tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6911369230828782654.post2801109883347870654..comments2018-01-13T05:13:20.852-05:00Comments on Netcafe: Save Daniel Mendelsohn from “Mad Men”Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11817599116387235814noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6911369230828782654.post-52047164870395256492011-02-22T11:43:26.117-05:002011-02-22T11:43:26.117-05:00I saw my son watching the show last year and also ...I saw my son watching the show last year and also tried it. Certainly I too did not make it past ten minutes. One reaction I had was that the characters just seemed like caricatures of "adults" I remembered growing up in the sixties. Over the years I have tended to lump them all carelessly together as hopeless people who obstructed the progress of our "enlightened" younger generation, in addition to being rascists (which I thought I wasn't) and supporters of the senseless Vietnam war (my opinion on that hasn't changed). But of course those friends of my parents and other adults I met were actually in many cases very kind and caring people, helpful and understanding even when my own attitude about our society was reprehensible. I saw Mendelsohn's review and now will read it. Perhaps he is also making the point that a drama about the past doesn't have to be completely accurate to get across the issues that were important at the time, and that still are when they deal with universal themes. But the writing and acting have to be good. I just saw "The King's Speech" and watched the "Downton Abbey" series on DVD, and was left with the impression that they are probably both most likely riddled with any number of inaccuracies, some serious, but that on the whole, they gave the viewer a fair and reasonable insight into the period, in part because the screenplays were intelligent, and in part because the cast was so outstanding. Also, both often employed humor as well as drama to great effect while dealing with genuine human issues, which have the power to move us wherever they surface - throne room or dining room or laundry room - as long as they are professionally presented. Rgds PKAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com