small potatoes
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Posts posted by small potatoes
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On 12/10/2018 at 8:45 AM, Pallas said:
I think more Johnny Mathis, especially given his sound, his appearance, his material, and his Rose-Weissman-muster-passing savoir faire.
I see your point, but the character's name is Shy and Fats Domino was known for his shyness. It's mentioned in the first paragraph of his Wiki profile. Also, there was some banter between Midge and Susie along the lines of I thought he was supposed to be fat.
On second thought, though, Fats Domino would have been playing piano, and Shy Baldwin was straight up crooning like Johnny Mathis.
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Shy Baldwin was based on Fats Domino.
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When Joel and Midge are riding on the carousel talking about divorce, the background music is The Carousel Waltz, the theme song from the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. (I'm more familiar with it as part of the intro to Tunnel of Love by Dire Straits).
Carousel is about an abusive husband and a wife who makes apologies for him. I wondered if that was ASP's way of foreshadowing that Joel might actually turn into a wife beater. Watching him beat up on the heckler at the end of the episode reinforced the idea.
http://www.vulture.com/2018/04/rodgers-and-hammersteins-carousel-after-metoo.html
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On 8/16/2018 at 11:34 AM, Black Knight said:
Yes, Dare Me was about a murder that takes place in the world of competitive cheerleading. At least, I think there was a murder. Or at least some sort of crime. See how little I cared because it was so inconsequential?
I read Dare Me recently, and I found it very frustrating. There weren't any details about the sports they were supposed to be cheering for. Did the football team win? Were they any good? What was the score? Was it cold outside in their skimpy cheerleading outfits? Those were bigger mysteries than the murder.
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2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:
One of the reasons I watched Mad Men was seeing how these characters would deal this incredible revolution in culture that happened during the 60s. I've always seen that era from a young person's perspective. In movies and TV shows made by Baby Boomers remembering their youth where it was exciting but never seen what it was like to be of an older generation as the world was changing around them. How would they adapt? The answers definitely surprised me.
Great post. I'm intrigued by your last paragraph. Aside from Roger liking acid, what were some of the adaptations that surprised you?
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On 6/8/2018 at 11:57 AM, Joe Hellandback said:
I miss James, I really liked Richard Kind and it was nice to see him as Mayor when he was the Mayor's assistant on Spin City for so long.
Nice catch!
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14 hours ago, voiceover said:
But in a perfect world, this would have been the series finale, and it would have leapt over all others, to become arguably the best series finale of all time.
I agree. It would have made a great finale.
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On 4/9/2018 at 5:06 PM, rab01 said:
Count me in the camp of thinking he's still alive because killing himself would be selfish (by traumatizing her the way he was by his mom) and the cops killing him would be unnecessary when he had literally nowhere to run to -- he's running in broad daylight on a shore miles away from the nearest city, town or escape route.
Yes on both counts. That's exactly what I was thinking.
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I love the scene in The Color of Money when Eddie gets hustled by the character played by Forest Whitaker in a very early role for him. As one of the reviewers on IMDB put it, you can see "a history of the man's failures" written on Newman's face.
As mentioned, the Tom Cruise character isn't in the book, which is a slow-paced mainstream novel. One of the chapters has Eddie settling down with a University professor and helping her open an antique store. He combs the Kentucky hills searching for antique quilts to resell.
Walter Tevis also wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth, which was made into the movie starring David Bowie.
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Random Harvest is one of my all-time favorites.
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57 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:
Um, Peyton List is not threatening at all. I was so bored of her on screen...List is just not villain material, and it's sucking the life out of this story.
I agree about Peyton List, and it's too bad because I really like the story line.
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3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:
And then she herself goes full tawdry and accepts a pay-off as if the whole situation was a demeaning job.
Well, the whole situation was a demeaning job, except that I would call it a position, and I'm not sure how demeaning it was. Better yet, I would call the marriage a business partnership, one in which Don ultimately felt Megan deserved her share of the profits in addition to the many benefits she had already received.
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On 2/11/2018 at 8:58 AM, sistermagpie said:
Because a lot of Don and Megan's marriage was so performative it would make sense if Megan sees the guy drifting away and doesn't know what to do since she never really got to know him deeply, and falls back on dramatic cliches that she can at least understand. It's not really that different from the start of their relationship. They're just playing a series of scenes to fill in for the actual intimacy that isn't there.
I like your use of "performative" in this context, and your description of the marriage.
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9 hours ago, qtpye said:
Good lord, Megan knowingly married a man well known for his bad habits and did enjoy the financial security he brought her. The truth was Megan was a failed actress/secretary when Don met her and the marriage had actually given her the only big break she had...when she forced Don to cast her in a commercial and that lead to a part on the soap opera. For Megan to act like such a wounded bird at the lawyer's office was insufferable. Betty had no idea about Don's past and his cheating ways, but Megan went in with her eyes fully open. Heck, Don was still dating Faye when he got with Megan.
Yeah. I think it's important to acknowledge this. It's not like Don robbed her of her youth and innocence.
9 hours ago, qtpye said:I hated that Don gave her the money so easily, she really was being annoying and got rewarded for her pouting.
I disagree. I don't think he rewarded her for pouting, or simply out of guilt. I think he straight up paid for her services, with a generous bonus. It was Severance pay.
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That's interesting. Thanks for pointing it out. It would be nice if the show creators acknowledged the influence of the movie.
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25 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:
I binged the entire season today...
Me, too. I liked it. Reminded me of Freaks and Geeks.
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On 2/10/2018 at 11:13 PM, ivygirl said:
It’s entirely possible that I’m seeing more than what’s there—I certainly just thought of the scene as evidence of Pare’s mediocrity the first several times I saw this episode—but I guess it was the juxtaposition of Betty being “improper” (drinking the raw milk straight out of the bucket) and vulnerable (wondering to Henry if her kids really loved her) against Megan, deteriorating as an actress out in LA, probably wondering if *Don* really loved her... that speech seemed like something she’d mentally rehearsed and was just waiting to say at the first hint of criticism or other negative comments/behavior from Don directed at her.
Another example of a mentally rehearsed speech occurs in Severance when they meet in the lawyer's office and Megan tries to act like the injured party.
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On 1/20/2018 at 5:26 PM, qtpye said:
You forgot the best part...Don and Megan will become the beautiful and talented power couple of advertising. They will be an unstoppable pair that no one can beat. This actually bore out until Megan wanted to go back to acting.
I also feel like the relationship hit a bump it never recovered from when Megan forced Don's hand in casting her for the shoe commercial, which lead to her soap opera gig. I wonder what about that moment made Don at least subconsciously decide he was through with Megan? He does try when he suggest they move to LA, but one can tell that the spark is gone and he is grasping at straws.
Whenever it was that he decided he was through with her didn't come soon enough. It was probably about the same time he had his tooth pulled. MegaDon is so much easier to watch in Season Six because Don isn't faking it anymore. They're much more natural together when they're not trying to convince themselves, and the world, that they have this once in a lifetime romance.
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On 1/20/2018 at 1:23 PM, Luckylyn said:
So Don was telling himself in Tomorrowland that he was proposing to a Madonna but subconsciously was using her as a secretary with benefits.
No. I'm not saying that. I don't think either Don or Dick thought of her as a Madonna, and Don could have had a cast of thousands if he merely wanted a secretary with benefits.
It was as if Don Draper picked out a wife and forced Dick Whitman to fall in love with her.
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44 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:
So Don was telling himself in Tomorrowland that he was proposing to a Madonna but subconsciously was using her as a secretary with benefits.
Megan was more than a secretary with benefits. She was a walking advertisement for SCDP. Did you hear about Draper? Married his secretary. Have you seen her? Va Va Va Voom. On another forum, a poster suggested she was Part Two of The Letter.
51 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:That’s an interesting take on it.
Thanks.
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On 1/17/2018 at 2:07 PM, Inquisitionist said:
I recently rewatched Tomorrowland, and I didn't get the sense that any of this was on Don's mind when he proposed to Megan. It seemed much more primal: he felt good around her, like "himself" but the "himself" that he always wanted to be. He wanted to hold onto that feeling, which he interpreted as "being in love." Now why did he feel that way? Megan was breezy, adoring, accepting, "easy" in a way that Fay and Betty were not. Don didn't have to "live up to" anything with Megan because he perceived that she was just fine with who he showed himself to be. And she didn't seem to require anything more of Don than that. I think Don essentially felt relieved.
Most of what I'm talking about happened in the episodes leading up to Tomorrowland. She hand-delivered Beatles tickets, demonstrating competence. She comforted Sally. She put out for him the first time they were alone together in a room. She was already a well-thought out option.
The way I see it, he made the decision to marry her, but in order to marry her -- to satisfy his inner Dick Whitman, his superego, or whatever you want to call it -- he had to fall in love with her first. That's what happened in Tomorrowland. Don and Megan went through the motions of falling in love, because you can't just pay a woman to be your wife.
On some level, I think, Don was aware of this and repressed the thought. When he finally admitted that Megan had been a business decision all along, he felt compelled to reward her generously, as if she had been a minor partner or a valued employee. It was severance pay.
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3 hours ago, Inquisitionist said:
I recently rewatched Tomorrowland, and I didn't get the sense that any of this was on Don's mind when he proposed to Megan. It seemed much more primal: he felt good around her, like "himself" but the "himself" that he always wanted to be. He wanted to hold onto that feeling, which he interpreted as "being in love." Now why did he feel that way? Megan was breezy, adoring, accepting, "easy" in a way that Fay and Betty were not. Don didn't have to "live up to" anything with Megan because he perceived that she was just fine with who he showed himself to be. And she didn't seem to require anything more of Don than that. I think Don essentially felt relieved.
This has all been said many times before by other posters on this and other forums and it's true. Megan was the easy option and made him feel good about himself. I like the way you expressed it, particularly the idea that he felt relieved. But relief isn't love, and neither is preferring one woman over another because she's easier. And marrying that easy woman in 2.5 seconds isn't about love, either. It's about desperation.
3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:But more like he understands the subtext of his own commercials, that he's "buying happiness." If he has this thing he'll feel right.
I agree. That's his hope. And that, too, is different from falling in love.
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4 hours ago, qtpye said:
Even worse he thought that Megan will finally be the woman "who fixes him" without Don having to do the hard work of facing his issues. She was the short cut that would make everything better..the pill that cures everything.
I don't think Don ever believed this. He didn't think Megan would solve all of his problems; he thought getting married would solve some of his immediate problems, and Megan was the best candidate for the position. She provided eye candy for social functions, maternal instincts for his children, and a willingness to slap him around some in bed. She was perfect for the job.
Once he decided to marry her, he set about proving to himself and the world that she was the great Love of his life, but he knew better from the start. That's why Megadon was so painful to watch. He was faking it. He put everything he had into faking it but he could never entirely convince himself.
So, really, Zou bisou and orange sherbet didn't so much remind Don that there were problems in the relationship or that Megan was a separate person with her own needs, as much as they reminded Don that he was faking it.
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On 1/6/2018 at 1:01 PM, qtpye said:
Don has the first seeds of doubt planted in his head about his marriage.
These are not the first seeds of doubt. Don has never been comfortable in the marriage. The Zou Bisou scene is a pretty obvious example.
I like what you said up-thread, that it was as if he cast her in the role of his wife. I've always seen it that he hired her for the position. But Dick Whitman couldn't allow himself to do anything as cynical as marrying for convenience. That would have been too close to exchanging sex for money. Before he could get married, he had to be in Love, and we had to watch him brainwash himself into believing Megan was the great love of his life.
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S02.E09: Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy
in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
I stand corrected.