The Illusion of Reality and the Manipulation of Truth.

The Illusion of Reality and the Manipulation of Truth. 

By: Jenna De Bono.

 Watching Mad Men as a twenty-three year old woman was an interesting and perhaps a different viewing experience than others from an older demographic.  I knew Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men, was a re-creation of American (and Western) culture during the early 1960’s.  However this time, this era, is completely foreign and strange to me.  A time where smoking cigarettes was considered healthy, where professionals (such as gynecologists), happily puff away during medical examinations and where men had superiority over women.  Upon discussion about Mad Men, people had told me, how ‘realistic’, ‘convincing’ and ‘spot on’ the sets, costumes, make-up, mise-en-scene was. So when I watched Mad Men, I had an unconscious pre-conception that I would find something familiar and agree with these exclaims of ‘accuracy’ and ‘realism’.  I simply could not recognize this ‘old America’, this ‘was’ society.  The streets looked different, the furniture had an antique yellow quality and the offices were fitted out with dark brown furniture that made the rooms look much smaller than what they were.  I have grown up in a world of white, slim lined, sparseness, Ikea, storage creative solutions world.  In this sense, being aware of my thought process, made watching Mad Men more of a documentary-like viewing experience.  On the other hand, Mad Men explores themes that I immediately recognized in the society and world I live in.  I have coined these terms to describe the themes I observed: The illusion of reality and the manipulation of truth. 

 Don Draper takes a sip of his drink and says “Love doesn’t exist […] Madison Avenue invented it to brand nylon”.  He places his drink down on the table and stares at the beautiful woman whom he is sharing this conversation with.  This America is a world where advertisement and propaganda has the ability to confuse truth. Wait… that sounds familiar!  Manipulation of truth is the way products are still sold today.  We see perfume adverts that are sold through sex with the empty promise that if buy this product, you will be more attractive and more appealing.  The idea of consuming products to feel happy and complete is something that many individuals have been touched by in Western culture “Advertising is based on one thing-happiness And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car, it’s freedom from fear; it’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you are doing is okay.  You are okay”.  What is love? What is happiness? Love and happiness are two fundamental emotions of the human psyche that become questioned and uncertain through the manipulation and power of advertising and propaganda.

 For me, this is why this series is so fantastic.  It explores and gives insight into the little control we have over the power of advertising.  It also highlights how lost we are as a society and how desperate we are searching for meaning.  Mad Men show us how our moral compass can be thrown off and how truth can be altered.  We are indeed Men gone mad and perhaps this is the cultural hangover we still have from this time and this is what makes this series so fascinating and addictive.