Madmenology.

Madmenology: (mAD-men-OlOgy) A belief system by which the individual can maintain and increase personal happiness through the use of people and stuff; the idea that one is entitled to make oneself happy at the expense of others.

 
I was recently introduced to the show Mad Men, by my good friend Netflix. I would recommend it except it would be sort of like me recommending you start smoking crack. Not only is it highly addictive, but I am not sure it is very good for you. It may in fact, if one is not careful, lead to the deterioration of right thinking. After spending a good 7 hours glued to my flowered print sofa in my pajamas with greasy hair and no desire to move, it came to my attention that this particular program sort of represents a religion all its own but not much removed from our cultures religion...which is pretty much "Meism". I know the show is meant to play on and portray the gender roles, ideas of success and family in a time before now, but I can't help but notice that the only thing really all that different is the material items.
A light hearted view of the program would lead you into a place of romanticism and glamor. Cigarettes are glamorous. Extra marital affairs are exciting and fulfilling. Drinking is just what you do, no matter if it is or is not 5 o'clock somewhere. You are transported to a world of hourglass figures, well greased hair and pressed suits. It doesn't matter what is underlying because it's all just so damn glamorous. Everything about it immediately appeals to our flesh, and we want to devour it.
Lets look at our protagonist, Don Draper...
A mans man...handsome, wealthy, career oriented but took time to marry a flawless wife and produce two beautiful children, (a boy and a girl). He works in the city, lives in the suburbs in a colonial style home with richly textured wall coverings, a manicured lawn, and the most modern of amenities. Sounds lovely right? The perfect life. Except, all the man does is sleep with other women, smoke Lucky Strikes and drink expensive liquor. He takes what he wants, when he wants it, with no thought of the happiness of the people whom he seems to care about. He spends the night with one mistress and then goes home to a perfectly prepared meal, clean home, perfectly put together blond haired blue eyed wife and yet the man is clearly unhappy no matter WHERE he is. All the money and success and women in the world would not make Don Draper happy, you know how I know...cause he already has all of it and is a HOT MESS. He is the best of the modern American male. He couldn't ask for more, yet even if he did and he received it it still would not pacify the hole inside of him....but even so, men are still drawn into the idea of how wonderful it would be to BE him. Who wouldn't want to be the man with the money and the mistress and the looks and the job and the status.
Our own culture eats this up because we are still there. We want those things. We can put off the "dying on the inside" feeling if it means we can have all this other stuff and it is everywhere. Proof is in the pudding people. I am sure we all know more than one person like this in some sense of the word, ourselves being the first. What are you stuffing your internal hole with in order to maintain a sense of happiness and glamor? For real, ask yourself that. I could sit here for hours and disect all the crap I have stuffed in my "just keep swimming just keep swimming, yay, smile, life is dandy" hole.
We like the lie, because we have believed it for so long, and it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I have news for you, Don Draper....ain't no amount of money or women or success or aged bourbon gonna make you feel better because you are empty. You are lost and fighting tooth and nail to convince yourself otherwise.
Media is good at spoon feeding us what we like to see- people like us, full of themselves and their personal desires, living out the selfishness in romantic and exciting ways. Don't buy the lie- cigarettes cause cancer, daily drinking is actually alcoholism, extramarital affairs destroy families, a perfect figure is not a dictator of happiness or attractiveness and wealth/success means nothing when you are lonely and lost.

PS. I just finished the first season, and clearly there will be character change and development- if you watch this show currently and you leave a comment on this blog that in any way exposes or gives away something I have yet to see, I will hunt you down and force you to eat an entire roast beef while smoking and wearing a dress so tight you cant sit in it.