tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post8868444062210423599..comments2024-03-04T18:05:44.182-05:00Comments on Through a Glass Brightly: Truth Well Told: How "Mad Men" Made Me a Better PersonKathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-11811642893219214792018-10-05T05:49:36.505-04:002018-10-05T05:49:36.505-04:00İstanbul'da katlanır cam balkon imalatı yapan ...İstanbul'da katlanır <a href="http://www.katlanircambalkon.net" rel="nofollow">cam balkon</a> imalatı yapan firmamız, kaliteli ürün ve hesaplı fiyat avantajları ile hizmet vermektedir. Cam balkon bizim işimiz!cam balkonhttp://www.katlanircambalkon.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-17753244834555971622015-11-24T06:23:31.554-05:002015-11-24T06:23:31.554-05:00Nice blog about crafts and glasses. If you want to...Nice blog about crafts and glasses. If you want to buy shot glasses please contact us from the links below<br /><br />There are many online portals or links coming up in the market form where you ca easily <a href="http://www.worldbyshotglass.com" rel="nofollow">personalized shot glasses</a>. There are quite a few aspects and important things that all needs to be considered to make it a preferable choice. The shot glasses represent the class and elegance of your home. Get the best range of <a href="http://www.worldbyshotglass.com" rel="nofollow">custom shot glasses</a> for your home or office.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10267470715749551683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-17145462678452390522015-09-03T13:32:46.679-04:002015-09-03T13:32:46.679-04:00I love the OT connection. I think that is a major ...I love the OT connection. I think that is a major foundation for the show since Matthew Weiner is Jewish. He has talked about it in a few interviews. Thank you so much for writing! Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-90789529482358040052015-09-03T12:56:07.729-04:002015-09-03T12:56:07.729-04:00Anonymous, Jesus sat at dinner with prostitutes, y...Anonymous, Jesus sat at dinner with prostitutes, yet His heart remained pure. I think if you can't keep your heart from being tempted by hearing a realistic story that shows the natural law, you should exercise that self-knowledge. If you can see the whole narrative and the consequences of sin, you have gained a great sympathy and insight.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10579715845626246310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-61540449795094623252015-09-03T12:52:00.616-04:002015-09-03T12:52:00.616-04:00I've never seen Mad Men before, but you made s...I've never seen Mad Men before, but you made such excellent connections and insights. The whole time I read this article, I was thinking of my Old Testament class. We would follow the story of each character and see how the entire narrative taught so many lessons. There are obvious moral codes and examples, but sometimes the more striking moments are the ones that are subtle and drawn out. It reminds me of Jacob and his multiple wives. You are thinking, "Wait, this guy is a polygamist! I thought he was supposed to be good." As you go on, you see the challenge and brokenness of polygamy, but God never says directly (that I know of), "Jacob, don't be a polygamist!" This is a powerful art form and tool for evangelization. It lastly reminds me of a talk given by Dr. Peter Kreeft about the Walker Percy book, Lost in the Cosmos. He makes a great analysis of direct and indirect communication and their different effectivity.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10579715845626246310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-1830110583607706752015-07-23T16:31:49.716-04:002015-07-23T16:31:49.716-04:00Right, right. Pearls before swine, opening a vein,...Right, right. Pearls before swine, opening a vein, etc. etc. Course I'm mainly analyzing and appreciating the response to the show, not the show itself, so 12 episodes is enough. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-24035306490893633352015-07-23T09:55:13.734-04:002015-07-23T09:55:13.734-04:00Wow! What a great essay and what a crazy bunch of ...Wow! What a great essay and what a crazy bunch of comments it has triggered! (You must be doing something right. ;) ) I returned to Mad Men after giving up a few seasons in, at your prompting, and I'm so glad I did! I think your arguments are sound and I love that you're tackling these modern stories and shedding some Catholic light on them. All the best! -AngelaMrs Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16564404273191168047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-91357094000170219652015-07-22T13:38:22.998-04:002015-07-22T13:38:22.998-04:00I'm analyzing and appreciating the whole, not ...I'm analyzing and appreciating the whole, not a part.Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-42962315895599588882015-07-21T15:25:08.924-04:002015-07-21T15:25:08.924-04:00I came to Mad Men late, after several attempts to ...I came to Mad Men late, after several attempts to watch the show. There were many reasons why I initially couldn't find a reason to keep watching, some of which others here have also noted. I think that Kathryn has pointed to some clear and compelling reasons why the human element of the show offers all of us a chance to evaluate the state of our souls and our reactions to and judgments of others. For myself, I see--in addition to the human story—a really powerful narrative of how representation works, particularly in post-war American society. <br /><br />The ad world that grounds many of these characters is a world built on images and representations of products and lifestyles with the endgame of consumption. One way to read this emphasis is to say that we viewers of Mad Men are seduced just as those mid-century consumers were by the likes of Don Draper and his ilk. And of course ads still exercise a major influence over our desires; I'll admit to my own weaknesses and occasional greed when I see an advertisement for high-end kitchen appliances or clothing. But another way to read the show's engagement with the concept of representation is to see Mad Men as a way of teaching us all how to read, how to engage with signs, and how to differentiate between the sign and the thing itself—very Augustinian concepts. <br /><br />If I read her correctly, Kathryn is actually trying to point up the differences between imitation and reality, between guides and the truth itself. All the literature she references is also concerned with how best to represent not only the human condition but the social and political circumstances that surround our lives. Shakespeare took ideas from medieval and sixteenth century sources and figured out how to enliven a representative form—the theater—not only to give new life to these stories but to give them a form that could be consumed by a variety of people. If anything, Shakespeare knew the power of images, not as truth but as pointers toward truth. It was the Puritans who shut down the theaters in England and excoriated any use of imagistic representation. John Dos Passos, being read by a waitress at the start of Mad Men's season 7, wrote his U.S.A. Trilogy in the 1930s (for all intents and purposes a world away from Don and Roger as they enter the 1970s), and that piece of literature's form is a mash-up of newspaper clippings, radio reports, autobiographical fragments and other forms. The world that Mad Men creates is a kind of mash-up too, I think, and that can be disorienting. But the fragmentation of forms that it shows us need not lead us into error. Augustine himself worried over his love for the Aeneid, but his Confessions is an extended meditation on how he once read the world and how he reads it now in the light of revelation. We can participate in this type of self-reflection with the cultural forms that engage us, and I think this is the major point of Kathryn's essay. And as she has emphatically noted, if we find ourselves in error then we can disengage.<br />Elisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08455090947957726949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-17796579234334356952015-07-21T14:36:52.301-04:002015-07-21T14:36:52.301-04:00How much of the show have you seen?
I know great...How much of the show have you seen? <br /><br />I know great art when I see it. I know the effect that it has. It converted me because it is about conversion. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-29840806708657653952015-07-21T14:36:42.028-04:002015-07-21T14:36:42.028-04:00About 10-12 episodesAbout 10-12 episodesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-28753519632279886902015-07-21T01:30:45.880-04:002015-07-21T01:30:45.880-04:00I do not accept this show as a work of art. Shake...I do not accept this show as a work of art. Shakespeare's works are. Mad Men did not reflect reality in the 60's in Manhatten as it pretends to portray. My husbamd worked for the largest ad agency during the sixties, J. Walter Thompson, and he was astounded how inaccurate it was depicting the social environment of ad agencies. The characters were all stereotypical of godless people and some of the scenes bordered on soft porn. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-69919139352894916022015-07-19T18:27:05.654-04:002015-07-19T18:27:05.654-04:00How much of the show have you seen? How much of the show have you seen? Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-32911690841371970962015-07-19T16:33:44.686-04:002015-07-19T16:33:44.686-04:00Sure, but you didn't. I mentioned men who like...Sure, but you didn't. I mentioned men who like the show. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-74554103541187550082015-07-19T12:57:48.160-04:002015-07-19T12:57:48.160-04:00I was not seduced by him. I could have just as eas...I was not seduced by him. I could have just as easily written a post like this about Pete Campbell, another main character on the show who is not seductive at all.<br /><br />Also, I know plenty of men who love this show. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-39190899201752825892015-07-19T12:55:12.601-04:002015-07-19T12:55:12.601-04:00I was not scandalized. It was not an occasion of s...I was not scandalized. It was not an occasion of sin for me. If it is for you, then it's not worth watching. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-29671764154125457922015-07-19T10:43:54.471-04:002015-07-19T10:43:54.471-04:00“Such grapes have grown on a vine shoot entangled ...“Such grapes have grown on a vine shoot entangled among thorn bushes, and have not sprung from the thorns themselves. To be sure, when you see something like this and are hungry, you must pick carefully, for fear that when you put your hand out to the grapes, the thorns may severely scratch it” (St. Augustine, “We are Your Servants”, Augustine’s Homilies on Ministry, p. 92-93)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-79008257792484395012015-07-19T10:40:19.705-04:002015-07-19T10:40:19.705-04:00Our hope is to become wise and prudent men, with t...Our hope is to become wise and prudent men, with the wisdom of the Gospel. So, let us not be scandalized by the presence of evil; let us not be deceived by some evil which might present itself as good; let us not be surprised when we discover that evil and good are mixed together.<br /> <br />Let us invoke the famous prayer of Solomon: Give thy servant therefore an understanding mind to govern thy people, that I may discern between good and evil… (1 Kings 3:9).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-31076041952066462642015-07-18T17:25:35.015-04:002015-07-18T17:25:35.015-04:00I've only seen women get excited and blog abou...I've only seen women get excited and blog about that show. My thought is basically that the reason women like it so much is the same reason female characters in the show like Don Draper so much and are attracted to him. Basically, they got seduced by Don Draper, a wounded but powerful man, and they sense his woundedness and want to touch it and at the same time to bask in his power. He's simultaneously vulnerable and powerful, infuriating and reassuring. Since he's a TV character and not a real person right in front of them, backstory was necessary to amp up the woundedness, which is harder to portray than power. The strength of Draper's seduction in the show is the women do the work for him, by creating their own stories to explain him to themselves on the way to bed and even when they hate him they yearn for him. The reason men like the show, apart from the appeal of the days when girls were girls and men were men, is summed up by Don Draper, "Women want him, men want to be him."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-2211833304005200362015-07-18T15:24:54.521-04:002015-07-18T15:24:54.521-04:00Thank you, Elizabeth. You said all that I would ha...Thank you, Elizabeth. You said all that I would have said. And keep track of the theme of "home" as you progress in the show. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-39985039522498325312015-07-18T15:22:20.497-04:002015-07-18T15:22:20.497-04:00YES! I love "Breaking Bad." I wrote a po...YES! I love "Breaking Bad." I wrote a post about it: http://through-a-glass-brightly.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-bad-man-is-hard-to-break-revelation.html<br /><br />I'm going to write a separate post about the ending. Email me and I'll be sure to send you the link when it's finished. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-90354605711633600272015-07-18T15:19:36.818-04:002015-07-18T15:19:36.818-04:00Bless you, yes--you are on to it. I hope you'l...Bless you, yes--you are on to it. I hope you'll email me and tell me how the rest of the seasons are going for you. :)Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-69668456588479426402015-07-18T15:17:32.534-04:002015-07-18T15:17:32.534-04:00It made me better. That was the point. It might wo...It made me better. That was the point. It might work for you and it might not. But you have to find something that does. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-39928826461663493452015-07-18T15:16:23.732-04:002015-07-18T15:16:23.732-04:00Did you watch it?Did you watch it?Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479456596712646789.post-36312826012543646252015-07-18T15:13:39.397-04:002015-07-18T15:13:39.397-04:00You stopped too soon. The sixth season is where so...You stopped too soon. The sixth season is where so much is brought to light. And the seventh is where the payoff is. Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11934318631043633214noreply@blogger.com