“They are two halves of the same person” – Megan
Last week gave us “The Crash”, arguably the strangest and most abstract episode in Mad Men‘s entire run. This week’s “The Better Half” was much more straightforward, however there were certainly elements here of the way Matthew Weiner uses metaphor to convey his larger themes. Even though “The Better Half” was a much more accessible and streamlined narrative, it still featured similar symbolism throughout, starting right in the opening scene. Don and Ted’s argument about how to sell margarine certainly sets up the night’s theme of what governs our decision-making when all of our options are ultimately unsatisfying.
Whether one brand of margarine will save you money compared to another is seemingly irrelevant, because neither one is as good as butter. Ted would dress up our choice between two inferior goods by telling us one is “Chivas Regal”; Don knows better – when the choice is between ‘cheap’ or ‘cheapest’, they are both “Budweiser”.
What Weiner is saying (via Don) is that our personal and professional relationships will sometimes come down to two or more unsatisfying brands, because the quality choice isn’t available – or worse, the ‘quality’ option is really just more of the same. So many options, so very few real choices. More after the jump… Continue reading
Low Culture, High Concept 