In his article this week, Roland discussed Mad Men and the way it shapes our perception of love.
Mad Men is a brilliant show to bring up when it comes to discussing the concept of “expressions of love.”
Because the lead character – the suave and charming Don Draper – is a man totally unable to give an adequate expression of love. That’s why his marriage to the frosty Betty fractured, and why he leaves a trail of broken women behind him like wilted rose petals. There’s no little irony to the concept of a man who makes his living selling people on what they (think they) want, when he clearly has no idea himself.
There’s equal irony in the fact that most modern men don’t view Don Draper through the same cynical spectacles as I do. Instead of looking at him as a deeply broken man, unable to express his true feelings, he’s hailed as an archetypal male hero – a return to the “man’s man” that many think modern society is missing.
And he’s not alone. Just look at the similarly masculine icons he stands beside – fictional characters like James Bond, and real ones like John F. Kennedy. All are hailed as role models for men; yet each is as equally broken as the other when it comes to their relationships with women.
That’s perhaps why we live in such a broken age.
Media plays a very important role in almost all of our lives, either through advertising or trying to sell us a new twist on an old concept of behavior. While Mad Men is just one example of the media twisting our minds into what's most beneficial for their ratings, there are many many more examples out there within a stone's throw.
And so now we ask you, fellow Edenites...
