Sex Lives in Second Life and No Network is An Island in relation to MadMen

Meeting date: 11/10/10

Group Attendance: Charlie DeWitt, Marshall Kerns, Lauren Solomon, Candace Barbour, Catherine Muller, Clay Prietsch,

Episodes Watched: Season 1 Episode 9: Shoot

Sex Lives in Second Life and No Network is An Island in relation to Mad Men

In class this week we discussed Robert Alan Brookely’s and Kristopher L. Cannon’s article Sex Lives in Second Life and Sharon Ross’s article No Network is An Island: Lost’s Tele-Participation and ABC’s return to Industry Legitamacy.

Sex Lives in Second Life explores the negative effects of the objectification of women and the marginalization of homosexuals in the online game Second Life. The authors claim that the objectification of females and marginalization of homosexuals in the game leads to objectification in real life as well. Although Mad Men does not correlate with the gaming experience of Second Life, the show certainly objectifies women and marginalizes homosexuals just as the gaming experience of Second Life does. One thread in the narrative of episode 9 of Mad Men focuses on Betty’s quest to resume her modeling career. Don’s potential employer, Jim Hobart, tells Betty that she looks similar to Grace Kelly and thus could be used for the new Coke campaign. Betty is only considered for the campaign because her appearance is somewhat similar to that of an already proven household name. Furthermore, later in the episode we discover Jim Hobart only offers the modeling position to Betty as a way to woo Don to work for him. Don is quite wary of Betty’s decision to accept the modeling job because he fears the kids won’t be looked after well. Looking after the kids and preparing meals is an innate part of Betty’s duties. However, throughout the first season, viewers witness Betty’s struggle to break free from the housewife stereotype. Betty desperately wants a more fulfilling life, but at the same time she is terrified of being different. She abhors the notion of being a single mother, as evidenced by her claim that she could never do what Helen Bishop is doing. When the Draper’s neighbor threatens to kill their dog if it comes onto his property again, Don is the only one who asserts he should talk to the neighbor. Betty again plays the quiet, docile housewife. However, at the end of episode 9, Betty does break the weak, docile housewife stereotype by shooting her neighbors prized birds. Betty’s strange actions here relate to Fuco’s docile body idea present in the Sex Lives article. When you create the idea of normalcy, you inevitably create oddity. Betty adheres to the idea of normalcy for the vast majority of her life, until she allows her conflicted emotions to manifest into odd actions, according the stereotype of the docile, subservient housewife.

The marginalization of homosexuals, while not dealt with in this episode of Mad Men is brought up in episode 8: The Hobo Code. In that episode, another homosexual man takes out the Italian art director of Sterling Cooper, Salvatore Romano, to dinner. However, because homosexuals were so marginalized in the 1960s, Salvatore does not know how to express his feelings. The other man tries to be friendly, but Salvatore spurns his advances, saying “he wouldn’t know what to do”. Similar to Second Life, the characters/culture in Mad Men marginalize homosexuals so much that Salvatore is forced to hide his true emotions.

Unlike Brookley’s and Cannon’s claims about how the objectification of women and the marginalization of homosexuals in Second Life transcends to people’s attitudes in real life, I do not believe that any objectification/marginalization in Mad Men would carry over to real life for two reasons. The first reason is that viewers do not interact with Mad Men as they do with Second Life where they actively reinforce stereotypes/marginalization/objectification by clicking buttons to make choices to affirm the stereotypes. Furthermore, if Steve Johnson’s arguments are considered, Second Life does not marginalize or objectify anyone because form trumps content. The act of clicking the mouse and deciphering the sphere of the game is more important than what the stereotypes the person reinforces when he clicks on a button.

Sharon Ross’ article explores the notion of producers linking television programs to online content. Ross believes the websites established by producers, then fueled by fans are important to our society because they form connections whereas before people were more isolated in watching/discussing television. Ross chronicles how ABC’s handling of LOST shifted the television industry to television intermingled with online components. Looking at Mad Men’s website on AMCtv.com, one can see that the Mad Men producers clearly value the interactive online experience of Mad Men as well as the television experience. I was astounded at how comprehensive the Mad Men site was. One could spend hours ciphering through the entire site, and still want to go back the next day because the discussion boards/contests are constantly updated. Viewers can browse through episode guides that thoroughly recap all narrative threads of each episode in about 1,300 words per episode. The producers also set up a “Discuss this episode” section where viewers can discuss what they liked about each episode. Reading through the discussion boards it seems that viewers don’t find themselves restricted to only discussing episodes, as one of the threads had about 15 posts of which leading male they found more attractive and why. Also viewers discussed how Jon Hamm’s spot on Conan went. Additionally, the website contained “trivia” sections where viewers can test themselves on knowledge of the program, and a “cocktail guide” section where viewers can emulate the drinks the characters of Mad Men enjoy. A “fashion guide” (sponsored by banana republic) points out how viewers can achieve the early 60’s look that the show replicates so well. The site also offers a downloadable Mad Men application to an Iphone. Visitors can use the “madmenyourself” link to create a cartoon version of themselves dressed in 60’s attire and posed with 60’s props.

I found the most intriguing link on the site to be the casting call contest. Here, visitors submit photos of themselves in 60’s attire to win a guest appearance on the show. Additionally, visitors can vote on the results. This is the most interactive feature of any television drama that I can think of. Similar to the reality show American Idol, Mad Men viewers not only immerse themselves in the nuances of the show on the website, but they can also become part of the production of the show by either choosing the next guest character or becoming the character themselves. While LOST might have begun the television shift towards interactivity on the internet, MadMen’s website certainly surpasses LOST’s in terms of a drama establishing an online community and providing an sense of fluidness between the viewer and the producer. One of the points we mentioned in class was that in this new multimedia era of TV, viewers have more power over the shows. Discussion boards can lead to changes, contests lead to viewers becoming part of the show. Madmen epitomizes the drastic shift in the production/consumption spectrum that online components of television programs created