pregnantpauses - Jezebel

posts about #pregnantpauses more →
Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
"Ordering" An Abortion Online: The Choice When You Don't Really Have A Choice

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

rednrowdy
09/24/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
the scene between peggy and don over champagne? happens to me all the time. all. the. time.
Reply

rednrowdy was starred rednrowdy was unstarred

DorothyBarker
09/24/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
Mad Men is a brilliant show and part of its genius is undoubtedly in its subtle, nuanced, and clearly very deliberate pacing. However, having a "tone meeting" regarding each episode is pretty much standard operational procedure in drama series production. Directors are hired on a per episode basis, so they need to sit down with the writer-producers to deconstruct each script and determine exactly how the show-runner expects it to be executed. The process here isn't new; it's Matthew Wiener's attention to detail and vision that makes it so special.
Reply

suck_it_monkeys promoted this comment DorothyBarker was starred DorothyBarker was unstarred

schweppes
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
And, on the other hand, The Hills is a show that consists solely of aftershocks. "They use our stares."
Reply

schweppes was starred schweppes was unstarred

katie.scarlett.o'hara
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
Matt Weiner talked about those silent scenes in one of the dvd commentaries, I think the one where Betty sits around in her party dress all day after finding out about Don's affair.

I think my favorite uses of this are the scenes with Peggy, like especially her confession to Pete and that great scene with her and Colin Hanks in the office as they're waiting for the copies.
Reply

The Queen of No
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
One of the many things I love about this show. It actually really uses the actors to elevate the subtext rather than deliver an obvious message through words. I sometimes get a visceral reaction from moments like these.
Reply

The Queen of No was starred The Queen of No was unstarred

garconne est grise
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
Worth noting that Mad Men does it this in a more sophisticated way than, say, the Young and the Restless.
Reply

andonthatnote, JOC promoted this comment garconne est grise was starred

leesie
09/23/09

@garconne est grise: Yes! And it beats what I like to call the the Days-of-Our-Lives-John-Black-silent- eyebrow-raise.
Reply

Sunshineyness promoted this comment leesie was starred leesie was unstarred

Sunshineyness
09/23/09

@leesie: HEY! That man spent practically 20 years perfecting that look-to-the-side-and-up and then answer tick. Have some respect! :P
Reply

Sunshineyness was starred Sunshineyness was unstarred

dkissam
09/24/09

@Sunshineyness:
Acknowledged master of the "smell the fart" moment, yup.
Reply

Maritsa promoted this comment dkissam was starred dkissam was unstarred

Le Kangourou de Kataroo
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
Can we take a timeout and talk about what a great actress little Sally Draper is?

That's all.
Reply

katie.scarlett.o'hara
09/23/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: I love her! She's been amazing this season. She totally sees through all the adults and she definitely knows what's up.
Reply

MizJenkins
09/23/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: She kind of looks like Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (or vice versa)! She's is pretty boss.
Reply

MizJenkins was starred MizJenkins was unstarred

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/23/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: I love that Betty has traces of a lisp, too.
Reply

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza! was starred

CherriSpryte
09/23/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: She's absolutely fantastic, but she freaks me out the tiniest bit, because I looked a LOT like her when I was 7 or so.

(yes, i realize she's older than 7, but i was deep into awkward by the time i was her actual age)
Reply

CherriSpryte was starred CherriSpryte was unstarred

curiousgeorgiana
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
That shot of Joan broke my heart. It was perfection.

Also, re Peggy and Don. That's me at most networking events. Long silence-- "I'm going to see what's on the buffet".
Reply

veronykah promoted this comment curiousgeorgiana was starred curiousgeorgiana was unstarred

sequined
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
One problem with long reaction shots is that a lot of them, on a lot of shows, just look like the actor doesn't know what to do. There's a lot of "blink, look down, look to the side" type business, perhaps with a pursed lip, depending.
Reply

sequined was starred sequined was unstarred

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/23/09

@sequined: To be fair, on most soaps they've got to do this like eight times an episode – reacting to the exact same news, over and over.
Reply

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza! was starred

MizJenkins
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
And so there are theatrical devices that can give a certain character more weight, more dimension, without having to include them in more scenes.

And so the rationale for why we don't have a better understanding of what Carla's (the Draper's nanny) or Hollis' (the elevator operator) reactions are to the scenes unfolding around them, the reason they haven't been given a "voice" is...???
Reply

MizJenkins was starred MizJenkins was unstarred

NellMood
09/23/09

@MizJenkins: I feel like something must be planned for Hollis. There's definitely been more focus on him than in previous seasons.
Reply

NellMood was starred NellMood was unstarred

yearofthewoman
09/23/09

@MizJenkins:

Exactly. I want those silences for Carla and Hollis NOW!
Reply

yearofthewoman was starred yearofthewoman was unstarred

leesie
09/23/09

@yearofthewoman: Didn't Hollis get a moment last week in the exchange with Pete? I want more, though.
Perhaps the show will mirror the times portrayed and gradually make these characters feature more prominently by giving them more of a voice as the season/seasons progress? Let's hope, anyway.
Reply

leesie was starred leesie was unstarred

dkissam
09/24/09

@leesie:
Oh, god, he definitely did. The whole "yes, Pete, this person has unsanctioned thoughts and feelings; you don't know what he's thinking, you don't know what he likes, you *do not know his opinion of you*. Yet, he still has one," was amazing.

I thought it kind of paralleled the moment a few episodes back when after Peggy spent the entire episode being told by men, including Don, what women feel and what they want, she gets in the elevator with Roger and he has an entire conversation with her in which he actually *asks* her what she (from her perspective as some man's daughter) wants and then answers the question *immediately* with the answer he wants.

So much transpires in that elevator.
Reply

Maritsa promoted this comment dkissam was starred dkissam was unstarred

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/24/09

@leesie: That's what I'm thinking, too. There's an evolution on the show, however gradual. White women's voices have been heard only because they have to be around to do the dirty work (typing, having kids) and some take advantage of it. Black people, at this point, are being paid to stay in the background. But that elevator scene was so incredible in its foreshadowing.
Reply

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza! was starred

annebreal
09/23/09

In reply to Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
I know it's probably seen as hamburger compared to Mad Men's filet mignon, but Gilmore Girls was always really good at this, too. Lorelei and Emily especially.
Reply

Trulymadlyme promoted this comment annebreal was starred annebreal was unstarred

queenieinmanhattan
09/23/09

@annebreal: Hardly! While Mad Men has gotten loads of props, I think GG is widely regarded as having been severely under-recognized by the industry.

And, I agree: the Gilmore women did excellent reaction shots.
Reply

Edited by queenieinmanhattan at 09/23/09 7:37 PM queenieinmanhattan was starred

annebreal
09/23/09

@annebreal: For the record, I adore GG and think it's a great show, an amazing show, but it never exactly scored big at the Emmy's and had its own very special Oprah episode, and finished its run on the steaming turd that is the CW network. Just in case people thought I was putting it down, I wasn't. I don't see it as hamburger.
Reply

Edited by annebreal at 09/23/09 10:17 PM annebreal was starred annebreal was unstarred

Ailatan
09/23/09

@annebreal: I know what you mean, GG is awesome. I also think it wasn't taken that seriously because it basically dealt with "women's issues" and some men see it beneath them to watch that kind of show (my best friend, a man, watched it with me, so some men do know about good things)

Also, GG was a "dramedy" or whatever it is that the genre is called whereas MM is more a drama (though it has touches of humour, and very funny ones, as we have seen in the last episode)
Reply

Ailatan was starred Ailatan was unstarred

queenieinmanhattan
09/23/09

@Ailatan: I agree with you about GG being both difficult to categorize, and being less respected because it focused, essentially, on a trio of women.

My brother loved it as much as I did, though. Which is one of the myriad reasons I love him so much.
Reply

queenieinmanhattan was starred

Ailatan
09/23/09

@queenieinmanhattan: Your brother seems awesome.

We women are used to having male protagonists, men however are not too comfortable at experiencing the female world through female characters.
Reply

Ailatan was starred Ailatan was unstarred

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/24/09

@Ailatan: I don't even think some men care what it's about – they just hear the word 'girls' and shut down. I can't think of any male fans I know (and many female ones) who don't start off their praise by explaining how they'd avoided it for so long. Same with Buffy.
Reply

Pizza!Pizza!Pizza! was starred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

#pregnantpauses

Jezebel

SUBSCRIBE TO Jezebel

Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks

"Ordering" An Abortion Online: The Choice When You Don't Really Have A Choice

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment