Dramas from across the pond: Justified and Mad Men

As an American Studies student, US television is one of the mad reasons the majority of us decide to take the course. Whilst others were feasting their eyes upon reruns of _The Royle Family_, the ever predictable gloom of the soaps, and festive films (admittedly I watched all of those too), I spent my Christmas delving into two contrasting boxsets. These were the highly acclaimed dramas _Justified_ and _Mad Men_. Unintentionally, I soon realised I had chosen to watch two shows that aptly summarised both the historic and contemporary cultural make-up of the US: the urban business machine of New York City and the rurality of the South.

_Justified_ has received universal critical acclaim. Now entering its third season, the show has already received a prestigious Peabody award, and has won an Emmy (it was nominat- ed for four). It centres upon the story of Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens (portrayed by Timothy Olyphant), who is reassigned to his native Harlan County, Kentucky.

His unconventional (or perhaps traditional) nineteenth century view of social justice sees Givens tackle the homogenous gangs and family-run criminal networks in the rural bluegrass state. Of these, Deputy Marshall commits himself to a crusade against Boyd Crowder, one of Harlan’s most feared and ingrained crooks, with a penchant for explosives.

The women in Givens’ life, Ava Crowder and Winona Hawkins, both Kentucky natives but from diametrically opposing walks of life, perfectly mirror his conflicting notions of traditional justice in an evolving contemporary society. Despite killing her husband, Ava represents a shotgun-wielding, strong, traditional Southern woman who likes her men made of a similar Dixie mould. Winona, Raylan’s former wife, is a middle-class Lexington lawyer, living in a suburban home with a real estate developer. She cites the refusal of Givens to surrender his unpredictable and dangerous Harlan lifestyle for their separation. Despite numerous opportunities to leave, Raylan struggles to let go of the Southern state he gladly rejected whilst out of town, but is now irreversibly submerged in.

Conversely, the euphoric rise of _Mad Men _could not be any further from the Harlan County backwaters of _Justified_. Set in 1960s New York in the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency, the highly rated drama focuses on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Creative Director of the firm and a stereotypical patriarchal husband and father. Matthew Weiner’s creation has received staggering critical approbation and accolades, winning fifteen Emmys and four Golden Globes (the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series) in every season.

The show addresses sexism and feminism in the workplace and home, popular culture, progressive sexual phenomena and racial issues in an era on the precipice of a counterculture. Weiner’s production juxtaposes a simultaneously modernising man in Don Draper, with nostalgia for the past in a time of American defence threats and social transformation.

Yet this nostalgia is paradoxical: this advertising industry, perhaps the pilot of modernisation, is often committed to reminiscent advertisements in order to sell the products of its clientele. Here lies the show’s pivot, accurately mirroring the issues and complexities of 1960s American society, which saw both the birth of a counterculture and conservative backlash.

Feminism is similarly contrasted in the programme’s two leading frontwomen, Don’s wife Betty (January Jones) and his colleague Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss). Betty acts as the housewife of lost opportunity, condemned to a life of complacency, whilst her successful (and often adulterous) husband lives a life of Madison Avenue glamour. Conversely, Peggy is a young, vibrant, and often conflicted, sixties worker, whose ambitious desire struggles between traditional subordination to her male colleagues and feminist empowerment.

Sumptuous filming backdrops this outstanding programme’s ability to saturate its audience in similar yearnings for nostalgia, attributing its meteoric rise from modest cable network to, arguably, the nation’s greatest and visually seductive drama.

These two ever-growing cult shows depict perhaps the cent of American culture; on one side of the coin, the business philosophy of the Eastern seaboard, and on the other, the rurality of Southern Dixie life. Is this an over-simplification of America’s present? Perhaps, but the modern day domination of New York vindicates _Mad Men’s _contemporary significance, while _Justified’s_ illustration of bucolic Southern ethos, beliefs and values still appear relevant. A second (and perhaps more socially significant) paradox is that between modernisation and traditionalism._ Mad Men _illustrates the struggle between traditional stereotypes in a once heterosexual male-orientated business culture, now infiltrated by feminist and homosexual counterculture currents. _Justified_ similarly portrays a modernised Lexington sheriff’s department which is constantly regressed by Raylan Given’s effective traditional style of policing in a rural Harlan which has not yet modernised either.

These two very different programmes deal with the conflicts between modernity and tradition – the introduction of modern cultures, unsettling not yet outmoded customs. One thing is true: both shows are set to enjoy more success this year and predictably in many more to come.