Space Ships and Time Machines: Mad Men and the Serial Condition

There are various arguments for the metaphysical impossibility of time travel, e.g. it’s impossible because objects could then be in two places at once, or it’s impossible because some objects could bring about their own existence. This book argues that no such argument is sound and that time travel is metaphysically possible. The main focus is on the Grandfather Paradox: if someone could go back in time, they could (impossibly!) kill their own grandfather before he met their grandmother, thus time travel is impossible. This book argues that, in such a case, the time traveller would have the ability to do the impossible (so they could kill their grandfather) even though those impossibilities will never come about (so they won’t kill their grandfather). The remainder of the book explores the ramifications of this view, discussing issues in probability and decision theory. It ends by laying out the dangers of time travel and why, even though no time machines currently exist, we should pay extra special care to ensure that nothing, no matter how small or microscopic, ever travels in time.

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Branding "Frenchness" in Mad Men

The French Review ◽

10.1353/tfr.2019.0189 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 92 (3) ◽

pp. 153-164

Author(s):

Carole Salmon

Keyword(s):

Mad Men

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Babylon Berlin: Media, Spectacle, and History

Central European History ◽

10.1017/s0008938920000771 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 835-854

Author(s):

Veronika Fuechtner ◽

Paul Lerner

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Public Television ◽

Public Funds ◽

Mad Men ◽

Media Spectacle ◽

Streaming Service ◽

Police Detective ◽

Historical Truth ◽

Tom Tykwer ◽

Nazi Era

Babylon Berlin (henceforth BB) premiered in Germany on the pay channel Sky TV in October 2017 and in the United States on the streaming service Netflix in January 2018. It is based on Volker Kutscher's series of crime novels set in late Weimar Republic and early Nazi-era Berlin. At its center are the lives and investigations of the laconic and tormented police detective Gereon Rath and his charismatic and irrepressible assistant Charlotte (Lotte) Ritter. In anticipation of the series premiere on public television, marathon screenings took place in 150 cinemas across Germany, where audience members dressed up in 1920s fashion and enjoyed a Currywurst break. Its viewership in the Federal Republic was topped only by the global fantasy behemoth Game of Thrones. The series is clearly modeled on American series such as Mad Men (2007–2015) and The Wire (2002–2008) as it unfolds a complex web of characters and subplots with loving attention to the history and fashions of the time. Indeed, this collaboration of seasoned directors Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Henk Handloegten is the most expensive German TV series to date. The fact that BB premiered on pay TV while having been largely produced with public funds drew some ire. German reviewers questioned both the circumstances of its production and its creative ambition. While Der Spiegel called it “a masterpiece,” one much debated blog review went so far as to call it “pure crap,” which neither reflected historical truth nor carried artistic merit. Many critics faulted the series for trading in postcard clichés and creating a 1920s “Berlin Disneyland.” The weekly Die Zeit complained that there was a little too much cute dialect, such as “icke” and “kiek ma,” which made the critic sometimes feel like wiping the dirt makeup off the proletarian faces. (And indeed, one of the numerous intertexts of this series are Heinrich Zille's unflinching depictions of proletarian misery.)

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Mad Men, Mad World

10.2307/j.ctv120qtws ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

Mad Men

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An Implicit Theology of Mad Men

Religion and the Arts ◽

10.1163/15685292-02404004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 415-430

Author(s):

Scott Hubbard

Keyword(s):

American Culture ◽

High Water ◽

Symbolic Representation ◽

Narrative Fiction ◽

Christian Doctrine ◽

Religious Symbols ◽

Religious Symbolism ◽

Mad Men ◽

Secular World ◽

High Water Mark

Abstract One of the most striking sites of secular-religious encounter in narrative fiction of the decade has been the baptismal imagery of the television serial drama Mad Men. Set in an era which may be said to be the high-water mark of the secularization of American culture, Mad Men’s encoding of meaning in symbolic representation in effect re-sacralizes the secular world into which those symbols are transplanted. The symbolism’s divergences from Christian doctrine and ritual that give Mad Men its distinct theological significance. This paper will explore the literary implications of Paul Ricoeur’s theory of religious symbolism. This paper conducts several close readings of key moments in the show’s use of baptismal symbolism, and offers thoughts about how Mad Men’s constellation of originally religious symbols to convey narrative significance empowers the show to perform a religious function for its audience.

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