Mad Men and Iconic Realism (Click this title to view a portion of the episode.)

Photo from Google Images

A friend suggested to me that perhaps the dramatic television series, created by Matthew Weiner, entitled, Mad Men, may have iconic realism embedded within some of the episodes. I had never viewed the series, so she sent me the episode posted above.

After pondering this a while, I saw iconic realism in the writers' use of the iconic concept of a wheel, 'the original technology.' Here, the character, and forgive me, but I don't remember his name, explains the significance of a carousel, an iconic representation of childhood, as a vehicle to transport an adult to an emotional safe haven. He uses the rhetorical mode of sympathetic speech, drawing from pleasant memories to engage his audience.

What makes this iconic realism is that a group of men in the early sixties when men were trained to hide their emotions, is reacting emotionally to this speaker. The focus of the wheel, or carousel, illustrates that element of human nature found in every culture: the continuous need to feel loved. Even though the setting of this drama is in the mid-twentieth century, this cultural phenomenon is also significant in the twenty-first century. In fact, the need for love and comfort as a safe haven is a human trait that will most likely continue for centuries into the future. Round and round we go, creating those 'Kodak moments' on this carousel called life.