tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post1397707263939069474..comments2024-03-14T04:07:39.792-07:00Comments on Earl Pomerantz: Just Thinking...: "The Fifties I Remember"Earl Pomerantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16963705121297866334noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-90775496022251492972012-06-25T05:03:03.315-07:002012-06-25T05:03:03.315-07:00Earl
Don't forget the greatest invention, acco...Earl<br />Don't forget the greatest invention, according to the Two-Thousand Year Old Man, "Saran Wrap"!!!<br />I'd add my personal one.....TV Time Popcorn <br /><br />Maybe the reason you remember the 50's with so much warmth is because you were so young and hopeful yourself.<br />There were lots of terrible things going on to trouble the grownups, but we were too busy spinning our yo-yos and hula hoops to notice.<br />Like:<br />strontium 90<br />Atomic testing<br />McCarthy<br />Polio<br />Spread of Communism<br />Korean war<br />Hurricane Hazel<br />Just to name a few....PGhttp://wwwtobigordon.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-88042197902120916802012-06-24T17:04:55.750-07:002012-06-24T17:04:55.750-07:00The 50s actually ended when Kennedy was shot (63),...The 50s actually ended when Kennedy was shot (63), when America lost that 50s innocence and the horrors of Vietnam were taking hold, not around Eleanor Rigby (66).<br /><br />And just because most of our pop culture remembers the 50s/60s with enchanted nostalgia, it doesn't mean that it was like that for all. We could take three shows from the 80s for instance -- Cheers, Hill Street Blues, Twin Peaks -- all accurate products of the era, but how would you say they sum up the times? Happy? Sad? Violent? Surreal?<br /><br />Mad Men and Happy Days approach the 50s/60s from distinctly different classes and cultures. Both valid.<br /><br />You're right that Mad Men is dripping in irony, but I found that was only through the first season or so. The characters and stories themselves took prominence fairly quickly.<br /><br />I think if you followed the series through every episode rather than caught glances here and there, you'd notice the stories more than the irony of all the drinking and smoking. For me, somewhere around Season 3 the show stopped being "about the 60s" and just became this gorgeous serialized story that just happens to have the 60s as its canvas.<br /><br />Oh, and the 60s ended with Altamont.Marty Fufkinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-28699236082072253832012-06-21T20:31:25.748-07:002012-06-21T20:31:25.748-07:00I enjoyed the first few episodes of Mad Men, but I...I enjoyed the first few episodes of Mad Men, but I attribute that to the sets and the time in which the show took place. After that wore off, there was only the sad soap opera and a cast that was w/out appeal. Not only were 'we' a product of the boom generation, but the term applied to the economics of post-war America, as well. Things were going so well for the country, certainly for the magnets on Madison Avenue, it's amazing that this show is w/out any boom beyond the sexcapades of Don Draper and his minions. <br /><br />Here's a web site that lists some the prominent inventions of the 60s: <br />http://inventors.about.com/od/timelines/a/modern_2.htm<br /><br />Baseball trivia: earlier this week, R.A. Dickey of the Mets threw his 2nd consecutive one hitter. The last major leaguer to do that? Dave Stieb, 1988. Go Jays!Ron Rizzsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-56302618468441704132012-06-21T13:49:44.170-07:002012-06-21T13:49:44.170-07:00Basically your observations remind me of a Donald ...Basically your observations remind me of a Donald Fagen tune, "IGY". Written about the very period you are discussing. I believe they lyrics and upbeat sound, mirror your feeling for the decade. <br /><br />I don't expect to hear the song on Mad Men.angelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16741330928619451917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-65699704091411724852012-06-21T12:07:52.521-07:002012-06-21T12:07:52.521-07:00Dear Mr. Pomerantz; as the show is viewed from the...Dear Mr. Pomerantz; as the show is viewed from the vantage of now, is it not up the creators to show us the things they think are important? Of course you are right to point out the ways in which they get things wrong; boy do they get language wrong (see the link). I suspect that your success at writing was your ear for dialog. I bet you're hearing the wrong notes that younger people miss. Might you have perfect pitch for this period?<br /><br />-z <br /><br />Link: <br /><br />http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/the-foreign-language-of-mad-men/254668/Zarayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00336440600394588306noreply@blogger.com