tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696956101824934089.post1885976754063037334..comments2024-03-12T16:53:52.795-04:00Comments on Crypto-Catholic Libertine: Mad Men: Man with a planJules Aiméhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08262535377454858987noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696956101824934089.post-31478969994397835822013-05-16T08:05:03.192-04:002013-05-16T08:05:03.192-04:00"Yeah, but he married these women, nobody hel..."Yeah, but he married these women, nobody held a gun to his head."<br /><br />And they had no moral responsibility at all? If I marry a woman who has something that I want and she reverts to child mode AFTER the weddding, that's my fault? I don't buy that.Jules Aiméhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08262535377454858987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696956101824934089.post-26741601656668295272013-05-15T20:58:31.074-04:002013-05-15T20:58:31.074-04:00Yeah, but he married these women, nobody held a gu...Yeah, but he married these women, nobody held a gun to his head. Each in their own way had something he wanted or thought he wanted. Or he just wanted the respectability of marriage, so he used them as props in which case of course the marriages were doomed to failure. The problem with Don--and he seemed to be getting there in his monologue last week or the week before but never really made it--is that Don is all about Don. Its interesting that Anna Draper--his one friend--died alone, or at least not with him. Ted Chough is at his friend's hospital bed. Draper doesn't know how to be about somebody else, and how could he given how he was brought up, neither of his parents were ever about him. He's the anti-hero. BobinCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07349641483981235572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696956101824934089.post-69577454094437698532013-05-15T11:01:19.950-04:002013-05-15T11:01:19.950-04:00I suspect you are right. I think (and hope) that w...I suspect you are right. I think (and hope) that whatever the scriptwriters thought they were doing, there is an inescapable logic to Don's narrative that will lead them elsewhere ultimately. <br /><br />I think they are in a difficult place because if they listen to the critics, who all want Don to fail, they will lose their audience as the show will be boring if he stops being a hero of sorts.<br /><br />Good point about the masochism. I think the reason they did that at the time was that they felt they had to show Don suffering at the loss of his marriage even though it was painfully obvious that he could only be happier without Betty.<br /><br />Of course, the logic of the narrative won out in the end and they forgot all about it as it was inevitable that Don's life was full of possibilities and Betty's isn't. A fact that remains true today: Megan is boring and uninteresting and Don is fascinating. The only story anyone wants to watch is one that allows Don to be Don.Jules Aiméhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08262535377454858987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696956101824934089.post-69503302201943532432013-05-15T10:39:09.987-04:002013-05-15T10:39:09.987-04:00The Don-Sylvia plot struck me as extremely unpleas...The Don-Sylvia plot struck me as extremely unpleasant and only vaguely plausible. I mean I guess if Don hears this big argument, then he might be thinking, "oh no, she's gonna want to run away with me or something, I'd better make it extremely clear that I'm the dominant one and I set the course of where this liaison is going..." but more than that, it just seemed, (as you sometimes say), that this was attributable more to the scriptwriters than to the character. They just wanted Don to do something extreme, kind of like that one episode where Don was a masochist for like 5 seconds and then it never was mentioned again.Gaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11691006770731341338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696956101824934089.post-44845690047682857092013-05-13T12:42:45.136-04:002013-05-13T12:42:45.136-04:00This is good. I felt the same thing about the Ken...This is good. I felt the same thing about the Kennedys, that the writers were trying to draw a parallel between the dark lives these people were leading and their assassinations. Of course one had nothing to do with the other, yet 1968 was a dark and crazy time. Some of us managed to keep our footing amidst all of the rapid social change, but we were constantly forced to deal with a society that seemed lost with nothing to hold on to.<br />I also agree with your assessment of Don's reaction to overhearing Arnold and Sylvia's fight--sheer dread, and I think it shows on his face. I think his attempt to make her his sex slave was to try to maintain some control over a situation that had the potential to spiral out of control. If she accepted he would be able to stem the tide for a while, if she rejected it was the answer to his prayers. While he appeared to feel rejected when she said "this is over" his "Please" was half-hearted and its really what he wanted all along. BobinCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07349641483981235572noreply@blogger.com