9896: Mad Men Mumblings.

Didn’t have time during the week to examine the two-part perspective published at Slate titled, “Mad Men and Black America”—but better late than never. Writer Tanner Colby painfully painstakingly dissects the AMC series, attempting to argue that creator Matthew Weiner is being deliberate in the clumsy handling of non-White characters on the show. Can’t help but think Colby isn’t very familiar with the program, Madison Avenue or the concept of cultural cluelessness.

The author did manage to reference Latoya Peterson’s 2009 DoubleX story on Mad Men, yet it’s not clear if he understood that piece either. Peterson griped that if Mad Men continued to ignore race, “it is truly written by cowards.” Colby countered by typing, “It’s a show about advertising. And it is advertising, not Mad Men, that is written by cowards.” Not completely sure what Colby meant, but it sure sounds provocative. Too bad his lengthy musings fail to reach the intellectual level of Peterson’s viewpoint.

MultiCultClassics wholeheartedly disagrees with Colby’s contention that Weiner does indeed comprehend the complexities of race and ethnicity on Madison Avenue and beyond. The belief here has always been that Weiner is a wienie when integrating Black culture and characters. For groups that he shares some affinity—Jews and gays, for example—Weiner doesn’t hesitate to expose the pretty and ugly sides. With Blacks, however, the series creator puts on the kid gloves, reverently presenting colored people as humble, heroic and stoic. Even Lane Pryce’s girlfriend who served drinks at the Playboy Club was more respectable than most of the ladies at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The accuracy-obsessed Weiner has used original ad men as consultants to verify the details are correct. For Black culture, Weiner probably just relies on Google searches.

Colby concluded the first part of his exposition by opining:

Mad Men isn’t cowardly for avoiding race. Quite the opposite. It’s brave for being honest about Madison Avenue’s cowardice. While Don Draper and Sterling Cooper may seem woefully behind the times, that just means Matthew Wiener is right on schedule, historically speaking. And if Mad Men’s schedule stays on the course it’s been following, it’s a safe bet that the season now beginning will finally bring us to the point when black consumers stand up and refuse to sit at the back of the advertising bus.

Um, Black consumers and Black ad agencies continue to sit at the back of the advertising bus. And many have been left at the bus stop. Sorry, but seeing prominent and fully-developed Black characters on Mad Men is about as likely as Don Draper taking the bus to the office.

Colby ended his puffery by proclaiming:

Black Mad Men viewers have every right to want a TV show that depicts the experiences of blacks in advertising—that show takes place in the 1970s.

First of all, who said anyone was hoping to see characters depicting the experiences of Blacks in advertising? It’s not as if everyone on the program is tied to Madison Avenue. The majority of minorities might be content to see Carla return in a decent role. However, if viewers did wish to witness Blacks in the ad game, it wouldn’t require a time warp to the 1970s. Vince Cullers launched his shop in 1956. Junius Edwards toiled in the business during the 1960s. If Mad Men fans can accept Don Draper changing identities with a dead soldier, is it really too fantastic to let a Black person type a few taglines? Although for authenticity, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce could simply hire a new mailroom attendant.