ABSTRACT
The TV series Mad Men (2007–15) by Matthew Weiner reimagines 1960s America, intertwining trauma and nostalgia. The show explores contemporary issues like gender, race, politics, economics, and authenticity of this era, framing individual and societal identities. Mad Men serves as a cultural expression of 1960s trauma filtered through American nostalgia, seeking a “home” linked to the American dream. It subverts this dream through advertising’s illusions and reimagines the era’s disruptions in today’s context. The series reflects intergenerational ennui and the desire to reconcile past and present through mass media. It also presents the aesthetic dimensions of trauma and nostalgia. This chapter examines Mad Men’s troubled nostalgia and the politics of memory in a fragmented America.
