WISH WE WERE FAMOUS

At the Emmys about a week ago AMC’s  Mad Men, a show set at an advertising agency in 1960s New York City, won Best Dramatic Series for the fourth consecutive year.  As with what usually happens when a new type of tv show becomes wildly popular, major broadcast networks are trying to get in on the action with similarly themed shows.

While Mad Men has strong female characters, the main protagonist is a man.  The primetime network shows seem to be taking a slightly different route by centering their shows around working women. There’s The Playboy Club, set in Chicago, about the bunnies that serve drinks and wear fuzzy tails and are basically paid to flirt with men.  Then there’s Pan Am, about beautiful, college-educated flight attendants who are supposed to be a “new breed of woman.”

At first glance it may seem to be a little sexist to portray women with jobs in the 60s as basically different versions of glorified waitresses that gain success by catering to the needs of men.  But then you have to consider that the types of jobs available to women were limited and they were eventually expected to give them up, get married, and raise a family.  So I thought I’d give Playboy Club and Pan Am a try and compare them to Mad Men and how it deals with women in the 60s.

The first time I watched Mad Men I remember seeing Pete Campbell sexually harass Peggy then make some racist comment about “China-men” a few minutes later.  Without realizing that Pete was supposed to be the slimeball of the show, I wrote it off as another lame attempt to take a time in history when  it sucked to be black, gay, a woman, ect and make it sleek and sexy.  Of course eventually I watched the whole series and realized how wrong I was.  Mad Men does a great job at showing the narrow-mindedness of people during the 60s without vilifying them or making them into saints.

To me it’s interesting that lots of women think the main character Don Draper is an awful person.  Sure, he does use women for sex, but don’t lots of men (and women) today do that too?  As we see his relationships throughout the seasons, it seems like he attempts to do right by his ladies, but ends up failing miserably.  As for Betty, the dissolution of their marriage is much deeper than his affairs and her longing for something more.  She behaves like an insolent teenager and her immaturity and vengefulness really start to show when Don tries to maintain a relationship with his children.

Also, Don’s relationship with Peggy is one of the most interesting and touching parts of the story.  When some men at the advertising firm see her a sexual object and others see her as a sassy friend, but not their equal, Don sees her for her talent, personality, and intelligence.  Once she proves that she is fully committed to her job, he treats her like he would any man.  I know Joan is a favorite character, and I love her too, but beneath her hard exterior, she is much more fragile than Peggy.  If Peggy is the new modern woman, Joan is her older sister; smart, successful, and wise in the ways of men, yet stuck in her domestic role.

Now onto the new shows…Sexism aside for awhile, my problem with both of Playboy Club and Pan Am is that they feel the need to spice up the premise with murder, mafia hit men, and Cold War espionage.  In the opening episode of Playboy Club, new bunny Maureen accidentally kills a mob kingpin who’s trying to rape her by kicking him in the jugular with a stiletto…really?  So the rest of the show is probably going to be about her trying to cover it up, while partying it up at the Playboy mansion and acting like she’s having the time of her life.

In Pan Am, stewardess Kate is recruited to become a CIA helper after her co-worker Bridget is mysteriously missing from duty.  In lieu of any kind of training, she is given a test where she has to steal a passport from a passenger then put it back in his bag.  Aside from the ridiculousness of it all, why would anyone with a good job want to all of a sudden risk their life to help the CIA, an organization which uses people, spits them out, then erases any evidence they ever existed?  Also, the agent testing Kate says she’s needed to replace Bridget, so for all Kate knows, the job she just took probably got her friend killed.

While I’m sure these crazy plot twists will keep Playboy Club and Pan Am interesting for awhile, it leads me to question why such gimmicks are needed from the get-go.  Mad Men employs no such cheap tactics to catch people’s interest, rather it relies on letting the characters tell their stories.  There’s lot of other directions Pan Am could go in to tell its story.  First of all, it seems strange that all the main girls are friends and have no rivalries or jealousy despite the fact that the new stewardess who has only been there 2 weeks got on the cover of Life Magazine, and is therefore the unofficial face of the airline.  Also, they know from the beginning that when they get married or turn 32 they will be forced to quit.  So even though they are supposed to be liberated woman, they’re just basically traipsing around the world getting new experiences and meeting people—all in the hopes of eventually finding a husband and settling down.

I think Playboy Club has more promise because it’s more overtly sexual and the misogyny isn’t hidden…one might even argue that it’s exploited.  The bunnies are ambitious women, some of them with husbands and boyfriends, who are making tons of money off sleazy guys who will pay to stare at their asses.  Also, it seems like there’s more potential for meaningful story lines with the inclusion of an African American and a lesbian bunny.  It will be interesting to see how they fit into the Playboy lifestyle and how the other girls treat them.  Also, say what you want about Hugh Hefner, but during that time period he was an outspoken supporter of Civil Rights and his clubs helped black entertainers reach much bigger audiences.  In the first episode of Playboy Club, Ike and Tina Turner are performing for the first time in a non-segregated venue.

I definitely Playboy Club has more potential to show a compelling portrayal of women trying to gain some kind of foothold in the world.  Most of the girls seem to be damaged, running away from something, or looking for a chance to be a star.  Their backstorys make it much easier to believe that they think working at the Playboy Club is the best chance they’ll ever have.  Pan Am seems more light and fluffy…the girls become flight attendants because they have these useless college degrees and can speak multiple languages and don’t want to squander their youth by getting married to their high school sweethearts.    They seem more aimless rather than free, just looking for an exciting adventure rather than trying to make a better life for themselves.  Also, I don’t know about you, but if I had a choice between being stuck on a plane and sleeping in a different city every night or living it up in the Playboy Mansion with 3am pool parties and free rent, I think I’d choose the latter.

Or they could just make a show about Playboy Airlines…?

It’s worth noting that the girl who plays Maureen (Amber Heard) is gay and has a girlfriend, but still plays sexy lead roles …so that’s awesome.  I saw a comment on an IMDB board where this guy was complaining about having a lesbian cast as the lead in a show called The Playboy Club because then he couldn’t dream about ever meeting/doing her.  First of all dude, go screw yourself, but also, what about the girls that can watch Playboy Club and fantasize…?