Mad Men is a critically acclaimed US TV drama that was lauded here in England with its first series last year. It has a small following: 270,000 viewers watched the first episode of series 1 in the UK and nearly 2m in the US watched the first episode of series 2. However, with a cult following, it has a loyal fans, with this blog Basket of Kisses for example.
Mad Men has tackled race in an intriguing way. Naturally, in the first series, there were glimpses of black people working as waiters and elevator porters. The introduction of Sheila White in the mix throws a lot of the characters off including femme fatale office worker Joan Holloway. I don’t want to spoil it too much for anyone who hasn’t seen it but here are 3 of my observations.
1. Beauty: Sheila White (Donielle Artese) is an attractive woman. Don’t believe me?
Yeah, I know, she is pretty! Why this is significant is she is with Paul at a time when…well we all know the drill that it was like then. Even though Mad Men is set in New York, eyebrows were raised by Joan (right in picture). Sheila’s physical beauty means she is contradicting the view that beauty is wholly Eurocentric or only Eurocentric.
I effing love that hair by the way!
2. Her interracial relationship with Paul also means that she is in a way, stepping outside of her so-called box during a time when cultural segregation existed by all means. Again no spoilers from me but there is one class scene when she and Paul are in the lift and the lift operator is a young black man. The LOOK on his face is like…..oh, so it’s like that? And this is why her portrayal reveals a lot about how black women were perceived. Was she being looked down upon for ”crossing the other side” or because he felt that she sold out. I don’t know, maybe I am reading too much into this 40 minute drama but that scene was very powerful, just made full of looks.
3. Activism: We are all happy Michelle and Barack have reached the top, through their activism and sheer hard work. Sheila gets Paul into activism (to an extent, lol) and he does join her to go somewhere (I won’t say, promise!). By weaving activism into her persona, the image of this black woman is someone who is fighting for her rights and the right of her people to be allowed to have their civil rights. Again, there is one scene of her and Paul on a bus amidst all black people and Paul utters something along the line of: Advertising has no colour or the Consumer has no colour. Something like that. It is just such a priceless quote, laced with irony of course because even to this day, we all know that has never come to fruition!
I loved the introduction of Sheila. And it was not just because I am a black woman. Of course, I was thrilled to see a more representative view of black femininity with Sheila (even though there was Carla as the maid there), I think Sheila as a character hinted to the fact that black women in society is an ambigious position from the point of view of non-blacks during that time.
The question is, are we still ambigious to ourselves or can we actually look at our own reflection in the mirror and smile?
Links and Image Credits
*[Images all from AMC Network]
*Mad Men: An exception to Diversity (AdRants blog)
*Basket of Kisses (Mad Men Fan Blog)
@suz, it’s a great show. I think it is more a cult hit more so than a massive commercial one. But I think its audience are high ranking clever individuals which matters for advertisers.
I loved your article…..I hope MM becomes as big a hit (well actually it isn’t a hit, but people are crazy about this show) in England as it has for us in America! Yes Yes Yes, we are so lucky to have Obama, finally!!!!
[...] This blog article linked to us, and subsequently we learned that the author is a Basketcase, but I wanted to make sure everyone sees it. Aulelia is a black woman based in London, offering a unique and personal perspective on the portrayal of black characters, especially Sheila. Sheila’s physical beauty means she is contradicting the view that beauty is wholly Eurocentric or only Eurocentric. [...]