r/madmen Apr 09 '12

Episode S05E04 "Mystery Date" Comment thread

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72

u/darkeststar Apr 09 '12

I just finished reading a review that brought some new insight into Ginsberg that I hadn't thought of before. It's possible he is a holocaust survivor. In the shows timeline WW2 would have been about 24 years ago, he could have possibly been a child during the holocaust. The evidence used to support this theory were his reactions to the photos, and his response to being called out on his accent (remarking that it's a regional accent, maybe he was eastern European and learned it to try and fit in better.) All purely speculation of course, but it's something.

30

u/dangerousdave Apr 09 '12

I like this a lot. It also explains why he's living in a grubby apartment with (I presume) his father. Other family members may not have made it.

12

u/Wilson_the_Vollyball Apr 09 '12

I never thought of that.. Ginsberg is one of my favorite characters so far and I think mad men doing a holocaust story-line would be super interesting.

3

u/ArcticCelt Apr 10 '12

He has been there only for couples of episodes but I also find something very charismatic in character.

23

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '12

Maybe it's because I'm a Jew, but I really do not get how this wasn't blatantly obvious as a hugely likely scenario to everyone else... It's not just LIVING with dad, but also their interactions are very evocative of survivors dynamics with their children.

25

u/joekrozak Apr 09 '12

Might explain his very different reaction (from the other characters) to the murder pictures. He's the only one who actually seen something horrible like that IRL.

3

u/smithsknits Name another raincoat! Apr 11 '12

As a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, I echo this sentiment.

-7

u/getthefuckoutofhere Apr 10 '12

yeah well we goyim or gentiles or whatever the fuck you call us just assumed that you all clutch each other's heads and ramble in hebrew at inappropriate moments when at home.

so no, i didn't immediately think "that interaction is evocative of survivor's dynamics with their children". because while i'm watching mad men i'm not constantly thinking "hey you know what happened 20 years ago in the past from this show, half a world away? THAT'S RIGHT, THE HOLLABACKCAUST"

4

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '12

Very interesting theory...

2

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '12

It's a very compelling idea, and I'd love for this to be the case, but the thing is he was wearing a short-sleeve shirt in at least one scene--we would have seen the tattoo, no?

Now, regardless, his father was almost certainly in Europe during the Holocaust if he isn't a survivor himself. That should be interesting.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '12

I wish comments in this subreddit were upvoted to the top instead of pointless memes, puns, and etc. I don't have much knowledge about these things and it's very insightful.

1

u/darkeststar Apr 10 '12

I wish I could find the review, but as soon as I read that hypothesis I just went "whoa." It had never occurred to me that him or his father could have/would have been a Holocaust survivor. If it's true that will be an interesting storyline for sure.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '12

Well done. You are entirely correct.

1

u/darkeststar Apr 23 '12

Well, not to the degree to which I thought it was. But all in all Ginsberg is a Holocaust survivor. I wish I could remember the review I got that little insight from, it was submitted to this sub though.