Comments on: Open or Closed? Mad Men, Celebrity Gossip, and the Public/Private Divide http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2010/09/07/open-or-closed-mad-men-celebrity-gossip-and-the-publicprivate-divide/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 By: Anne Helen Petersen http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2010/09/07/open-or-closed-mad-men-celebrity-gossip-and-the-publicprivate-divide/comment-page-1/#comment-26950 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:56:32 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=5922#comment-26950 Absolutely, Amanda. I was reminded of this when one of my friends jokingly commented on my Facebook announcement of this post — which featured the above photo of Liston — and said “Who’s that? I’ve never seen him on Mad Men.” In other words, Sonny Liston (like blackness in general, with a few pointed exception) is not depicted, even when it plays prominantly in the narrative. Thus the “structured absence” of both the fight itself (which Don, Peggy, and the audience “watch” on radio) and the discussion of race.

And I agree that Don’s talking about not only what he likes/dislikes in a man, but also a worker, a black man, and even a woman. Flair and “uppitiness” — and selling one’s image — is not for him, as evidenced by his initial hesitance to reveal anything of himself or his work in the newspaper profile that opens the season.

]]> By: amanda klein http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2010/09/07/open-or-closed-mad-men-celebrity-gossip-and-the-publicprivate-divide/comment-page-1/#comment-26941 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:32:27 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=5922#comment-26941 Nice summary and analysis, Annie. I was also intrigued by the episode’s focus on the Liston/Ali fight, a structuring absence. Though I read Don’s criticism, “Cassius has to dance and talk,” differently. I took it as another reference to the tense racial climate of the 1960s. Ali rubbed (white) people the wrong way because he was so flamboyant and proud. He was, in other words, “uppity.” Don likes Liston because he does his job and keeps his mouth shut.

Don has, on several occasions, revealed that he is more progressive than his peers (as when he comdemns Roger’s blackface performance and in his intial reaction to Sal’s homosexuality). But comments like these highlight the racial politics of the time, reminding us that even more progressive individuals still harbored these beliefs. Given that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is an entirely white work place, the show needs these moments to remind the audience about the world outside the office doors.

]]>