’ Promos

It's been well over a year. Don't the AMC suits think the ever-patient Mad Men fans deserve a little something new to tide us over until the two-hour season five Mad Men premiere on March 25? Although AMC did release a series of season five promos, all of them contain footage from previous seasons.

Despite the lack of new scenes, is there anything we can glean from the videos which might provide us with some clues as to what to expect in the fifth season? The choice of scenes and adjectives, may -- I repeat, MAY -- be informative, but likely only in hindsight once the season has concluded:

• Style, featuring Don Draper driving a red convertible along a shoreline
• Debauchery, featuring Roger Sterling, and then Don alongside Peggy Olson, drinking
• Deception, with Pete asking Don why he should keep something secret
• Adultery, punctuated by Joan Harris and Roger's impromptu baby-making session in a Manhattan alley after they were mugged
• Jealousy, showing Roger lunging at Pete as Don leaps between the duo

Sadly, the new videos didn't thrill me, nor have the teasers told us anything which, after the yawning gap between season four and this new one, was a disappointment. Show us a little ankle, a short new scene or a wry glimpse, something new, won't ya? It's not too much to ask.

The only image featuring a cast member that is fresh and new is one that I happened to see yesterday when I was outside of Zabar's in New York City. (I was in the city for a few days with the family.) It appeared on the side of a bus. A New York-based Mad Men fan posted a photo of the bus billboard I'd seen:

In this photo, Don's image is reflected in a store's front window where two, faceless mannequins -- a naked female one is standing next to a seated male who's wearing a red robe, striped pajamas and red slippers in what looks like a hotel room. Possible interpretations:

Don is looking at a glimpse of his past, the times when he would sit in a chair while some nameless, faceless female would parade around in front of him. (In the season three promo poster, an unsmiling

Don was pictured, seated in a chair in an office, casually smoking a cigarette while he's in some pretty treacherously deep water.)

Don is looking at a reflection of his current, philandering situation and hoping he won't be found out . . . again.

Don is looking at the faceless couple and imagining that he and Betty were back sharing a boudoir.

Don is looking at scene he'll soon have played out in his new life and in his new digs with his new, spry wife.

Either way, the photo is similar to the season three teaser photo featuring Betty, although Betty wasn't looking at her reflection and the window display contained a long, glamorous glove, perfume, pearls and a hat atop the head of a mannequin, which had a face:

Are the Mad Men/AMC folks just trying to string us along by telling us next to nothing? Speaking for myself, I find the lack of any real scraps irritating.

Image credits: AMC's Mad Men season five open thread and Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC.

Mad Men's Blank Canvas of a Season 5 Ad Tempts Urban Artists

Where I read a palpable sense of despair in the season five promo poster for Mad Men as the image prominently featured a wretched expanse of white space into which a black and white man was hurtling, others saw it as an opportunity to stretch their creative muscles.

Throughout internet and on subway posters, the Mad Men image is being altered in clever, sometimes downright odd ways.

The Gothamist and the web site Laughing Squid have run photos of Mad Men subway posters that have been tagged in ways that reflected a variety of interpretations of the image:

How do you interpret the basic, unvarnished image? Negatively, positively or intentionally designed to spark existential conversations like this one?

Not-New New Trailers: What’s Up with TV Show Promos with No New Content?

Last week I got all aflutter when I read on Twitter that there was a new trailer out promoting the fifth season of Mad Men, a show I crave deep in my bones and about which I’m still peeved is not airing new episodes yet due to the prolonged contract negotiations. Greedy for fresh Don Draper action, I clicked on over to watch the Mad Men promo only to be vastly disappointed that it contained no new footage, nary a hint of what’s to come, just rehashes of previous scenes. No Megan. No Peggy. No Joan with a baby bump. Just scenes we've already seen.




Feeling burned by the Mad Men non-new trailer, I cautiously followed a tantalizing Tweet about a season three promo for The Good Wife which is slated to commence in the afterglow of Alicia and Will finally getting together after Alicia learned that Peter and Kalinda slept together some time back.

At least in this trailer, interspersed with scenes from previous seasons, we also got a glimpse of some new footage – like Alicia Florrick rockin’ bangs -- and a sense that this season will have less of a “poor betrayed wife” vibe and more of a “reclaiming her sexuality & power” one where the chief question is: Team Will or Team Peter?



The Desperate Housewives’ promo for its final season, on the other hand, is nothing more than a highlights reel from the past seven years, reminding me of the early days when this suburban satire was actually scathingly good and insightful. While watching the past seven seasons in this trailer, viewers get nothing more than confirmation of the fact that Wisteria Lane is the most dangerous street in America, that and the fact that the Housewives have become scary-skinny over the years.



At least the Modern Family trailer -- which was entitled, “Looking Back” -- didn’t pretend as though it was going to be giving us anything new. It was clear that this was just going to be a recap of some of the funnier, previously aired moments from the best comedy on television.



As for The Middle trailer, we actually do learn something . . . that Ray Romano is joining his former Everybody Loves Raymond co-star, Patrician Heaton, on the sitcom’s season premiere. At least there's that.

'Mad Men'-Inspired Reading List

It’s summer. That means Mad Men SHOULD be airing new episodes right now. But, thanks to difficult and drawn out contract negotiations, the beginning of the show’s fifth season has been pushed back to next year. (They only just started shooting recently.)


But to keep us thinking about the deliciously nuanced and layered period drama, the show’s blog has released a Mad Men reading list:
“Betty reading The Group in the bathtub. Don Draper with a copy of Exodus in bed. Henry Francis with a whole stack of books near the fireplace. Literature always gets its due in Mad Men. But how many of the books cited in the series have you actually read?”

Here’s their recommended, show-related summer reading list by season:

Season 1: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand; The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe; Exodus* by Leon Uris and Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence.

Season 2: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone; Meditations in an Emergency* by Frank O’Hara; Moby Dick* by Herman Melville; Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. (If you want to see that amazingly poignant scene where Don Draper reads a section of a poem from Meditations in an Emergency, go here. They've disabled the video from being embedded.)

Season 3: Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy; The Group by Mary McCarthy and The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Season 4: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict; The Clue of the Black Keys by Carolyn Keene and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre.

Which ones have you read? Which ones do you want to read? (The handful I've read are marked with an asterisk.*)

Image credit: AMC via The Poetry Habit.

Notes on Pop Culture & Politics: Stewart Questions Libyan Intervention, Liz Taylor's Best Films & New 'Mad Men' Season Delayed

Jon Stewart Takes on U.S. Action in Libya

After taking a week’s break from broadcasting, Jon Stewart stormed back to The Daily Show this week and quipped incredulously, “When we left [the air] the world’s two biggest trouble spots were Wisconsin and the set of Two and a Half Men.”

Not only did he question why, when we’re already engaged in two wars, we’ve now added a third skirmish to our slate of military responsibilities, Stewart asked, “Aren’t we also out of money? . . . You can’t simultaneously fire teachers and Tomahawk missiles.” Wonder what's going to have to be cut from the federal budget in order to fund the United States' role in enforcing the Libyan No Fly Zone? Or how much taxes will have to be raised.

Another interesting question which I heard on Morning Joe yesterday: If the United States is going to act as though we're the world's police force, why are we only selectively walking the beat? A commentator asked why the United States is getting militarily involved in Libya on behalf of protecting innocent civilians who want to live freely but didn't with Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, etc.?


Image credit: Boston Globe

What Were Liz Taylor’s Best Films?

Learning that Elizabeth Taylor has died of congestive heart failure and seeing those photos of her in her heyday cropping up on sites all over the web, when she was – get ready for this cliché which you’re going to hear a bazillion times over the course of the week – “the Angelina Jolie of her day,” has sparked my desire to watch a few Taylor flicks. But which ones?



Calling Liz Taylor aficionados: Which were her best films? Which ones would you recommend that I see?

New Mad Men Season to be Delayed

Seriously people? I mean really . . . how long do you expect Mad Men fans to patiently wait and drum our fingers atop our desks while the folks at AMC, Lionsgate and show creator/runner Matt Weiner debate the terms of the award winning show’s return?

Mad Men’s very first episode aired in early July 2007, I remember seeing its premiere because I was on vacation at Cape Cod the time and stumbled upon an ad for it while watching The Godfather on AMC and decided to give it a try.

Now, according to an article in today’s New York Times, we learned that the show may not return to liven up the vast wasteland that typically is summer TV. We may have to wait until 2012:

“In the meantime Mad Men actors like John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling, are in a bind, expecting that they will be called back to work but unsure when that call will come. While walking the red carpet at a premiere of his new film, The Adjustment Bureau, last month, Mr. Slattery remarked to reporters, ‘I’m looking for a job.’”

Image credits: Boston Globe, AMC.