MAD MEN

Having only seen the last 2.5 episodes of Mad Men last night (on the recommendation of many), I cannot personally conclude whether the ending was good, bad or indifferent since I don't know all the background stories of the characters (though I had a basic understanding through articles and reviews throughout the years). 

I did observe the New Hollywood thematic plot lines for a large ensemble cast woven into a premise of 1960s nostalgia. Advertising is the illusion to elicit dream fulfillment. Don, the golden boy advertising wunderkind, seemed to have had it all, twice, and lost it because of his personal demons, career pursuits, work stress and the gnawing fear of failure in a high pressure profession. One theme may have been you have to sacrifice everything to get to the top.

But I found two redemptive themes in the finale. First, the cliche that it is always darkest before the dawn as represented by Peggy's story. Our generation had the iron spike of work ethic pounded into our skulls. We were supposed to work hard, focus on the tasks at hand, and advance our careers to the top of our field. Success was measured by titles and bank account balances. But Peggy's story ended with a better reality check: that life is not about just work. You don't have to sacrifice everything for a career. And what may be missing in your life may be right in front of you if you stop and really think about it. Work, like life itself, is better shared with someone who cares about you.

Second, I believe in the principle that every person has one great financial opportunity in their lives. This principle can also be applied to one's own personal life. The problem is that people don't realize the opportunity when it comes along, or are too afraid to take the risk. In Pete's case, he never thought of the Lear job as an opportunity since he was dead set on his advertising career path (to be the next Don Draper). But once he realized it was an opportunity, he was given a second chance (another opportunity) to have the family life he always dreamed he would have, but far away from the corrupt action of NYC. If Pete did not make that realization and put his feelings on the line for his second chance, he most likely would have wound up like Don.

Now, another feature of New Hollywood series writing is the "non-ending ending" to a major character. The creative staff may do this in order to allow the fans to finish the story with their own theories and opinions. Don's story has that non-ending end vibe. He was the anti-hero. For a man who knew the human psyche so well to tap it to make impulse purchases, he could not control his own impulses. He was the focal point of what was good and bad in his generation. Many will think that he had a transcendental awakening on his road trip journey of self-discovery, but I saw it as a selfish guy running away from his responsibilities and problems. We never see him get back to work so it is speculative leap to conclude that Don's spiritual retreat galvanized his creative soul to make the iconic Hilltop Coke commercial (in reality, the idea for that spot was from an ad executive stuck in an airport in Ireland who observed a group of diverse people in the waiting area laughing and joking while drinking soda.)

It also harks back to the LOST controversy, where the final credits rolled over the airplane debris on the beach. Many thought that was the final clue to the mystery that the show's characters died in the plane crash and the plot was all based in purgatory (which TPTB still deny).

Instead of going back home to support his family with the struggles of his ex-wife's impeding death, Don pushed farther west, away from those responsibilities. It is more probable that he wanted to drop out of society, get away from the material culture his subconscious helped create; to be a loner so he would never get hurt again from the pain of meaningful relationships. When he told Peggy goodbye, he meant it. The advertising industry's Great White Whale was going to beach himself to never return to his past. Is that the great redemptive moment for this character? Maybe. Maybe not. There was a segment of the culture that did decide to "drop out" to become part of the Lost Generation.

Many loyal viewers liked how Mad Men ends. Prior to the show, there were many fan theories on how the show could end (including Don jumping off a roof like in the opening sequence.). But that open ended non-conclusion to Don's story line allows fans to project their own ending to their favorite character's journey. I still think that is a writer's cop-out in some respect.

EYES CLOSED

For those with a work ethic, a close family and bills to pay, the idea that one can shut out the realities of Life is impossible and reckless.

Life's challenges are multiple daily decisions that have ramifications, both big and small. Navigating the pot holes in the road of Life is something that is conditioned upon experience, upbringing, morality, culture, education, skill and common sense. Life is Hard.

But in many ways, Life was easy for the many of the main LOST characters.

Closing one's eyes to the problems around you so you don't have to confront them (or your fears) was symbolic of many relationship issues throughout the series.  When Jack opened his eyes in the bamboo field after the crash, it was symbolic of Jack going on a journey to deal with the problem he had put off until it was too late: reconciling his issues with his father.

Likewise, Kate kept a blind eye to responsibility and accountability for her actions. It seems she was never punished for her childhood transgressions. She learned that your cute charm could get people to do her bidding. She never seemed to work hard at anything because people, boys, would try to help her. Her eyes only opened when she uncharacteristically decided that she needed to help Claire, a stranger and fearful young mother, with the birth of Aaron and his later rescue to the mainland.

Hurley also had an easy life. His doting mother gave him a home and plenty of room for Hurley not to have to work hard. The safety net of his mother's love closed Hurley's expectations for himself. He was ashamed about himself. He had self-esteem issues. He was closed minded about his future (like working as a fry cook would be his career). He was self-conscious about meeting women because he lost the feeling of love when his father abandoned him. It was when Hurley closed his eyes and went into his dream world did he find comfort with his one true, but imaginary friend, Dave. Hurley avoided the need to make hard choices by being in a mental institution where he had no pressure to do anything.

Even if one went wide eyed into a new venture, it does not mean he would see the truth. That was Locke's problem: no matter what path he tried to take in his life, he would stumble and be made the fool.  He was blind to the fact that other people used his good nature against him. When he dreamed about himself, it was of a grander man that he could ever become in real life. And that image of himself haunted his daily life to the point where he went from meaningless and unfilled job after job with little responsibility or expectations for himself.

Many characters kept their responsibility meters off. They did not want to confront their own problems in such a way to be accountable for their own mistakes. They would rather wallow in self-pity than change. It was only by the basic instinct of survival did any of them actually have to come to terms with their closed minds to make some sort of personal mental redemption. One can skate through life with your eyes closed to the harsh realities of life, but in the end that is not really living.

HEALING

Healing comes from taking responsibility: to realize that it is you - and no one else - that creates your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. — Peter Shepherd

The obvious healing done on the island were Locke's miracle cure from paralysis and Rose's cure from terminal cancer.

Just because they survived a plane crash, medically, that would have not changed their terminal conditions. We were led to believe that the "unique" electromagnetic properties of the island cured people.

But the explanation of the curing energy is contradictory to other events on the island. People died all the time, from bullet wounds, to pregnancies, to spider bites, to drowning, to time travel nose bleeds. And it did not cure Ben from his back issues. 

It also did not explain how Jacob and Alpert became "immortal" beings. Alpert never aged a day after several centuries on the island.

An alternative (unpopular) explanation is that people were cured of their human illnesses and conditions because they were no longer human, i.e. dead. The characters merely misconceived their situation as their souls were reconstituted into new after life bodies.

There is a second alternative approach to the inconsistent "cures" of the island. The human beings who "survived" the plane crash crossed through a nexus or portal into the spirit world, where both living and dead souls could interact. In this intermediary place, dead souls would be immortal, and real people could still "die." But even in this special place, the uneven application of life and death is still a problem.

Beyond the physical ailments, most of the characters had emotional and mental issues. This extra baggage came with them when they boarded Flight 815.  It is possible that the key to the cure was each person taking responsibility for their own actions and their own lives. Acceptance and accountability would set one free.

Early on, Rose knew that everything was going to be alright; that she would be reunited with her husband shortly. How could she know that? She was calm, at peace, staring out at the ocean when she schooled Jack. Rose was in pain from her terminal cancer. Once she "survived" the plane crash, her pain was gone - - - and being a bright woman, she knew that the only way that could happen was that she had died. And since she accepted that fact, she had internal peace of mind. 

Every person had to come to that realization in order to have peace of mind. It literally took Jack to the end of time to accept his own death. Only then did his mental state unlock, and he was free to move on.

So there are two different kinds of healing with three different means of looking at the island as the means of that healing power.