By: Daniel Strange

Daniel Strange — Sat, 18 Nov 2017 22:34:00 +0000

First, thanks to Marti Noxon for sharing her thoughts. Second, this is such a fascinating moment, because now we’re really getting down to the nitty-gritty of examining our attitudes and behavior. It’s easy with someone like Weinstein to point at their actions and say “He’s a monster,” it’s harder in a situation like this that Noxon describes, where it it may or may not be a joke. The reality of this creative industry is that sometimes showrunners and key creatives aren’t ‘normal’ because ‘normal’ people simply aren’t able to think or behave in the ways that make them creatively brilliant. I’m trying to avoid the cliche here that being a prick makes you a genius artist, but rather say that sometimes when you have a unique view of the world as a creative person, it’s inevitable that some people won’t be able to relate to your behavior. So I’m sympathetic to Noxon’s POV here that the people who worked on the show were in thrall to their boss’s strange behavior to some degree. In my experience it comes down to: the higher the stakes, the more shit you have to eat. It’s such a tricky space to navigate and the boundaries are hard to read sometimes. But hopefully with each story like this that comes out we redraw those boundaries a little more clearly.

Comments on: Former ‘Mad Men’ Producer Marti Noxon Calls Matthew Weiner An “Emotional Terrorist”

By: Daniel Strange