... that I think Don Draper's experience as a deserter may leave him in a position to exploit the upcoming resistance to the Vietnam war.
I know, it's a crazy idea and I don't know that I like it much myself but it's just an inkling I get.
Matt Weiner and company have really boxed themselves in otherwise, however, and I don't see how he comes out on top except that I'm certain he will.
Unless the agency fails and he moves out to CA to live in the house that he bought for Anna, I don't see Don being an anti-war protester. He's had a close call already, and rumor at the time had it that the FBI under J.Edgar Hoover was keeping dossiers on the anti-war protesters. Maybe as the decade progesses and anti-war sentiment becomes more mainstream and acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Don will come out on top. People like him always do, as Campbell said last night, destroying everyone with whom they come into contact. I think that's what Weiner might be trying to show. To quote Leo Durocher, "Nice guys finish last," which is the God's honest truth.
I don't see him as an anti-war protester either. But the Weiner way is never to have the political events directly impact the plot. What he does instead is to have a parallel between them. Think of the Cuban missile crisis and the parallel sense of crisis in the various characters' lives.
ReplyDeleteWhat I imagine happening is Don picking up on the rebellion Zeitgeist that is sweeping the culture and turning it into a new direction for himself and the agency.
This would, BTW, fit history as advertising had far more to do with the 1960s spirit of rebellion than is commonly acknowledged.
Ok, I misunderstood. I agree with you that advertising had a lot to do with the '60s rebellion. The industry realized they could use it to sell products and that reinforced--even legitimized it for mainstream America. There were small agencies started by young upstarts who broke away from the BBDOs and Y&Rs, I would imagine they initially took on small clients that the big agencies were too expensive for and the big agencies weren't interested in anyway. That would be a kind of house-cleaning for SCDP, not business as usual, and maybe that's what Weiner has in mind.
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