Mad Men: are we still mad for Don?

A cocktail of nostalgia and the bitter sweetness of 1960s America, Mad Men distinguishes itself beyond a period masterpiece.

by Katrina Salvador

Matthew Weiner’s eight season drama manages to inject a whirlwind of emotions towards the complicated lives of the employees of an elite New York advertising firm as they adapt to the evolving societal expectations of 1960s America. Through subtext, a lingering physical gesture, a compelling image, a song, or a sentence of dialogue become the catalysts towards a climax. Weiner explains that “telling someone what happens in Mad Men… is like a sentence”, but how something happened is what drives viewers deeper into the show’s overarching themes of identity and the illusion of the American Dream.

Mad Men’s grand finale, in particular, presents Don Draper as the three dimensional character that viewers have come to know so well these last eight years, as he finally discovers this self-identification through a world outside his capitalist bubble. Instead of facing his personal dilemmas, Don seeks refuge at a meditation camp and connects with the emptiness of an insecure, vulnerable man named Leonard; an “anti-Don”. Although the finale concludes with Don discovering inner peace and the possible inspiration for his next major Coca-Cola advertisement, the viewer questions whether they warm to Don in the end. The previous sequence features Sally washing dishes while Betty smokes a cigarette at the acceptance of her inevitable death. Despite Don and Betty’s turbulent relationship, they manage to find melancholic closure, however, how do viewers still manage to “like” Don?

Sure, he has had a chaotic childhood that burdened his life, but he managed to come to terms with it in the end. However, the viewer cannot ignore his womanising and selfish actions, where the women and children in his life had to suffer the consequences. So how did Mad Men survive eight seasons despite its main character possessing such unlikeable characteristics? Weiner creates three dimensional characters and relationships that viewers can empathise in such complex situations that are still prominent in today’s society. Although nostalgic, Mad Men presents a notion of familiarity and voice to its dedicated viewership.