King of 'Mad Men' ends a good year
Chicago Sun-Times, Oct 18, 2007 by Doug Elfman
Don kisses his wife on her forehead and his mistress on her mouth. The only time he doesn't light a cigarette is after sex with his other mistress.
Don puffs out a mirage of an icon others wish to see, an illusion of confidence and machismo. But he's a ghost in a shell, a fake (a k a an ad man).
Don is a glorious character in AMC's "Mad Men," a real-ish portrait of 1960: pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside. Admire the acting, design, sleek stage direction and cinematography, and the throwback of dialogue and interactions.
Don's boss Roger rode the back of a model in his office before he used the carpet as a casting couch, then clutched his smoky, boozy heart.
Roger once complained to Don: "We live in troubling times."
Don sat unconvinced, a cigarette and whiskey tumbler in hand.
"We do?" Don responded. "Who couldn't be happy with all of this?"
These men are not just misogynists. They are kings. Whites. Protestants. Entitled. Their housewives and secretaries are submissives. Powerless. Voiceless. The psychology of them all has been revealed patiently for 13 weeks.
As even his wife apparently doesn't know, Don was born Dick Whitman. After a terrible childhood, he fought in Korea, changed his name to Don Draper, then self-actualized himself as a honcho at Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency on Madison Avenue.
Don is Jon Hamm, 36, a previously little-known actor. Yet, Hamm's portrayal of Don Draper may be the greatest acting discovery on TV this decade.
Hamm appears to be interacting not with other actors but with other characters. He has been performing as Dick performing as Don, convincingly, flawlessly and engagingly, for an entire first season of a new show. Incredible.
Don and "Mad Men," which concludes its first season tonight, blow up the nostalgic notion the past is preferable to the present, not just with a dressed-up dressing down of 1960, but with Don's all- American rotten childhood and manly facade.
Like men everywhere, Don is an approved liar. Another boss, Mr. Cooper, found out Don used to be Dick, but he didn't care.
"The Japanese have a saying," Cooper said. "A man is whatever room he is in. And right now, Donald Draper is in this room."
Don Draper is not merely in the room. He owns it. Yet, he is but a lost little boy in a big boy's suit.
delfman@suntimes.com
'MAD MEN' Rating 4 out of 4
Don kisses his wife on her forehead and his mistress on her mouth. The only time he doesn't light a cigarette is after sex with his other mistress.
Don puffs out a mirage of an icon others wish to see, an illusion of confidence and machismo. But he's a ghost in a shell, a fake (a k a an ad man).
Don is a glorious character in AMC's "Mad Men," a real-ish portrait of 1960: pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside. Admire the acting, design, sleek stage direction and cinematography, and the throwback of dialogue and interactions.
Don's boss Roger rode the back of a model in his office before he used the carpet as a casting couch, then clutched his smoky, boozy heart.
Roger once complained to Don: "We live in troubling times."
Don sat unconvinced, a cigarette and whiskey tumbler in hand.
"We do?" Don responded. "Who couldn't be happy with all of this?"
These men are not just misogynists. They are kings. Whites. Protestants. Entitled. Their housewives and secretaries are submissives. Powerless. Voiceless. The psychology of them all has been revealed patiently for 13 weeks.
As even his wife apparently doesn't know, Don was born Dick Whitman. After a terrible childhood, he fought in Korea, changed his name to Don Draper, then self-actualized himself as a honcho at Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency on Madison Avenue.
Don is Jon Hamm, 36, a previously little-known actor. Yet, Hamm's portrayal of Don Draper may be the greatest acting discovery on TV this decade.
Hamm appears to be interacting not with other actors but with other characters. He has been performing as Dick performing as Don, convincingly, flawlessly and engagingly, for an entire first season of a new show. Incredible.
Don and "Mad Men," which concludes its first season tonight, blow up the nostalgic notion the past is preferable to the present, not just with a dressed-up dressing down of 1960, but with Don's all- American rotten childhood and manly facade.
Like men everywhere, Don is an approved liar. Another boss, Mr. Cooper, found out Don used to be Dick, but he didn't care.
"The Japanese have a saying," Cooper said. "A man is whatever room he is in. And right now, Donald Draper is in this room."
Don Draper is not merely in the room. He owns it. Yet, he is but a lost little boy in a big boy's suit.
delfman@suntimes.com
'MAD MEN' Rating 4 out of 4
Comments