In the final episode of AMC series Mad Men Season 6, Dawn Chambers made a cameo appearance, handing Don Draper his coat and briefcase as he left the office. At one point, Draper considered moving to Los Angeles, which might have resulted in the firing of his secretary. Draper later took his kids to see the whorehouse where he grew up, and there was a Black kid on the front porch.
The latest season of Mad Men ultimately—albeit unintentionally—reflected the modern advertising industry perfectly. That is, non-White people are background players, only momentarily spotlighted when necessary.
Dawn Chambers had brief screen time after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. But she faded away once the event was forgotten.
Minorities are essentially service providers, poor people, muggers, prostitutes, burglars and murderers (if Manolo turns out to have killed Pete Campbell’s mother).
White women, on the other hand, are a different story. While apparently underrepresented in the overall scheme of things, they do hold leading roles—and their power, authority and respect grow daily. Trouble is, they’re not unified in moving forward.
Yep, Mad Men continues to display the reality on Madison Avenue in the 1960s and beyond.
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