The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Mad Men

Re: Mad Men

Persia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:59:30 -0000

Oh yeah, Don had it worse. But people have their own resources for dealing with things, and some people just come out better on that scale than others. Don's brother, who arguably had an easier childhood, committed suicide, after all.

Re: Mad Men

Persia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:58:10 -0000

I think so, yeah.

Re: Mad Men

XeemXeem — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:39:34 -0000

I forgot to ask: Is Duck old enough to be Peggy's father?

Re: Mad Men

brucds — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:33:25 -0000

Here's a great take on Sunday's show...

http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/footnotes-of-mad-men-how-you-get-your-news

Re: Mad Men

Chelsea — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:28:26 -0000

It was 1963 when my mother told us she was divorcing our cheating, abusive, alcoholic father. I was 5, my sisters 8 and 9. I didn't know what a divorce was; and my sisters' first reaction was how embarrassed they would be. It would make us freaks.

My mother went back to him. The seventies set her free.

Re: Mad Men

ArthurII — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:17:53 -0000

Is Don more upset about losing Betty, or the carefully maintained facade.

Re: Mad Men

ArthurII — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:14:18 -0000

Yup, standard line.

Re: Mad Men

ArthurII — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:12:34 -0000

Betty will always annoy, it is a part of her breeding, she is still playing sorority girl as a grown up. She was not allowed many other choices in her circle. Also remember the number of suburban housewives in the 1960 on prescription drugs and alcohol, hence the vacuous look on her face. This was long before the other Betty (Ford) was so ‘courageous’ to talk about the drug and alcohol abuse epidemic in white suburban women.

Camelot was a post assassination construction even JKO said she tried too hard to manufacture. The JFK assassination did make many people reassess their lives.

Re: Mad Men

Brixtonville — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:49:28 -0000

Because that's how people actually speak; not like scripts, but like people.

Re: Mad Men

Southerner — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:09:31 -0000

I think you're right about Betty and I hadn't thought of that. In some ways, both Don and Betty are damaged goods. But I think Don has been much more traumatized than Betty. She may have had lousy parents but at least she knew who her parents were and wasn't handed around to whoever would take her. She may well have been emotionally abused, but she apparently always had the best of everything else, and plenty of it.

Don's childhood was pretty much awful in all aspects. The military draft was still in effect during the Korean War, so Don may not have had any choice about going into the Army. And what he saw in Korea was pretty awful as well, there may be some PTSD in his emotional makeup that we haven't really seen yet.

Re: Mad Men

mdargo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:53:08 -0000

Some great "Mad Men" stuff over at Vanity Fair .... blogs .... articles .... that people who like this thread might also enjoy reading ....

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/11/mad-men-reaches-its-appointment-in-samarra.html

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/11/mad-men-mini-recap-things-fall-apart.html

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/bios/bruce_handy_/search?contributorName=Bruce Handy

Re: Mad Men

Kate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:28:20 -0000

My thoughts exactly.

Re: Mad Men

Kate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:26:57 -0000

I thought the same thing. The constant drone of the television and the anxiety of it all. Brought me back to 9/11.

Re: Mad Men

Kate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:21:55 -0000

EXACTLY.

Re: Mad Men

Persia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:54:28 -0000

Remember Betty's childhood wasn't great either; her mother sounds emotionally abusive, and considering how awful her brother turned out, her father was her only stability.

Re: Mad Men

Persia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:52:18 -0000

Or in a building that's falling apart underneath him.

I'm not looking forward to next week's episode. I'm afraid there are going to be a lot of tears.

Re: Mad Men

Persia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:50:57 -0000

Of course, Mona's a grown-up and Jane and Margaret are clearly not.

Dead on with Betty.

Re: Mad Men

Lynzie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:49:03 -0000

If it was, it must have been outside the NYC area. I grew up and still live in the kind of suburbs shown on Mad Men, and I never heard that. Quickies, they were called quickies, and I think "love in the afternoon" was popular due to the 1950s movie with Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper.

Re: Mad Men

kgsoto — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:27:03 -0000

I was struck by how fractured relationships seemed to be after the assassination, as if everyone was standing on ice that began to crack. Duck rushing to call his kids, Betty grabbing on to the older (and more politically-connected) authority figure, and even Trudy siding with intemperate Pete against the SC crowd. Everyone seemed to realign, finding their essential tribe...Don and Peggy, always defining themselves by their work, going to the only place where they find validation.

Re: Mad Men

Geenius_at_Wrok — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:50:37 -0000

I think this last is a really strong point. And I think we're going to see (if not next week, then in season 4) that this is the "all is lost" moment for Don. Because not only has he revealed his past to Betty, he's also signed a three-year contract with Sterling Cooper almost solely for her (yeah, it was Hilton demanding the guarantee, but I think Don might have held out if Betty hadn't gotten in his face about it). Now he's probably lost Hilton, he's losing Betty, and he's trapped in that contract! Without the contract, he might have bailed out and gone solo, maybe taking some choice talent with him (Peggy, Sal, Harry Crane). Instead he's going to be stuck while the rising stars get to move on. I think that's the reason why super-cool Don has been acting first atypically irritable, then overtly panicky around the office.

Don can't escape anymore, and he's about to lose his biggest reason not to want to. It's going to feel to him like being trapped under a collapsing building.

Re: Mad Men

Bruins2Lakers — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:17:09 -0000

1963 was not an era featuring divorced, single moms, particularly in white suburban or middle class neighborhoods. It was a time of 1% taxation, Mom staying home and Dad going off to work. Mom didn't just take the kids and announce she wanted a divorce and was getting half--Dad being the breadwinner could get the better lawyer, and unless there were the tawdry photographs and evidence of an affair, she wasn't assured of anything except custody of the kids, a modicom of alimony, and child support. However, if it is proven she has an affair going on, then she may be proven unfit and he gets everything. Out of 32 kids in my elementary class that year, only 1 was from divorced parents. I remember one televised celeb divorce: Herb Kohl, now a US Senator and owner of the Bucks. His ex-wife to-be slammed him upside the head with her purse. That was great theatre! Then there were the Hollywood divorces...So much more fun than 50-50!

Betty doesn't love anyone but Betty. That is how she was brought up to be. She is better than anyone else, after all...I have a feeling her chickens are gonna come home to roost, too...

Re: Mad Men

eric k — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:05:13 -0000

As someone pointed out above the promise of marriage is really a must for her securitywise. They had a pretty good reminder of how little rights a woman actually had back then when she visited her lawyer a couple episodes ago. Unless she can provide absolute proof that Don committed adultery she is totally at his mercy if she asks for a divorce she wouldn't even get custody of the kids.

Re: Mad Men

Pat — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:02:46 -0000

He's playing her! He's still trying to get her into bed. Don't believe him, girl!!

Re: Mad Men

atlantapril — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:49:58 -0000

The above comment was meant as a reply to Raph.

Re: Mad Men

atlantapril — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:49:00 -0000

This was definitely not weird circa 1963. In certain circles, it's not weird even in 2009.