What is it with Mad Men

Mr. and Mrs. Buce have been catching up on Mad Men, thanks to Netflix Qwikster, although for the life of me, I'm not sure why. I read all this stuff about how it's a nostalgia trip, about the great days when men were men and we all sat on top of the world. Actually I was alive and sentient in those days; my life certainly was not what I see on screen, although I'm willing to assume that some people probably be that way

The trouble is, all those people--they are all worthless pieces of crap not particularly evil, not particularly reflective people who keep getting themselves along with friends and strangers in whole boatloads of unspeakable trouble.

I started to write that they were "monsters" but that's the thing, they're not monsters; they're just people who do appalling things in unappalling ways.   They're like nothing so much as the Germans I read about in Claudia Koonz' The Nazi Conscience--all those good people who just drifted along in a fog of self-approval, never for a moment thinking what a mess they might be making of things.

My friend Dave says he doesn't like to watch movies about people doing stupid things because he always wants to yell out "don't do that or the bunny winds up in the pot!" Wonder if David is enjoying Mad Men. Can't say I am, yet oddly, I keep coming back for more.

Afterthought: I guess I'll make one exception--Joanie.   Joanie's a hustler and she's hard as nails, but she's way low on the self-deception meter, and she gives good advice.