Don Draper: Proper Don or Dud?

From the beginning any viewer can see the appeal of the main character of Mad Men, Don Draper (Jon Hamm).  He seems to be in ultimate control of his entire life and everyone around him with extreme success and a perfect family.  Basically, he's got it all.  Every woman wants him, every man wants to be him.  According to Urban Dictionary a don is the "top man" or in another definition, "A man who is very sexy and powerful.  This man can control the hearts of all women.  A proper don is a guy that everyone wants to be like".  On the surface Don Draper is the ultimate don. A man that everyone envies and strives to emulate.  He has women hanging all over him all the time, with multiple mistresses and the ultimate housewife, Betty, while the other men at work like Pete envy his ability and want his job.  They all compete for his attention and approval, wanting the same success.  But is Don Draper a true don? 

Image credit: http://adrianmasters.wordpress.com/the-made-up-men/

Image credit: http://fictionbyosterman.blogspot.com/2012/09/hey-don-draper-stop-lying-to-my-kid.html

As the show progresses we see that Don doesn't have it as together as it seems..  Marc Tienne's article asks the ultimate question in "Why Everyone Wants to be Don Draper… Except Don Draper".  The article addresses "Draper's outward perfection and inner ambivalence" and asks why everyone wants to be Don Draper if he doesn't?  In theory he is the ideal man.  Charming, confident, encompassing all the qualities women are looking for and men want to be.  Of course all of these men and women are disregarding his chain smoking, over drinking, cheating, lying, and overall unhappiness.   Tienne compares him to other leading men from The Sopranos and Rescue Me, all admired by viewers but all seriously unhappy.  They are all characters with prominent vices.  The seemingly perfect life lead by the seemingly flawless man turns out to be "not much of a life at all."

Links referenced:

http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/austin_300/345_why-everyone-wants-to-be-don-draper-except-don-draper.html

 

Adultery Then and Now

Adultery is among the many sinful themes depicted on Mad Men. The plot lines follow the love lives of the main married men of the series- Don Draper, Pete Campbell and Roger Sterling- and their philandering ways. Throughout the first season, Don is constantly escaping work and Betty to be with beatnik Midge Daniels, and eventually pursues Rachel Menken, which leads to a short affair. Pete has several liaisons with Peggy Olsen, the first of which leads to a child. Finally, Roger has an ongoing affair with Joan Holloway, as well as with the occasional identical twin.

Image credit: http://www.nerve.com/entertainment/ranked/ranked-don-drapers-relationships-on-mad-men-from-most-to-least-dysfunctional

Image credit: http://thebottomfallsout.tumblr.com/post/19017431503/don-draper-rachel-menken-i-always-thought-she

Image credit: http://www.screened.com/sterling-cooper/28-833/

The constant depiction of adultery on the show is another reminder of how different the 1960s were than times today. Mad Men depicts adultery as something that was silently accepted by everyone. In other words, it was understood that men like Don and Roger had mistresses, even if they were not openly discussed. Usually, everyone except the wives understood that their husbands were allowed mistresses. Cheating was morally considered wrong in the sixties, which is why secrecy was often associated with affairs, especially in Don’s case. And because cheating was wrong, it was normal for wives to get upset should they ever find out.

Though today adultery is still considered morally wrong, it has changed in several ways. It is no longer a silent-but-accepted norm, as present-day Don Drapers are not expected to have mistresses but are instead expected to be faithfully married. If these men do have affairs, they do not discuss them and attempt to keep them secretive instead. This is because today adultery is more frowned upon than it was in the 1960s. As the decades have progressed, it has become even more socially unacceptable to have an affair. Perhaps less frequent affairs can be attributed to how hard it has become to get away with one. Nowadays, it is much more difficult to cover up an affair than it was in the sixties. One main reason is the advance in technology. With the vast means of communication we now have, affairs can be discovered through cellular devices, laptops and other forms of technology, something that Don didn’t have to worry about in the 1960s. An example of how adultery has changed can be shown through comparing President Kennedy to President Obama. President Kennedy was able to cover up affairs as POTUS, some not even surfacing until after his death. If President Obama were to ever attempt adultery, it would have the potential to make national news in moments.

Image credit: http://stlouiscore.com/blog/2012/05/29/happy-birthday-mr-president/

It’s not a destination. It’s on the way to someplace.

“They have 28 flavors, surely you can find one you like?” A reasonable question from an exasperated Don Draper (Jon Hamm) as he deals with his young wife Megan (Jessica Pare) in “Far Away Places” of the fifth season of Matthew Weiner’s period drama Mad Men. 

Megan had grown tired of Don’s bossy nature and decides to draw the line at…orange sherbet. Don’s frustration rises as their quarrel escalates, and finally points out that if she didn’t like that flavor, there are plenty of other options. Howard Johnson made sure of that. 

Image credit:  http://www.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1066177!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_370/image.jpg

The scene of the newlyweds fight is a Howard Johnson’s hotel, an extremely popular chain in the 1960s and 70s. It is featured prominently throughout the episode, and is used as a catalyst for the events that take place throughout the episode. Howard Johnson’s was in fact, not originally a hotel. It instead goes back to 1925, and an orange-roofer soda fountain and ice cream shop. It was around this time that Mr. Johnson developed a secret formula for his ice cream, off of which the success of the rest of the chain was built. Johnson began to expand in the 1930s, beginning with a second store in Orleans, Massachusetts. This was one of the first franchising agreements in American history.  The restaurants became increasable popular, and by 1954 there were over 400 Howard Johnson’s restaurants in 32 states. It wasn’t until 1959 that the company created the concept of Howard Johnson Inns alongside highways, and they entered the hospitality business. This is the primary reason for Don and Megan’s visit, as the company was looking for a way to market their new hotels. The concept was successful throughout the next couple of decades, up until Johnson sold the company to Imperial Group PLC for over $630 million. The company is now part of Wyndham Worldwide, which still operates many of the hotels. Only two of the original restaurants still remain, one located in Lake Placid, New York and the other in Bangor, Maine. 

Image credit: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/Howard%20Johnson's%20Restaurant.jpg

Howard Johnson’s was also known for its signature trademarks. Like Don pointed out to Megan, there were 28 flavors of ice cream at every restaurant.  Johnson as once quoted saying that the “28 became my trademark” at each of his venues. Each Howard Johnson’s also had a district look. The roof and awning were typically a bright orange, as was most of the furniture inside of the building. On top of each building was a weathervane, which now can be bought for a few hundred dollars on eBay. The Howard Johnson logo was also found on the weathervane. It featured an outline of Simple Simon and the Pieman, sometimes lighting a light post.  These characteristics are featured prominently throughout the episode, and played a role in Don’s meltdown throughout the night as he searched for Megan. It’s too bad they ended up at a Howard Johnson’s, I doubt they could’ve had the same fight at a Holiday Inn. 

Links referenced:

http://www.hojoplaza.ro/en/howard-johnson-history

http://www.hojoland.com/

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6mLlCkT3HZwJ:www.roadsidefans.com/features/howard-johnsons+howard+johnson's+logo+simon&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

http://www.ealmanac.com/3364/colors/orange-roofs-of-howard-johnsons/

http://books.google.com/books?id=3zBIR9flC9wC&pg=PA275&dq=Howard+Johnson's+ice+cream+recepie&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Howard%20Johnson's%20ice%20cream%20recepie&f=false

http://www.biography.com/people/howard-johnson-248767

Anything But Casual Draping

Since the advent of Mad Men's first season premier in 2007, the rise of social trends, internet sensations, and 60's emulation/glorification in popular culture took the world by storm. Noticeably among the forefront was Draping. Draping is the term used to describe the position in which the person (or animal as we will later observe) is sitting with his back to the camera or other similar POV (Point of View), lounging back with his right arm casually draped over the extended back of the chair or a similar piece of furniture. Based on the title screen still from the introductory sequence in Mad Men featuring Don Draper (Jon Hamm) 

Image credit: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/266653

(which won an Emmy as an Outstanding Title Design in 2008) it was well received by critics and general public alike, who immediately began to post their own versions of this new phenomena called Draping. 

Image credit: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/266653

The rise of technology rapidly spreads new trends much faster than before. Although many tried their hand at being an internet sensation by trying to be the first to coin and popularize this new meme, attempting to set viral internet sensations is dubious at best. After the initial trickle of failed gambles, Draping slowly died down as the fans settled for watching rather than emulating their favorite anti-hero in the new seasons. Then suddenly, began the era of popular "gestures" used by stars across a broad spectrum of celebrity, from football to planking.

Image credit: http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2011/07/01/what-is-planking-celebrities-usher-chris-brown/

Tebowing (the process of kneeling on one knee with your elbow to your raised knee and first to your forehead as a prayer celebration after something noteworthy -such as a touchdown) bowled over the internet, and as different celebrities began to pick up quirky internet trends, they suddenly got a lot much interesting to the observers. 

Image credit: http://preachinghelp.org/wordpress/tebowing

With gestures becoming much more popular again, a Tumblr blog and twitter account was created for the sole purpose of spreading Draping , quickly followed by other social networking sites such as Pinterest and Flickr, as the 2012 season of Mad Men came to fruition, grew more and more popular.

But just because someone famous appreciates the comedic value of an action, that doesn't necessarily mean we all do. What is it about Draping that appealed to general audiences? The process of Draping, and casually adopting a pose of nonchalance that Don shows throughout Mad Men is a widely popular view in the younger generation - the adopted attitude of just not caring. This new era of distant emotions makes Draping a well received sensation - but as we Mad Men scholars know, Don's attitude and life is anything but casual.

Figaro, Figaro, Figaro!!

The negative opinions that some individuals possess towards the protagonist in the series, Mad Men, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), are preposterous.  Yes, most of us are aware of his philandering with various women besides his wife, Betty Draper (January Jones).  However, there have been “Dons” in society dating back to the Eighteenth Century, and this is not referring to The Sopranos or The Godfather Trilogy people!

In actuality, The Figaro Trilogy was written in the late 1770’s by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais.  This trilogy consisted of the comical plays including The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Guilty Mother.  The most well-known third of this saga is the second of the three parts.  Ironically, although Beaumarchais wrote The Marriage of Figaro to fulfill the request proposed by Louis François, Prince of Conti, the play was banned by the ruling authorities in France.  With the French Revolution right around the corner and tempers between societal classes erupting, Beaumarchais’s masterpiece served no place in the highly unstable culture of France.  Beaumarchais austerely highlighted the restrictions in which the different societal class ranks possessed.  It wasn’t for almost a decade until Mozart remastered Beaumarchais’s play into his own version of The Marriage of Figaro, the comical opera.

After viewing the third episode of the first season titled “The Marriage of Figaro” it seemed that there were definite connections with the opera composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  As practically any viewer of this season would know, Don Draper is married to Betty.  In this episode, Don is seen on the rooftop of Rachel Menken’s (Maggie Siff) department store with Rachel herself.  Throughout the scene, Don leans in and the two start kissing each other.  Later in the episode, Don is seen full of depression and lacking fulfillment in his life while he is of attendance at his own daughter’s (Kiernan Shipka) birthday party.

Since the basis of the plot has been established, the parallels of the episode with the opera can be discussed.  In this opera, the characters that should be acknowledged are the Count, his wife Rosine, Figaro, and his fiancée Suzanne.  After three years, the Count grows uninterested in his wife and their marriage.  Just like Don, the Count grows miserable with his seemingly ideal life.  The Count actually desires to pursue Figaro’s fiancée.  The connection to make here would be that in a sense Rachel Menken represents Suzanne.  All throughout the first season, practically all of the viewers notice and comprehend the idea that most of the men in the show are not obedient to their wives.  Personally, the opera, The Marriage of Figaro, was just the original version of the series, Mad Men, dating back to the Eighteenth Century.

On a side note, let it be known that the popular line “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro!” is not actually in the opera, The Marriage of Figaro.  However, it is in the prequel, The Barber of Seville, in which this phrase was coined. 

To think that I always thought Figaro was just the cute kitten created by the Walt Disney Company! 

Links referenced:

http://entertainmentguide.local.com/synopsis-the-marriage-figaro-beaumarchais-2261.html

http://www.reginaopera.org/figaro.htm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11886151

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro_(play)

Don Draper is a confident, strong and mysterious man. In the first episode of the first season, by the final credits, the audience is left confused as to the life he leads and who he truly is. As episodes pass, it is revealed that he isn’t truly the man he claims to be. Rather than being Don Draper, ex-lieutenant of the Korean War who earned a purple heart, he is Dick Whitman, a lowly young man raised in a rural, poor house that stole his lieutenant’s identity upon his death.



Image credit: Basket of Kisses

Although a great plot twist for the television series, it is extremely far fetched. Immediately I wondered how he could have possibly lead the rest of his entire life with never having been questioned. He is married, implying he would have to have a marriage license; he has a secure and reputable job, implying he would have to give proof of identity. At no point in time do these obvious conflicts pose Don Draper a problem. Most importantly, does he have a social security number? A social security number is assigned to every citizen, permanent and temporary resident of the United States. In today’s society, it is necessary to have your social security number in order to complete most forms whether it be for a job or even at a doctors. It would seem as though since the show is set in the sixties that maybe Social Security hadn’t been developed; however, in 1936 numbers began being issued, starting at the age of 14 (since it was only used for income taxes).



Image credit: http://www.immihelp.com/

I think this is a major flaw within the show. It is too unrealistic to accept that he is able to leave this life without every being caught.

Links referenced: http://www.ssa.gov/history

Mad Men and Environmentalism

Don Draper has done some things that are pretty shocking to a modern audience - the smoking, the drinking, the philandering, but littering? Unfortunately, Don’s actions were more or less the norm for the time period. America, along with most of the world, was a polluted mess in the early 1960s; there was widespread littering, polluting, burning of fossil fuels (Don’s Coup De Ville got about 8 MPGs city), and most importantly almost no regulation to prevent these things from happening. The air was thick with smog, and the highways were littered with trash.

However, in 1963, one lady decided to try and stop all this. Her name was Lady Bird Johnson, and her goal was to make America just a little bit prettier. Although she was not an environmentalist, per se, she did want to give the Don Drapers of the world a nicer place to have a picnic. Most of her efforts involved the cleaning up of highways. She helped to reduce the number of billboards and junkyards along interstates and planted wild flowers in the medians. She then joined an organization called Keep America Beautiful, who were the first to fight against littering (they also coined the term “litterbug”). Although they certainly would not have liked Don’s littering, they may have enlisted the help of Sterling Cooper. These guys loved advertising and had some of the most famous PSAs of all time. Like this one:



Image credit: http://www.keepvirginiabeautiful.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/litterbug.jpg

Or this really famous one: http://www.youtube.com/embed/m4ozVMxzNAA.

It is thanks to the efforts of the First Lady that the idea of littering is so foreign today. Honestly, there just was not a concept of environment back then. People were stuck in their little 1950s bubble of naivety and, like Don, did not take a lot of time to contemplate the consequences of their actions.

Links referenced: http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=kab_history


http://www.pbs.org/ladybird/shattereddreams/shattereddreams_report.html

Although you cannot read this tourism advertisement, the images are quite clear. In the first picture, under the title "the La Costa Idea...," there is a woman laying out in the sun with a palm tree in the background. The picture to its right is a man with a fish, most likely caught by him, that is twice the man's size. Underneath him is a woman in the middle of playing tennis. To the left of her is a man possibly surfing. On the next page there are two people riding horses; it seems as if one is a man and one is a woman. Underneath is a couple going sailing. Below that are a group of men golfing, and finally, there is a picture of a specific hotel or cabin that this advertisement is sponsoring. 
       
This advertisement is quite straightforward. Although it is not an advertisement for California in a general manner, it is still a representation of the way it is portrayed. For example, the first image that is viewed on this ad is the woman laying down in a bikini, in the sun, and with a palm tree behind her. It is interesting because it seems as if it is trying to make California seem like a getaway. There are many places to go on vacation, but California is one of the only places where people go to sit in the sun and, as some would say, "chill." Not only that, but they put the woman at the threshold of the image and the palm tree and any form of land in the background to show that, when in California, one's surroundings do no matter, nothing matters. It is a carefree place. In all the other pictures, there is a similar idea shown. For example, the fish that the man obviously caught would rarely ever be caught by any fisherman, but it is trying to send the overpowering and always sought out idea of freedom and endless possibilities. Although there are images of people alone and relaxed, there are very few images of couples together; this idea can be tied back to Don Draper because whenever he goes to California he is not with his wife. Although he is with Anna Draper a lot of the time in future episodes, it is generally a place of escape for him. For example, when he goes to California with Peter Campbell, he ends up leaving him and going to stay with an unknown and "sketchy" family for a while. This California venture is a symbol of the way that all characters in the film and actual people in the time generalized it as; many characters talk about California like it is a different country to vacate to, and that's what people made of it. 

Links referenced: "Vintage Travel and Tourism Ads of the 1960s (Page 26)." Vintage Ad Browser. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.

Don and Betty Are Mirror Images

From watching the first season of Mad Men, some people refer to Betty as the demon while others describe Don as pathetic. Many people argue and might consider one character to be better than the other. Though both of these may stand to be true, in my opinion, I see these characters to be similar to one another, and one character cannot survive without the other. We can see that there are many problems in their marriage, and I can only say that both are responsible for the demise of their marriage. They are both emotionless and are unavailable to their children. They seem to use their children as an excuse to maintain their marriage and relationship. I think Don wouldn’t be the man of who he is without Betty, and Betty wouldn’t be the character she is without Don.

Don without Betty is pathetic. Though in front of everyone at Sterling Cooper, Don seems to gain a lot of respect and is offered money and promotions from here and there. However, he is not different from any other man. He simply goes after other women and is called pathetic behind his back. When his relationship with Midge fails, he goes after Rachael Menken and builds another similar relationship. Don gets the respect he does in his office because of Betty’s physical appearance. Without her beauty, Don wouldn’t be able to save his reputation. Not only that, but he wouldn’t be able to escape from his past without Betty.

Betty without Don is simply a normal housewife. Without Don, Betty is no different from Francine. Although she was a model before, she is no longer the same young lady that can defeat the models of the younger generation. Don is the one who’s supporting the family, and without his support, Betty wouldn’t be living in such a stable condition as she is now. She also wouldn’t be viewed as the pretty and elegant character without her husband’s title of a creative director of Sterling Cooper.

What' On Your Playlist, Don Draper?

After a long and hard day at work, Don Draper needs to relax. He boards his train on the way home and finds an open seat. What is the best way to quickly relieve stress? Listening to music! Draper reaches into his pocket and pulls out his shiny brand new iPod, nestles his headphones in his ears, closes his eyes, and hits play. What is he listening to?

Although this scenario would never actually occur in Mad Men, we can now know what Don Draper and the other characters of the show would be listening to on their iPods if they were around today. The creators and producers of the show have teamed up with iTunes to provide a mini playlist for some of the major characters. Each playlist includes five songs that the characters would have been listening to. Let’s take a look at Don’s playlist, along with an excerpt from each song that connects to his character:

1. "Misery," Barrett Strong

My eyes swell up, it’s such a shame
I lost my girl and I’m the one to blame

If the finale of Season 1 were to last a couple minutes longer, I could just imagine Don getting up off the stairs and throwing some Barrett Strong in the record player. He is upset that Betty and the kids are gone, and he realizes that he deserves the blame for not being a good family man.

2. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," The Platters

They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind
Oh, when your heart's on fire
You must realize
Smoke gets in your eyes

The title of the very first episode of Mad Men shares its name with this song. While the song’s overt meaning is about love, perhaps the creators of the show chose it based on a secondary interpretation. When watching a new show for the first time, it is natural to “fall in love” with the protagonist. At first, Don appears to be a model businessman. This song could serve as a reminder that your first impression of someone could be distorted.

3. "Late Freight," Dave Hamilton

This song doesn’t have any lyrics, but the tone of the bells matches Don’s personality perfectly. Just listening to it makes you think of a mysterious man, well-dressed in a suit and matching hat.

4. "The Big Wheel," Howard Crockett

You were born a poor man then you got to be a rich man then you wound up a poor
man again
Now they’re rollin’ you back across that track big wheel
The lights are gonna shine across that track tonight

This song seems to tie into the scene where Don sits by the railroad track watching the trains go by. The first line outlines his life; he becomes a rich man only to realize he doesn’t really have much in terms of happiness. The track could be a metaphor for the divide between rich and poor. The lights are always shining across the track – in other words, people assume being prosperous and having a family is all you can ask for, but when you get there you realize “this is it.”

5. "More," Kai Winding & Claus Ogerman

Here is another song with no lyrics, but it still says something about Don. The tune is a sad one, and we can gather some meaning from the title. The previous song communicated Don’s discontent with his current place in life. He is searching for something more. We don’t really know what it is that he wants, and I don’t think he knows either. All he knows is that there has to be something more to life than this.

Analyzing the songs chosen for Don’s playlist shows that the creators put some thought into their selections. They did a good job coming up with songs that portray his character through music.

To view the Mad Men playlists on iTunes, click here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewRoom?fcId=337755403&id=14344

Don Draper Lives

Image credit: http://www.someecards.com/confession-cards/im-like-don-draper-on-mad-men

It is almost impossible to avoid our most endeared and abhorred cultural icons on the internet. Facebook, Twitters, blogs, articles, and fan generated websites create alternate realities where characters live and act in the everyday. Idolization and adoration are no longer limited to the 40 minutes in which a television show is aired; now it exists via mere google search. Don Draper epitomizes this expansion of character, with his life, style, sayings, charisma, sex appeal and emotional distress reaching not only a cult like adoration but also are qualities to be emulated by any man looking to attain his suave. Through a constant stream of social media, parody YouTube Videos, and newspaper articles, Don Draper is just as alive as any real influential celebrity for his persona is even more accessible and relatable.

Wait, What?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Askmen.com honored Don Draper as the most influential man of 2009 noting that even though he is a fictional character, his “male identity…is enduringly captivating.” They assert that while he is valued for being “values driven and thoroughly masculine” but his “human flaws” allow his character to seem relatable and relevant in the modern world. On the internet Don exercises his ability to reflect old school and the modern world. He exists through his fictional 1960s world through 2010 tweets directed at Connie Hilton and other characters. His old school style influences how the modern man hair styles his hair and how the modern worker bee presents themselves through Draper inspired career tips such as “Play your position” and “Keep your mouth shut.” Don has also managed to pitch ‘pick up’ tactics, so that all men may revel in while attempting to attain his unattainable charm on Saturday Night Live. He is not limited to joyful parody; in fact, there is a tumblr solely devoted to “Sad Don Draper” with photographs even Don couldn’t create a sufficient tagline for. Take this gem…



Image credit: http://saddondraper.tumblr.com/

Don is truly a Renaissance man, with his hand in every media, projecting his image like the advertising agent he is, or at least is on the show. All this Don Draper mania, attention and idolization makes me wonder what the actual character, the real Don Draper would make of it, seeing as he did not even enjoy talking to the newspaper reporter at the start of season 4 in “Public Relations." Then again, the “What Would Don Draper Do?” (WWDDD?) tumblr provides some insight:

91. Dear Don Draper, Do you have any views on men using Facebook?

Yes, the same ones I have of men wearing brassieres.

Betty Draper: Why Doesn't She Leave Don Sooner?

This question has been circling around discussion for quite some time now. All of the lonely nights when Don should’ve come home and eaten dinner with his family, he instead was having multiple affairs. He was never working late at the office, like he so often told his wife. The funny thing is, Betty knew what Don was truly doing the whole time. As viewers, we would see the looks that Betty gave Don when he would come in late hours of the night, but Don didn’t see them.  Betty is keeping all of her frustration towards Don’s unfaithfulness bottled up inside and it is driving her mad.

Why does she do this? She does it for two reasons. One reason is because of her children. She and Don have two children together who are too young to grasp the concept of why their parents don’t live together anymore. She needs to stay with Don for their children’s sake, and she doesn’t want to mess up their “perfect little lives” which is living the American dream - husband, wife, children, dog and a beautiful house. She also stays with Don because she doesn’t want to be judged by her friends.

Betty is looked at as the ideal wife in her circle of friends. She cooks, cleans, and takes care of the kids while her husband is off working and making all of the money. To them, Betty has no real issues because Betty never discusses her real problems with them. Her friends come to her with their problems because they know that she has all of the answers and can help, but Betty doesn’t practice what she preaches. She goes to see her psychiatrist, and at the end of season 1, she finally tells her shrink that she knows Don is cheating. For her, she must keep this image of the “perfect woman” but deep down she has many insecurities and issues. Don never puts his family first, but she continuously supports Don and “fakes the funk," meaning, she plays dumb but really knows the truth. How long will she keep this up? What will cause her to actually leave Don and move on? Something’s got to give and her leaving before Don got home in the last episode of Season 1 may be an indication of her making a step in the right direction.

The traditional idea of success and happiness was rooted in to the conservative ideal of the American family structure of the “Breadwinning father, stay-at-home mother and children.” By the 1960s, this was beginning to change. An article written by Anne McLeer about two pop culture 1960s movies The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins discusses how these films attempt to restore these conservative ideals. Both films reinforce the conservative American family structure through the nanny figure. The nanny represents one side of the contemporary facet of women hood, while the counterpart relies on traditional ideals by searching for a husband. The nannies in these films bring balance into their households and remind women that their most satisfying role is in their homes.



Image Credit: http://www.broadwaymusicalnut.com/marypoppinsbroadway.php

In AMC’s Mad Men, Peggy is analogous to this nanny figure because it is her duty as Don Draper’s secretary to maintain order in his life. In the second episode of the first season, Peggy is forced to entertain Don’s wife Betty and their children while reassuring them that Don will return shortly for the family portrait. It’s Peggy’s job to instill balance in the Draper household while her independent role reminds Betty the importance of being married to a man with status like Don. Ultimately, Peggy serves as a “mentor” to Betty and reminds her of the “purity and simplicity of womanhood.”



Image credit: http://www.iadorestyle.com/2009/10/recreate-don-betty-draper%E2%80%99s-50s-mad-men-kitchen/

Both films also bring to light the role of the father in the household. The paternal characters are seen as the disciplinarians before the nannies arrive. In Mary Poppins, George Banks believes he has everything under control in his personal and professional life, despite his rocky relationship with his wife. His patriarchal role is atrophied by his spouse’s feminism and his children’s rejection of disciplinary values. Similar to George’s situation, Don falsely believes he has everything under control in his household. Betty struggles with her anxiety attacks and can hardly care for her two children. Betty capriciously acts out in an attempt to lure her husband back into her life. She tells her therapist that she knows her husband is cheating on her in order to get Don’s attention. Betty acts like a child in order to get any type of attention from her husband.



Image credit: http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/mary_poppins_dvd_review.htm



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By 1960, it was a widely circulated belief that a man’s position in his household as the main provider was being eroded by women’s employment. Fathers in pop culture also tried to reestablish their role in their houses that the male is the provider and tried to ensure their children emotional security. An example of this is when Don wakes his young son Bobby up at the middle of the night and tells Bobby that he can always know that he is being truthful to him.

Even though conservative perspective dominated the films' messages, both movies portray Mary Poppins and Maria from The Sound of Music as liberated because both are opinionated, independent and are willing to defend their values, even if it means defying their male employer. Peggy is similar to these women because while she does not defy Don, she decries the social order of the era by working and living autonomously in the city. Peggy works for herself and soon attains a prestigious job as the first female copy right for Sterling Cooper.



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The purpose of these films was to address the rapidly changing gender roles of the 1960s and the changes the male centric attempts to make in an effort to reassert his traditional role in the family.

Sources referenced: McLeer, Anne. "Practical Perfection? The Nanny Negotiates Gender, Class, and Family Contradictions in 1960s Popular Culture." NWSA Journal 14.3 (2002): 80-101.