'I'm Just Being Honest'

Being late to the party as I so often am, I have spent the past week catching up on "Mad Men" (thank you, Netflix). The show is beautiful and captivating and smart and just soapy enough to make watching episode after episode a completely natural thing to do.

One thing nagged at me as I delved into the first season, and it's stuck with me through the remaining seasons—the show is so judgmental of its characters. As I watched the first few episodes, I felt like the people behind "Mad Men" had a list of grievances for their parents' generation so created this show to let the world see how cruel their fathers were, how cold their mothers.

Character after character makes terrible mistake after terrible mistake, and it's like, OK, I get it, I'm supposed to judge these people. I don't want to, though. I don't want to spend all my time judging and it feels like that's all pop culture wants us to do anymore, to look down at fictional and real-life train wrecks, because isn't passing judgment so damn much fun?

I'm not above it, I do it far too much. I want to get over it, move beyond all the judging, all the snobbery, all the talking down and looking over and rolling eyes. I want the world to get over it, too, the name-calling and the finger pointing and everything else for no better reason than it's mean and meanness only spurs more meanness.

I wanted to be a pop music critic when I was younger and have written a decent amount of reviews for various outlets, including this blog. I believe in the benefit criticism, that letting someone know when they're doing something poorly can help them improve, and that letting them know when they're doing something well can keep them on the right track. That's not what the tabloids and reality shows and such are doing when they judge and criticize, that's not what we're doing when we take part, it's not about helping someone up, it's about keeping someone down.

I have about a dozen more episodes of "Mad Men" to get through before I'm totally caught up, then I'll most likely watch the new episodes when they begin airing in two weeks. I'll pay attention to the story, the clothes, the music, the art direction, and the character and plot development, as well as the tone. Will the show give these people the benefit of the doubt or even a little sympathy? More importantly, will I? I really should.