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Mad Men season premiere tonight: portents of culture clashes and racial tensions

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If Draper et al could ignore the simmering tensions and escalating violence in the U.S. south, there is no way they could have ignored the coming together of nonviolent leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and black power radical Stokely Carmichael for a historic antiwar march in 1967 New York, for instance.

While the show has angered some activists for its too-subtle, coded portrayal of the protagonists' racism (performances in black-face, for instance, or summarily firing black employees as "untrustworthy") - hoping the treatment would be as blatant as for characters' mysogyny - others say the show hits the nail on the head.

"(Mad Men) deftly illustrates this invisibility — the way race is there, but not there in the lives of his white protagonists," wrote Tamara Winfrey Harris on Change.org. "The issue of race throbs beneath the narrative like a tell-tale heart. It may often be unseen, but you can always hear the thump…thump…thump.

"Mad Men does not have a race problem. We do. Too many viewers noticed the sexism in the scene(s), but missed the racism. Mad Men got it right."

But what does this nostalgic fascination with the socially repressive 1950s and early 60s mean? Why are we so gripped by Mad Men?

Partly it is the cutting, sparse and minimalist dialogue. Pregnant silences often take the place of words; glances reveal much more than what's being said; character's secrets are evoked with partially obscured camera shots.

Here's an example from the penultimate episode of season four - Draper, in suit, tie and hat, runs into an old flame, Midge Daniels, who has embraced the beatnik lifestyle: long hair, flowery skirt, French beret cap, and a heroin addiction. The encounter captures the chasm between the business world and the cultural revolution which will swim into focus in season five:

MIDGE DANIELS: Where are you going with so much purpose?
DON DRAPER: Home. You look good.
M: I'm skinny - starving artist. Did you move here?
D: Yes. Well, I have my own firm, you know.
M: Draper, Draper and Draper? (smiles).
D. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
M. Well, it sounds impressive.
D. There are good days and bad days like everything else.

But the incisive dialogue and biting commentatary cannot explain the plethora of period dramas on television these days, harkening back to times when explicit sexism and racism were the norm. Nor can a mere fascination with clothing, style and realism. (Although all these are among the best in t.v.).

With so-called "culture wars" tensions rising in both the U.S. and Canada, Mad Men's smart, poignant and often hilarious storyline has much of importance to say to us today. 

One need only look at barbaric abortion laws in some states to see things haven't changed much since the underground abortion one Mad Men character undergoes. South Dakota lawmakers proposed a law effectively legalizing the murder of abortion doctors; a Georgia politician wants to force women to carry stillborn fetuses to term, and compared women to farm swine.

We have culture wars here in Canada too. Whether it's the growing activities of white supremacist groups - buoyed by right-wing anti-"political correctness" rhetoric - or Conservative party backbenchers who want to reopen the abortion "debate" here, Mad Men obliquely reminds us not to gloat too quickly about our progress since the regressive 1950s.

For renowned antiracist writer and educator Tim Wise, the problem is not the depiction of racism in Mad Men, but the modern-day fascination with white enclaves of bygone eras - what Jeff Chang calls "Whitopias."

"Mad Men, from what I understand, is a fairly realistic portrayal of that time," he told Colorlines. "The question is, Why do people love [the show] so much, why do they so enjoy a period piece like this one, which portrays a slice of life, and a period where people of color aren’t present?"

Whatever your take on it, Mad Men is deservedly seen by many as the best show on television now (and stands close to masterworks like The Wire, Treme and Californication). Be sure to watch the atoms collide tonight on AMC.

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