Don Draper - Why do I like him?
9 August 2010
For a couple years now, my parents have raved about the show Mad Men.
During my final weeks of being pregnant, when sitting in front of the TV was about all I could muster up the energy to do at night, Ben and I finally watched the first season.
The show Mad Men focuses on an advertising agency in 1960. Right away, I liked it. It looks and sounds different than everything else on TV. The dialogue isn’t what I’d call true-to-life. It’s smarter, wittier. Larger-than-life, I’d say.
As is Don Draper, the main character.
There’s some serious character flaws in Don. In fact, as I’ve thought about him these past weeks, it was easier to make a “Don cons list” rather than the “Don pros list.” So what is it that makes me root for a guy who’s married, yet has a string of girls on the side? A guy who can’t figure out that his wife doesn’t need therapy, she needs him home more? A guy who yells at his wife when she gets hit on by his boss?
I think this is why:
Don Draper is funny
Characters can get away with a lot when they amuse us or make us laugh. Especially if they have those snappy responses ready for that other guy we don’t particularly like.
Don Draper always saves the day
Don is head-something-or-other at the agency, and he’s one of those guys who just has a knack for what he does. In the first episode, he’s struggling to come up with a slogan for Lucky Strike Cigarettes, who are having to rethink their ad campaign now that it’s come out that cigarettes are bad for you. At the last minute, he comes up with something brilliant that the client loves. A character who has that ability, to stay afloat when others are going under, practically has a magnetic pull.
Don Draper is a self-made man
I think this is the biggie. As the first season unfolds, you find that Don Draper had a less-than-fabulous childhood. We never learned how he wound up becoming a successful ad man (maybe we learn that in coming seasons) but it’s clear that he has his job, reputation, and beautiful house because he set his mind to having them. That’s a trait guaranteed to endear an audience or reader almost 100% of the time. We appreciate people who know what it is to work hard, who fought for what they have, and who know how to hold onto it.
So while Don Draper isn’t the type of character about whom you think, “I wish he was real because I’d love to hang out with him,” he’s someone I can’t help cheering on.
This is one of those shows that I see previews for and think, “I would like that.” Hence why we don’t watch it—we so don’t need another show! But I want to—thanks a lot, Stephanie! ;-)
Posted by Roseanna White on 9 August 2010