Mad Men: A Renaissance of Respectability

In the last few months, you could not even walk you dog down the street without your neighbor stopping you and asking, "Hey buddy-you see the new "Mad Men" episode last night?" (that is to say, in 2009, you actually know your neighbors). The show is a complete pop culture phenomenon, putting the dinosauric and dying AMC network back on the map. Besides the stellar writing and wonderful performances from the entire cast, there is more to their success that cannot be measured in Emmys and Golden Globes. Like any period film or series, the imagery hearkens back to a time that no longer exists in this world; something fantastic that cannot be imitated or duplicated.

Yes the show is smart and sexy and incredibly styled, but the thing that is most captivating for audiences is the nostalgia it creates for something lost in our current culture, and that is the notion of respect. While the 1950s and early 1960s were a time for various degrees of oppression, it was also a time when a firm handshake between men meant something, when raising your voice in a professional setting was looked down upon, and most of all, when there was inherent faith in the good of man. Now, our culture has taken cover under a guise of "freedom of speech" and "freedom of expression" to mask our new-found affinity for brash behavior. There are only so many episodes of Jerry Springer or Flavor of Love/I Love New York that can be stomached before the realization hits that the easiest and cheapest way to garner attention in our society is to cause some heightened form of disrespect against another person. It is not to say that I haven't found some amusement from outlandish behavior on some of my favorite shows, but it is important to remember that that is fiction and should stay that way. Somewhere along the way, the primary social function became dysfunction, and standing our proverbial ground meant losing a common sense of decency in the process.

The first thing you learn when studying communication is that every part of our being is conveying some message at any given time of day-the way we speak, the way we write, and even the way we dress. In the Mad Men-era, showing up to work in a full suit was the standard, not the exception. My father, to this day, still travels in a suit, scarf, and trailings of his finest cologne wafting through the air. The fact that I do not currently travel in a suit confuses him about as much as Facebook does, but I completely understand his viewpoint of dressing well to convey a message of self-worth. Caring about one's appearance directly translates into the amount of respect one expects from themselves and others.

Now, who is to say a 22-year-old knows anything about the 1950s? Frankly, I don't even remember the Berlin Wall, and only have vague memories of the time my mother embarrassingly bought me a New Kids on the Block school folder, but I can wish for a time when general pleasantries were exchanged among familiar and unfamiliar folk alike. A recent article from LA Confidential stated, "One of Mad Men's proudest accomplishments is not only appealing to the older generation who is more familiar with the era, but also to a younger crowd who yearns to learn of it.'…for most of the people on the show there is a vicarious thrill to looking at these people who were glamorous and put together and have this really sexy way of being in the world,' [says lead actor Jon Hamm, who plays Don Draper on the show]". At the same time, there should be little romanticizing of this time period, with it's open displays of sexism, racism, and homophobia, but when identifying some of the defining characteristics of the 1950s and early '60s, one cannot deny the prevalence of respectable behavior. Simply speaking, it was cool to be nice.

Disease Prevention: Integrating Television Storylines to Promote a Healthier Society

The age of the "After School Special" is over. As society grows and changes in new directions, television producers must think of innovative ways to implement socially conscious messages into their programming. With the success of telenovelas in Latin America and The Norman Lear Center's Hollywood, Health, and Society Program, using embedded storylines to promote health awareness has become more popular than ever.

For those who do not know, a telenovela is a limited-running television serial that was created and popularized in South America. The programs became so popular that South American health promotion and disease prevention agencies asked producers to implement storylines bringing awareness to issues affecting Latino communities. The results were positively staggering, and after running storylines on Alzheimer's Disease and adult literacy, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to their nearest health and literacy centers. With proof that the formula could work, American producers hoped to replicate this same success in the States.

Initially, health conscious programming began with youth-based shows like Saved By The Bell , that advised children against the perils of drugs and alcohol, but prime time programming like Friends used their immense popularity to promote issues like safe sex and STD testing. Even recently with the first American adapted telenovela, Ugly Betty (pictured left), the characters have made positive strides in the advancement of immigration reform and healthy body images by integrating those themes into their storylines.

Current Presidential candidate Barack Obama, despite not being an actor or television personality himself, has released a series of telenovelas hoping to garner Latino support in California. Obama recognizes that issue-embedded entertainment programming is a valuable tool, and creatively speaking, that puts him one step ahead of his competitors.

So why television? Why has this medium proved most effective for translating social content? Well, with the repetitious nature of T.V., viewers are able to develop parasocial relationships with characters over a long period of time. Christine Camilla, a researcher at West Connecticut State University, had this to say on the matter, "Depending on the amount of time spent watching, a [viewer] may create the illusion of friendship and or relationship to a television persona that in fact they have never met. Theorists have claimed that these relationships can in some cases be life changing and personality molding, but definitely life impacting." Constants in everyday life tend to shape who we are as individuals, so it is entirely possible for our world view to grow and change based on the type of programming we have available. With the rapid change in television shows and the increase of mind-numbing programming (like Flavor of Love on VH1 or Next on MTV), producers often feel they have a social responsibility to promote issues relevant to the current culture. Kristin Moran, from the University of San Diego, studied the impact of telenovelas saying that, "the largest portion of learning involving one’s adaptation to society takes place through such observational learning... especially when it comes to new experiences. If a teenager has little or no experience with an activity the observational learning from others becomes more important." Television programs provide a window to other ideas, values, or cultures that an individual may not otherwise be exposed to on a daily basis. Watching shows in which characters take the right course of action concerning a particular dilemma provide a visual reference point which viewers can refer back to in future situations.

The Norman Lear Center's Hollywood, Health & Society Project, was recently established to provide television executives with up-to-date medical research to incorporate into their health-based storylines. On the new ABC show Eli Stone, The HHSP worked in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control, and placed an information title card (pictured right) at the end of the closing credits, asking viewers to strongly consider the importance of childhood vaccinations and autism testing. On another ABC show, Guiding Light, one of the main characters contracted HIV, and the network subsequently set up a website to help answer viewer questions about the disease.

While all of the US intention is well and good, as of yet their integrated programming has not had as widespread of an affect on viewers as the Latin American telenovelas. This may due in part to the much larger selection of programming Americans have available, and if audience members are forced to split their attention between different shows it could mean less focus on education-entertainment. It may also be the way in which the shows are presented. If an episode becomes too didactic or preachy, American viewers especially are more likely to be turned off by that and change the channel.

Regardless, critics of the programming must realize that change cannot occur overnight. Since foreign programming does not translate easily into American markets, television networks must experiment with their shows to find the most effective method. We should not be so easy to dismiss this type of educational entertainment, because it is an unobtrusive, wide-reaching tool that may just save a person's life someday.