tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490006990580611900.post1750672838357227042..comments2015-05-20T09:28:20.474-07:00Comments on Mad About Mad Men: "The Gift"Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06406367604160528926noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490006990580611900.post-88653389737001110202015-05-18T06:47:52.366-07:002015-05-18T06:47:52.366-07:00Thanks, Philip, for your insightful take on this e...Thanks, Philip, for your insightful take on this episode. I think this show is going to keep offering--long after it's over--the opportunity to reflect on these issues of what it means to be men, women, human, to confront death and our deepest weaknesses. I like your targeting of deception as a means of making one's way through the world and ways the lust for money can mess people up. It also seems to be about power. Who has it? How do they/we use it? What are its limits? Henry is so used to wielding political influence to get what he wants that it's his first resort when his wife receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. He'll call Rocky's office. It's his political influence and ability to wield it that got him Betty in the first place. It has to be able to save her so he can keep her, right? But, mortality is that final wall that even the most powerful and rich must one day bump into with no way to scale it, get around, or dig under.Cathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06406367604160528926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490006990580611900.post-82024702247145212972015-05-13T03:35:13.168-07:002015-05-13T03:35:13.168-07:00Another nice piece, Cathy. As soon as I had finish...Another nice piece, Cathy. As soon as I had finished watching the latest episode, I came straight to your blog. Such a pity I have arrived at a good party, just as it is ending.<br /><br />For me, The Milk and Honey Route is about how we make our way in the world. As someone somewhere sort of said, it is one thing to understand the world, quite another to make our way in it.<br /><br />For men, the message seems to be, the route through life is often by deception, born of weakness and lust for a quick, easy profit.<br /><br />Robert is self-deluded, but soon realises his outlook, particularly towards women, has been a pattern set down by his father and he had taken on the mantle of a would-be womanizer. That had led to the breakup of his family. Too late? Maybe not; Trudy's forgiveness might prove his salvation.<br /><br />The scene with Robert and his brother at dinner is hilarious; this dull, fat little man thinks he is God’s gift to women; clearly he is not. Robert tries to set him straight, but it is an inconvenient truth he would rather not hear.<br /><br />We are reminded of Don's big deceit - taking on the identity of a dead comrade. But he also suggests that advertising has been one big, long, profitable con. He chastises the poor hustling techniques of the would-be conman,cleaner-porter for not seeing the true cost of his theft. He sympathises with him, despite the porter’s attempt to pin the theft on Don.<br /><br />Before that, the veterans con Don into staying for the fundraising and extract more money from him. They may have helped win the war, but they are now little more than smalltown drunks. Even during the war, their true record is cowardly and dishonourable.<br /><br />Betty’s husband fools himself that Betty can be cured. he grieves more than Betty herself; he breaks her confidence out of false hope.<br /><br />Once the confidence and the conning are stripped away, the men are weak, but they are better men for seeing the world as it is, and not as advertised.<br /><br />There are little deceits scattered here and there, like the students giving Betty’s name to the hospital as Mrs Robinson. Betty smiles and sees the joke right away; she has spent her life navigating the deceits of men.<br /><br />Don is now shorn of all the trappings of his wealth and influence. He is sane. The madness is waning. One by one, the deluded men are coming to their senses.<br /><br />(notice the short paragraphs; you can guess my profession before I began to teach)philipjcowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17199790003777366126noreply@blogger.com