From the SOPRANOS to MAD MEN: Matthew Weiner Chases David Chase
Matthew Weiner isn’t chasing David Chase anymore. Weiner caught him.
At the recent Emmy Awards Weiner’s show “Mad Men” garnered several accolades including one for writing. It is in the design of the script, the planning of each word said onscreen, that the moving pictures acquire their backbones are fleshed out by the superb acting cast, and come alive to captivated viewers.
Having grown up in the fifties and sixties many Baby Boomers like me tend to overanalyze the show and we seem to start off by drawing comparisons to David Chase. Since Weiner wrote many episodes of the award-winning The Sopranos–a show that went far beyond its surface of a depressed mobster, and dug deep into the definition of family and the human motivations behind violence–one can readily assume that he brought his experiences with Chase to bear on the set of Mad Men.
By illustrating different examples of the similarities between Weiner and Chase one gains an even greater appreciation for the artistry behind this high level of visual and performing art. Both writer/directors’ exceptional use of music, black comedy, realistic dialogue, and scripts dealing with serious issues like infidelity/marital problems, work, violence and morality makes these shows models for aspiring TV professionals worldwide.
When The Sopranos opens, we hear “Woke Up This Morning” by the Alabama 3, igniting us instantly with a superb use of a musical selection. David Chase frequently consulted with Steve Van Zandt, a rock musician/guitarist from Bruce Springsteen’s East Street Band, about songs he wanted to use on the show. Chase knew that Van Zandt is somewhat of an aficionado when it comes to rock-n-roll; Van Zandt hosts “Little Steven’s Underground Garage”, a national radio program that not only plays music, but gives a bit of history behind the songs, musicians and time period when the tunes came out.
Weiner, like Chase, also uses song selections to create a mood. A recent episode of Mad Men that ended in the death of Mrs. Draper’s father concluded with a blues tune sung inimitably by Bob Dylan. Viewers felt the pain of the loss and Dylan’s dirge was the sad culmination that seemed to make it last beyond the final credits.
Amidst the sadness of blues music Weiner injects dark comedy, black humor he most certainly picked up from working with Chase. When watching The Sopranos it doesn’t take a viewer that long to pick up on this approach. Whether it’s Paulie Walnuts mispronouncing a word or words, or Christopher quipping about Lou Gehrig not seeing Lou Gehrig’s disease coming for him, we get the picture. Death, cancer, disease, violence, divorce—all these not-so-easy to swallow depressing subjects are cut down with a comic’s edge, allowing the show to not fall into the pitfalls of melancholia and melodrama. It’s a covert attack but it works. And Weiner surely knows this. On a recent episode of Mad Men an excited ad agency employee, overjoyed at getting the John Deere tractor account, runs over an upper level manager’s foot at an office party. Now that’s black comedy!
Dealing with serious issues can force a script into the garbage can. However, it depends on how the issues are brought off. Chase’s idea of having a violent killer, Tony Soprano, seeking the advice of a professional therapist, works because it’s not what we’re used to seeing. In all the mob movies prior to Chase’s masterpiece, whether it’s The Godfather or Goodfellas, this type of scene would be unheard of. Interspersed with action scenes of gruesome violence we see Tony sitting on Melfi’s couch opening up to her about his relationship with his overbearing mother and abusive father. All of us know people who’ve had similar experiences so the next time someone says The Sopranos is just a show about the mob and murder let them know they’ve missed out. The violence is the surface; the emotional sharing is what lies beneath.
In Mad Men, Weiner also deals with serious subjects, like infidelity. And like Chase, he knows that serious subjects, especially this one, are indeed complex and hold no easy black and white answers. Not to defend Don Draper and his cheating ways, but perhaps we shouldn’t judge so harshly yet. We truly do not know that much about the character (Weiner like Chase doesn’t let on all the time, if at all) his past, (Draper isn’t even his real name) and what drives him to the arms of these other women. In Don’s case, it can’t be only to fit in and be like one of the boys. His issues run deeper.
We don’t know that much because Weiner hasn’t told us yet; he, like a fly fisherman slowly letting out more line, spoon feeds us, so at the very least, we’ll come looking for more next week. Designs like this work better; they move up a level, from the world of craft to the world of art.
Like the work of all great artists and designers, we don’t see Weiner’s artistry; we only feel the end result as scenes, episodes and seasons add up to a resonating impact; a detonated dénouement!
Comparing Chase’s work on The Sopranos and Weiner’s on Mad Men to epic novels by the great Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky may seem, at least to some, a bit of a stretch. Yet, if you ever take the time to watch a large amount of the shows in one sitting, you’ll see they’re interwoven like a fine tapestry, and the comparison, whether it’s Chase or Weiner, is indeed accurate.
>Written by d/visible contributor Robert Gluck.
