Matthew Weiner, "MAD MEN" and Issues

This article was first written around late Season Four of the AMC series, "MAD MEN". 


MATTHEW WEINER, "MAD MEN" AND ISSUES

Ever since the characters Roger Sterling and Joan Harris were mugged by an African-American man in the Season Four episode of "MAD MEN", (4.09) "The Beautiful Girls", the topic of race in the series reared its head again. The ironic thing is that many of the series' fans and the media still refuse to criticize the series' creator, Matthew Weiner, for the series' minimal exploration of race. Instead, they believe that Weiner will gradually get into the issue by the time the series focuses upon the late 1960s. 

Matthew Weiner reminds me a lot of the creator of "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER", Joss Whedon. The had engaged in a good deal of in-depth exploration of feminine issues during that series' run. Yet, it barely touched upon race issues. The same seemed to be happening in Matthew Weiner's handling of "MAD MEN". 

He tried to deal with the race issue with the character of Shelia White back in Season Two. Sheila was the girlfriend of Sterling Cooper copywriter Paul Kinsey. But eight episodes following her first appearance, Sheila's character ended up being dropped in a very unsatisfying manner. Instead of showing the audience the circumstances that led to her and Paul's breakup, Weiner merely had Paul reveal the news to his fellow co-workers, upon his return from a trip to Mississippi. And Weiner portrayed Carla, the Drapers' maid, as the wise and dignified "Negro" - someone who turned out to be not very interesting. Poor Carla became one of those cliches that have permeated Hollywood for so many decades. In her case, she became the "dignified Negro".

I really do not see why Weiner could have approached the issue of race from a perspective not shown before - an African-American character that also happened to be an advertising executive. Most people do not realize this, but African-Americans began being employed by advertising agencies as far back as the mid or late 1950s . . . and not as service employees. Weiner had plenty of opportunity to approach this topic in the past two to three seasons. There is no need for him to wait until the series is set in the late 1960s. 

One of the few critics of Weiner's handling of the race issue had expressed mild contempt. This critic pointed out the the FOX series, "24" had an African-American character as President of the United States . . . six years before Barack Obama became the first person of African descent to be elected to that office. If the producers of "24" (who were known for harboring conservative political beliefs) could do this, what had prevented Weiner from including a major African-American character as an employee of Sterling-Cooper after four seasons? Especially since there had been a small number of Black Americans who worked in advertising. 

I also thought Weiner would deal with gay issues with the character of Sal Romano over the series. In the end, Weiner backed away from that subject, as well. Some claim that Sal's story had simply ran its course. I disagree. Weiner had plenty of opportunity to continue Sal's story. He had barely touched upon the issue of Sal's marriage to Kitty, before he had Sal's character removed from the series in the Season 3 episode, (3.09) "Wee Small Hours". I found this decision to get rid of Sal very disappointing.

I suspect that like Whedon, Weiner will eventually approach the topic of race . . . but at the last minute. Hopefully, there will be a television series or movie that will be brave enough to give equal time to the topic of gender, race and gay issues.

Post-Script:

Season Five of "MAD MEN" featured the introduction of Dawn Chambers, Don Draper's new African-American secretary. I wish I could say that with the introduction of Dawn, Weiner was finally able to explore an African-American character. Unfortunately, poor Dawn was treated as a recurring character whom viewers barely got the chance to know. Dawn received a promotion to office manager in Season Six. However, her character remained unexplored - especially outside of the office. Not even the introduction of another black secretary, Shirley, could improve Weiner's portrayal of race in the series.

I discovered something even more disturbing. Remember the Coca Cola commercial that included the song, "I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing"? The very ad that ended the series? Guess who really created the jingle for the ad? It was an African-American music executive named Roquel Billy Davis. Ironically, Davis not only worked for McCann-Erikson, the advertisement company that had purchased Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce; he eventually rose to Senior Vice-President and Music Director for that agency. Don was credited for Davis' work. The series featured another one of Davis' work involving the Miller Brewing Company account in early Season Seven. Apparently, Weiner had no problem with appropriating accounts associated with a real life African-American ad executive for the series. But he seemed to have problems featuring African-American ad executives, even when they DID exist during the show's time period. 

I recently learned that Sal Romano's departure from "MAD MEN" was the result of actor Bryan Batt's decision to leave the series for personal reasons. However, the topic of homosexuality was never really explored following Batt's Season Three departure. It had a chance to do so through the character of junior account executive Bob Benson, portrayed by actor James Wolk. Unfortunately, Weiner used the Bob Benson character as a mystery and as a plot device regarding Pete Campbell and Joan Harris' character arcs; instead of someone used to further explore LGBT issues. What a waste.

My Ten Favorite TELEVISION VILLAINS

Here is a list of my ten (10) favorite television villains . . . so far:



MY TEN FAVORITE TELEVISION VILLAINS



1. Seska "Star Trek Voyager" (1995-2001) - Actress Martha Hackett portrayed my favorite television villain of all time, the Cardassian spy that had herself surgically altered as a Bajoran in order to infiltrate Chakotay's Maquis cell. Following Voyager's arrival in the Delta Quadrant, Seska was revealed as a spy and she became an ally and lover of the crew's first enemy, Kazon Nistrim leader Maje Cullah.






2. Nina Myers - "24" (2001-2010) - Sarah Clarke was excellent as Jack Bauer's second-in-command at CTU Los Angeles, who ended up killing his wife Teri and being exposed as a mole. Following her revelation as a mole, she appeared on the show for another two seasons before she was murdered in cold blood at the hands of her former boss and lover.






3. Wo Fat "Hawaii Five-O" (1968-1980) - Khigh Dheigh was a joy to watch as the Communist Chinese intelligence officer who became the main nemesis of Hawaii State Police chief, Steve McGarrett.






4. President Morgan Clark "Babylon Five" (1993-1998) - For at least three to four seasons, actor Gary McGurk appeared only a few times as the Earth politician who became head of state and dictator of Earth Alliance via political assassination. Despite his limited appearances, Clark proved to be one of the most effective villains in recent television history.






5. Owen Crawford "Taken" (2002) - Joel Gretsch first made a name for himself as the aggressive and ruthless Owen Crawford, an Air Force officer who schemed and murdered his way into control of the private program in charge of investigating aliens that crashed in New Mexico and the U.S. citizens who had been "taken" by said aliens.






6. The Borg Queen "Star Trek Voyager" (1995-2001) - Alice Kriege first became a science-fiction icon in her portrayal of the eader or avatar of the Borg Collective in the 1996 film, "STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT". But she did memorably reprised her role in the two-part series finale for "Star Trek Voyager".






7. Luther Mahoney "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993-1999) - Erik Dellums gave a memorable performance in the recurring role as the Baltimore drug lord who made a big impact upon the lives of some of the police detectives in the series - in life and after his death.






8. Elkhanah Bent "North and South Trilogy" (1985; 1986; and 1994) - No fan of the television adaptations of John Jakes' trilogy could ever forget Philip Casnoff's twisted portrayal of the demented West Point cadet-turned Army officer-turned mercenary who made the lives of the Hazards and the Mains miserable before, during and after the Civil War.






9. The Borg Queen "Star Trek Voyager" (1995-2001) - Susanna Thompson also gave memorable performances as the Borg Collective's leader in two two-part episodes from the series. Whereas Kriege had "the voice", Thompson had "the eyes". And both were fantastic.






10. John Goetz "Jericho" (2006-2008) - D.B. Sweeney surprised the hell out of me in his chilling portrayal of the mercenary in post-apocalyptic Kansas, who inflicted a strong impact upon the town of Jericho. His cold-blooded murder of the adolescent deaf-mute Bonnie Richmond sent shock waves throughout the series' fandom.

"24" and the Breaking Point

After watching the April 12, 2010 episode of "24", it occurred to me that I had put up a lot with this series over the past eight or nine years. Perhaps a bit too much – especially since Season Three. But this last episode proved to be the final straw for me.


"24" AND THE BREAKING POINT

It seems a miracle to me that I managed to remain a steady viewer of FOX-TV’s "24". Despite being a pretty good series, it has presented its viewers with some mind boggling plotlines. Mind you, some of the series’ plotlines from Seasons One and Two left me scratching my head. Kim Bauer’s (Elisha Cuthbert) Season Two adventures that included encounters with a murderous employer, the law and a slightly demented survivalist portrayed by Kevin Dillon come to mind. And the circumstances that led to Nina Myers’ (Sarah Clarke) revelation as a mole inside CTU left me wondering if she had any senses. The fact that Season One featured two intelligence moles who had no idea that the other was a mole seemed to be skimming on thin ice to me. As did the subplot involving Presidential candidate David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) and his family.

Then came Season Three. Personally, I thought it was a pretty good season. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and CTU found themselves battling a former MI6 agent named Stephen Saunders (Paul Blackthorne), who wanted revenge for being abandoned during a disastrous operation against the Season One main villain, Victor Drazen (Dennis Hopper) by unleashing a deadly virus upon Los Angeles. This season also featured a con job perpetrated by Jack, Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) and a CTU employee named Gael Ortega (Jesse Borrego); the return of Nina Myers; the introduction of Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale) as the first (and my personal favorite) of several younger partners for Jack; a virus outbreak in Los Angeles and an exciting showdown in which Jack and Chase attempt to prevent one of Saunders’ men from carrying out his threat.

Unfortunately, Season Three seemed to have kick started many major mistakes created by the series’ writers over the next six years. I tried to deal with the introduction of the Chloe O’Brian character (Mary Lynn Rajskub). But I failed. After another five seasons, I still dislike her. From Season Three to the present, serious mistakes piled on one after the other - Jack's murder of Nina Myers; the subplot involving Wayne Palmer’s (D.B. Woodside) involvement with a billionaire’s wife and Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson); Tony's arrest for the so-called "treason" charge for exchanging Jack's kidnapped victim for his kidnapped wife – CTU’s own Michelle Dressler (Reiko Aylesworth); the loss of Chase’s hand and his departure from the series (I rather liked him . . . a lot). In Season Four, I had to deal with Jack’s dull ass romance with the senator’s daughter Audrey Raines (Kim Ravner), that stupid plot to infiltrate the Chinese consulate and extract a terrorist, which ended in the death of the Chinese consul, the return of that traitorous ass, Mike Novik (Jude Ciccolella); and a disjointed and badly written season. Season Five brought about a series of deaths that I still believe was heavy-handed - former President Palmer, Michelle Dressler and the near death of Tony Almeida. Many fans have claimed that Season Five – which centered around President Charles Logan’s attempt to sign some treaty with the Russians - was the best. I would have been more tolerant of it, if it were not for the series of murders that occurred in the season’s first episode, Kim's reaction to Jack's fake death, and a major plot that really did not require a 24-hour setting. Season Six – with a badly written storyline about suicide bombers and Jack’s family (James Cromwell and Paul McCrane) – was the worst. Wayne Palmer became the new president, but he ended up in a coma from a bombing before mid-season. Chloe’s husband – the equally annoying Morris O’Brian (Carlos Rota) – played a major role in this season . . . unfortunately. I found Season Seven tolerable, especially since it introduced FBI Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) and brought back Tony Almeida. However, Season Eight proved to be another matter.

Mind you, I did not hate Season Eight, like I did Seasons Four and Six. But . . . its plot about a group of Middle Eastern terrorists trying to prevent the president of their country from signing a peace treaty with the United States proved to be . . . old hat. Many fans could see that this series seemed a little tired and filled with some plot holes. The worst and dumbest subplot in the series’ history centered on CTU Agent Dana Walsh's (Katee Sackhoff) problems involving her criminal ex-boyfriend and some of the dumbest plot lines in television history. But one of the last season's episodes – (8.17) “Day 8: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.” - proved to be the last, fucking straw for me. Two things happened. Renee Walker – whom Jack had fallen in love with – ended up murdered by a Russian assassin. And Tim Woods (Frank John Hughes), Director of Homeland Security, fired CTU New York director Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson).

It was bad enough that producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, along with screenwriter David Fury had killed off Renee. One, she turned out to be one of my favorite characters from the series. And she also seemed to be the only female capable of dealing with the real Jack Bauer – warts and all. Two, Renee’s murder has jumpstarted an old and tired subplot – namely Jack’s desire to go after the person or persons responsible for the death of a loved one. We saw this in his murder of Nina Myers in Season Three. We also saw this in Season Five, when he murdered the man who had assassinated David Palmer. Some fans see this as a return of the old Jack Bauer. For years, I had disliked Jack for his murderous inclinations, his hypocrisy and the fans’ hypocritical view of his crimes. For the first time in years, I managed to enjoy Jack as a character. With Renee’s murder, it looks as if that enjoyment has come to an end. I do not see any possible hope of an emotional recovery for Jack after this. And honestly . . . if Surnow and Cochran wanted to kill someone off, they could have waited to bump off Jack either in the last episode or in the damn movie. But no . . . they drummed up some contrived plot line to kill off Renee in order to bring back Killer Jack.

But the worst thing I ever saw during Season Eight and during the series’ entire run the demotion of Brian Hastings by Homeland Security Director Tim Woods as director of CTU New York and being replaced by that whining bitch, Chloe O'Brian. I had stated earlier, I do not like Chloe. I never have. I have always found her whining and personality disorders a pain in my ass. But this latest plot development regarding her promotion as CTU New York’s new director was truly the most utterly stupid thing I have ever seen on ”24”. On television period. First of all, Chloe was a computer analyst for CTU. A computer geek. Chloe has had at least one or two hours of experience in the field. And yet, that idiot Woods had decided she would be a better person to run CTU New York than Hastings. Why? Because Hastings had failed to sniff out Dana Walsh as a mole. No intelligence official in his or her right mind would allow a computer analyst to assume command of an intelligence field office. It is an utter act of idiocy. And yet, Surnow and Cochran allowed this to happen. And instead of realizing the stupidity of such a plot twist, many fans have been cheering Chloe’s promotion. Why? Because Hastings had failed to do two things – immediately follow Jack’s lead and sniff out Dana Walsh as a mole. Damn hypocrites!

Why do I call the fans, David Fury and the producers hypocrites over this situation with Chloe, Hastings and Dana? Hastings was not that popular with fans. Chloe was very popular with the fans. And the fans were impatient with Hastings’ failure to spot Dana as a mole. Well if that was the case, then allow me bring up another name. NINA . . . MYERS. Have fans and television critics actually forgotten that for several years, Nina was Jack's second-in-command at CTU Los Angeles? In fact, they even had an affair. Jack eventually learned that she was a mole out of sheer . . . dumb . . . luck. Nina was ordered to tell a lie about Kim in order to lure Jack into the clutches of Victor Drazen. No one has ever complained about Jack's inability to sniff out Nina as a mole, until it was almost too late. Hell, in Season Seven; Jack never knew that a vengeful Tony Almeida was playing a double game against him, the FBI and the Allison Taylor Administration until it was almost too late. Yet, Brian Hastings was criticized for failing to sniff out a mole. This is an example of the media and the fans’ hypocrisy at its worst. And all of this happened six or seven episodes before the series ended.

I did not bother to watch the rest of Season Eight. After the debacle of that particular episode, I decided that I finally had enough. In fact, I will NOT be looking forward to any ”24” movies in the future. Thank you Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran and David Fury for allowing any leftover enjoyment I might have of "24" to hit rock bottom. This is how I will always remember the series - with two of the dumbest plot developments I have ever seen.