POLL: MAD MEN: Which tier?

[Mark in Helsinki]

I miss the live-in grandpa. Just as I was starting to not hate him, they kill him.

[B_Buster]

The problem with your argument, Matthew, is that blackface was no longer popular by the end of the 1930s. In the early 60s it would have been just as outrageous as it is now. America didn't go from blackface to civil rights overnight.

[Chris L]

The problem with your argument, Matthew, is that blackface was no longer popular by the end of the 1930s. In the early 60s it would have been just as outrageous as it is now. America didn't go from blackface to civil rights overnight.

It may not have been part of contemporary life by that point, any more than Pete and Trudy's Charleston was.  But a privileged boob like Roger would've had no qualms about doing it at a private country club if he felt like it. 

[Sarah]

Especially since the theme of the party seemed to be Old Southy.

[B_Buster]

But wouldn't a privileged boob have known that it would make him look like a plain ol' boob? Maybe I'm just giving these characters too much credit for intelligence.

[fonpr]

But wouldn't a privileged boob have known that it would make him look like a plain ol' boob? Maybe I'm just giving these characters too much credit for intelligence.

Precisely, Buster.

In real life too.

[Sarah]

You're certainly giving Roger the benefit of the doubt.

[jbissell]

But wouldn't a privileged boob have known that it would make him look like a plain ol' boob? Maybe I'm just giving these characters too much credit for intelligence.

Maybe he doesn't care?  It's not like anyone really approves of his new trophy wife, and that doesn't seem to bother him too much.

[B_Buster]

Yeah, but don't you think we would have seen some evidence of his racism before he went whole hog? It came out of nowhere which is why it felt heavy-handed.

[Sarah]

I don't think someone like him at that time would necessarily perceive his actions as offensively racist.  He'd feel it was all in good fun.  Hell, when I was growing up, automatic, unapologetic racism was par for the course.  Hell, kids happily chanted "Eenie meenie miney moe, catch a nigger by the toe" without most people batting an eyelash.  My parents and their friends were very much in the minority when it came to this subject--and this was in upstate New York.  It wasn't really till the late sixties that objections to racism became more widespread, at least as far as I could tell.

[thom]

This blackface argument wouldn't exist if Roger wasn't consistently funny. He's easily one of the most despicable characters... but he's so silly!

[yesno]

Blackface can't be all that offensive if Billy Crystal still does it.

[jbissell]

I don't think I've ever laughed as hard at something in an episode as I did tonight.

[Kim Kelly]

I don't think I've ever laughed as hard at something in an episode as I did tonight.

The foot? Or Betty telling her son to go bang his head against a wall and that only boring people are bored? I laughed at both. I'm a ghoul.

[jbissell]

I don't think I've ever laughed as hard at something in an episode as I did tonight.

The foot? Or Betty telling her son to go bang his head against a wall and that only boring people are bored? I laughed at both. I'm a ghoul.

The foot, something about the blood spraying on everyone killed me, and then Roger's joke later.  Betty's motherly advice was also good.