Grok Your World

Why MAD MEN Is So Good

Please forgive me for not getting the DVD -- whether pirated or legit ;-) -- of the AMC hit MAD MEN, but I guess I've had other things going on ... ;-) ...

And it's finally arrived on Asian TV, on FX, which used to be pretty crappy, but is definitely improving and getting closer to its US source, altho it's not quite there yet ...

That said, it is showing not only MAD MEN, but also:

Californication -- whose charms, I must admit, have yet to reach me,
The Riches -- which now seems simultaneously dated AND prescient in its immersion in the pre-crash hypocrisy that was Bush / Cheney America,
a pretty smart Brit thing called Peep Show,
and, nightly, Family Guy -- including episodes that I'd never seen in the US, where I was a devoted fan ...

Anyway, while I don't have time right at the moment for a FULL analysis --

have to call one of the many "property agents", a facet of Singapore life that will eventually disappear once people understand CraigsList ;-), trying to make some money by helping me find a place to live --

it struck me while watching what I guess is the third or fourth episode that the reason it's so popular is that

it captures the emotional claustrophobia that was America before the 1960s Cultural Revolution ...

That is significant in and of itself AND because the lived memory of those of us who were children at that time is pretty much un-recovered in the aftermath of the 60s --

which can be encapsulated as totally victorious on the social / cultural front, and completely defeated on the political / economic front --

for more, please feel free to check out my lecture on 60s Cultural Revolution: Lecture 25 ... http://www.acalaha.com/lecture_westernculture2.php ... on the ACALAHA website ... ;-)

It is so powerful because -- aside from having a lot of major staff people from The Sopranos ;-) -- the films etc from that period were so much driven by the implicit assumptions of the time that they couldn't get out from under them ...

and, consequently, just seem kind of weird and dated, but don't necessarily offer a huge insight into what was going on WITHOUT, of course, the kind of context that only Medianalysis (C) can provide ... ;-) ...

What's great about MAD MEN is that it is the lived experience of that period viewed from the perspective of the aftermath of what followed, namely the 60s ...

And that gives it a power and poignancy that is very powerful ... almost nostalgic, one might say ... ;-) ...

Rodney / RB Injuries = Patriots' Mediocrity

It's not as if the season and, frighteningly -- if the reports about the post-op staph infection of his knee are correct -- potentially career-ending knee injury to Tom Brady was bad enough ...

But the injuries in the rout of the Broncos to defensive leader Rodney Harrison -- even if he has lost a step or two physically, remained key both intellectually and emotionally --

AND slashing running back Sammy Morris -- for the second year in a row -- do seem to indicate a deficit from which it doesn't seem the Patriots are going to be able to recover this season ...

If they do, it will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bill Belichick IS the greatest football coach of all time ...

But I must admit, I am skeptical that even he can pull a rabbit out of this hat ... ;-) ...

In the wake of Brady's absence, the idea was to bring Matt Cassel along slowly but surely,

letting the running game -- for which the Pats had stockpiled 5 backs, instead of the usual 4 --

and a much tougher defense than the Pats had shown when THEY were beat up by the Chargers --

handle a lot of the load while Cassel found himself, especially in terms of being able to read defensive rhythms and adjust,

in the fashion that really makes Tom Brady the unique quarterback  he is ...

Certainly in the Monday Night game vs. Denver, that strategy seemed like a winner, and capable of bringing the Pats not just into the post-season,

but, in a season where parity rules, and no team seems to be consistently unbeatable, achieve some success in January ...

Unfortunately, the key elements for giving Cassel time to grow into the role -- a running game and stout-er defensive play -- were both devastated by the injuries to Rodney and Sammy Morris ...

Lamont Jordan was already out -- kudos to my pal Wayne for telling me two weeks ago that Jordan was prone to pathetic injuries, which then ensued that weekend, just as he had predicted --

but Sammy Morris was a tiger in the first half vs. the Broncos ... but he never came out for the second half, and was listed as questionable / doubtful for the Rams game this weekend ...

Which left only Kevin Faulk -- who is a brilliant third-down, but certainly not EVERY down, back -- Heath Evans, who is basically a blocker, altho HAS had some great games "in relief" during seasons past,

and the free agent rookie with the disarmingly charming name of BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who has been promoted from the practice squad ...

Now if he turns out to be a killer back, then hats off again to Belichick and Scott Pioli for finding yet another diamond in the rough ...

But even if he is, that's a HUGE burden for a first year player to have to carry ... and if HE should go down, for whatever reason, well ...

On the other side of the ball, it's clear that Rodney Harrison was able to make the cuts and get to the spots that his brilliant football mind him told him were right ...

But his intellectual and emotional leadership of the defense -- not least his on-field mentoring and coaching of the younger backs, like former 'Cane Brandon Meriweather -- were, by all accounts, his true contribution ...

So while the Pats MIGHT have been able to do something this year, even without Tom Brady, this latest round of injuries to the backfields -- both offensive and defensive -- would just about seem to rule a post-season out ...

Still, stranger things HAVE happened ... but I don't think this is going to be the Pats year -- and not simply because of TB ...