Featured Shows
All AMC Shows
More Shows
Watch Online
Featured Movies
Movies on AMC
Movie Resources
Watch Online
Start a Conversation
Talk is a public forum where you can ask questions and share your commentary with fellow Mad Men fans.
Dick as Don
now that there's so much speculation about Don and Betty's marriage, it's got me wondering quite a bit about who Dick was and who the real Don was...
couple of things - first of all, I think Don does not love Betty, but she was part of the promise of the American Dream and his conflict right now is about WANTING to want/love her, not that he actually does. when he told Roger that he felt relief, I think it was more a sense of relief from the facade, the duplicity, the lies, and even more so, trying to want something that he probably doesn't want. Betty is not someone he admires, and, I think her dependency [even though that's a typical marriage model of those times] repels him. he clearly is attracted to women who are independent, purposed, and most likely pulled themselves up by their bootstraps like he did. he wants a soul mate [again, someone else speculated on another thread, and I agree completely! sorry I can remember who said this...], and I think, wants to have someone who he could come clean with. although, it's been so many years, and his lies have become so embedded in his reality, that I doubt it even occurs to him now that there's anyone he even could come clean with [except Peggy, but that's another story...].
when Dick Whitman was growing up on the farm, he didn't have any healthy role models, no possibilities, no access to resources to change his lot, and probably no contact with the outside world to even witness the American Dream. when he went in to the army [I assume he was army...], he was introduced to a cross section of ppl and how they lived, and it was when he had that momentary opportunity to assume someone else's identity that he started to want THAT. I'm sure that, as he was growing up, he thought about nothing but escaping, but I think his wants finally took on a face, as it were, in that moment.
so the corporate climb, the golden girl, the house and 2 kids, etc. for all appearances, he's 'made it' in every sense of the word. this was supposed to make him happy, but of course it hasn't. so, his conflict, is made worse by the fact that he lives with some amount of fear of being found out, and also by being so completely cut off from ppl because of his lies.
this brings me to some questions about the real Don Draper. we know nothing about him, except for the fact that in that one flashback, he was a 'type' that Don could emulate, handsome, confidant, knew who he was, etc. [I'm sure I'm reading into him a lot, it was only a two second flashback!] but, why would no one from his [the real Don] pre-war life come looking for him? how could the real Don just disappear? it makes me wonder if we'll see lots more flashbacks like the one of the blonde in the car dealership? has our Don been hunted down time and again? does he think there's someone to find him out around every corner?
obviously, there's much more to the story than what they've given us, and will probably only dish out what's necessary in small increments. sigh. but that's one of the things that make this show so unique, they don't spoon-feed us, and they let the characters take time to develop. unbelievable writing!
thoughts?
Dick has a lot of Jay Gatz...Gatsby in him. Betty was his Daisy Buchanan, his American dream girl. But now, the strain of his lies..."Foul dust floating in the wake of his dreams..." and living up to the image he's created of "Don Draper" is destroying him slowly and he increasingly wants escape from that strain. Rachel fingered him quickly (her father immediately had his number) and Betty has caught on to him now. It's sad because she and he do love each other or did but his need to lie and fear of her finding out the truth and hating him for it (becoming his stern, unyielding stepmom?) has come close to making him hate her and certainly wish to run from her.
Ok now that I've caught up with all the episodes, I'll comment. I believe Don does love Betty, but he is afraid of her finding out that he (and she through their marriage) is not who he has claimed to be all these years. Think about it, what kind of trouble could he get into, forget about Betty, but with the army if the truth ever came out? Stealing another man's identity? I don't know. I don't think Don has been happy with any of the women he has cheated on Betty with. Midge turned out to just not be his type, hanging out with beatniks, etc. Rachel was basically just a spoiled brat who never had to work for anything, she was just handed the business from her father. Don's the opposite; he's had a tough life and had to struggle for everything. Bobbie, well, she's just a sleazy slut and I think he realized that.
Don loves his kids, I think, and doesn't want them to have the childhood he had. But what if the truth comes out? What will happen to his kids and his relationship with them? Right now, Don really is just a liar and a cheat. But I believe it's just because he is afraid to get too close to Betty because he is afraid of getting really hurt again. I believed him when he finally told her he loved her in episode 8, I think Of course, Betty needs to do some changing also if she and Don are going to get back together. I think she is finally growing up since her mother died. She is realizing she has
to be the adult now. I think she really loves Don and would be open to understanding whatever secrets he wanted to tell her. But I hope they get back together because I think they make a great couple. She is gorgeous and does look like Grace Kelly. And because I believe in the institution of marriage (over 30 yrs for me) and that couples should try to work out their problems together and not just give up on it. There are too many other drama shows out there where everybody is breaking up. I'm hoping the writers at Mad Men see a way for Betty and Don to make it together in the end. They can break up any other couple on the show, but I hope they keep Don and Betty together.
I keep going back to the first episode of this season and the book he mailed to someone. We still don't know who he mailed it to - but more than that we need to remember that he signed it "D" which could be Dick or Dan.
I'm betting that the blonde at the used car dealership will figure into all of this.
I don't think Don loves Betty. I think he married her because she's gorgeous and she was a central piece to the life he wanted to create for himself. I don't think she's complex enough for him to confide in or have an intimate relationship with. She also used him to create the life she wanted so they're both sorta parasitic. Don't know that it fits either of their purposes to divorce though Don has gotten away with his deception for so long that he may have the confidence to leave if life at home becomes miserable enough. At this point, the children are the glue that holds the whole thing together. Just to be safe, she should give him back the salt. Pretty sure she doesn't want to end up like Helen.
As to identity, the real Don must have told Dick that he didn't have any family(did we see that in flashback?) or how would he have had the nerve to pull the switch? There's some reason he thought he could get away with it even if he had to act in haste. He is a risk taker but a calculating one.
Did Betty become pregnant before their marriage? If so, he had to marry her, right? I mean if he didn't do the right thing wouldn't that have revealed the whole Dick/Don lie? Help a sistah out on this one. He may be resentful of Betty because of their unplanned pregnancy.
China Wholesale Town - China's most viable wholesale supplier of promotional gifts, Wholesale Carabiner you can customize your own logo, no matter anywhere in the world! Lunch Box Suppliers
Top China Wholesaler-Buy Wholesale Promotional Gifts Promotional Products from China.