tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post4041176008024078933..comments2024-03-18T04:36:26.547-04:00Comments on Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress: Mad Men 5.5: "Ben Hargrove"Paul Levinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-66804201546503062582012-04-18T18:17:39.015-04:002012-04-18T18:17:39.015-04:00Thanks, Bill. Never heard of Mead, but I'll l...Thanks, Bill. Never heard of Mead, but I'll look into his work.<br /><br />I should probably start working into my bio that I was an intern at Hill & Knowlton in the mid 1970s - that way, I could be a candidate for Hargrove, too :)Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-61110429328336463622012-04-18T12:34:22.880-04:002012-04-18T12:34:22.880-04:00Pohl would be a good candidate for 'Ben Hargro...Pohl would be a good candidate for 'Ben Hargrove' had he not already long been the editor of GALAXY by 1966. I doubt that any particular real s-fauthor is referenced in MAD MEN, but a forgotten author named Shepherd Mead (1914-1994) would make a great prototype. He worked for years at the ad agency Benton & Bowells, ending up as vice-president in 1956. He wrote outrageously antic s-f fiction, including THE BIG BALL OF WAX: A STORY OF TOMORROW’S HAPPY WORLD (1954) and THE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED RAPE OF THE WORLD: A NOVEL ABOUT THE UNSPEAKABLE (1965), in which Earth's women are all impregnated by apish aliens.Bill Scheicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-1750028392718192762012-04-17T11:55:34.930-04:002012-04-17T11:55:34.930-04:00Good point, Max!
Anonymous - my sense is that &qu...Good point, Max!<br /><br />Anonymous - my sense is that "kicked the crap" has some vintage, and may go back a lot further than 1966.Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-83773031806348928052012-04-17T09:10:40.951-04:002012-04-17T09:10:40.951-04:00There may also be shades of Frederik Pohl there, w...There may also be shades of Frederik Pohl there, who worked on Madison Avenue, and cowrote the science fiction classic about a world ruled by advertising execs, The Space Merchants.Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05483873549202203363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-1415345797684644062012-04-17T01:47:39.737-04:002012-04-17T01:47:39.737-04:00Interesting about the word "random." The...Interesting about the word "random." The one thing that jumped out at me was the line about how Lane "kicked the crap" out of Pete. Any idea about that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-89905256425024880152012-04-16T22:42:16.546-04:002012-04-16T22:42:16.546-04:00Thanks for the comment, and glad you enjoyed the r...Thanks for the comment, and glad you enjoyed the review.<br /><br />About "random" - yeah, I know it could have been understood that way (meaning arbitrary), but I've watched that fine scene a few times, and it seems to me like she meant it to mean evil, dangerous (which is the more 21st century meaning, has roots in arbitrary, but goes well beyond it).Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-14730660055728889042012-04-16T21:24:50.331-04:002012-04-16T21:24:50.331-04:00Good review, but I must disagree with your assessm...Good review, but I must disagree with your assessment of the use of the word "random". It seems the co-ed was referring to the rising tide of uncertainty, fear and instability heralded by the murders - a defining feature of a decade (and a country) spiraling away from simpler times. Thus the sense "arbitrary" could apply. This has been, in my reading, one of the major concerns of the show all along.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com