Enjoyed reading your thoughts, silverminx, about Betty. Betty has "teared up" on occasion, and cried only once that I remember, after the dinner at Lutece with the Utzes and the Barretts.

I really feel for Betty, because for all of her "privileged life" (her parents' home, her marriage), the societal/gender rules for women didn't bring her the happiness that she was expecting or assumed was her right for following probably all of her mother's "training".

I don't feel sorry at all for Betty, because if she could see past herself, she would realize how priviledged her life is. There is an entire Civil Rights movement occuring with people who have very real problems. Just compare her life with theirs and voila - her problems get very small indeed. She could join the League Of Womens Voters for intellectual stimulation or join a board of some sort. Get involved with charity....just do something outside herself. That's her problem...too wrapped up in Betty...as are all the characters on the show...which is why we love the show.

Silver - appreciated and enjoyed your comments. It is a testament to MMs writing and acting excellence that it can elicit responses such as yours. Since you were there AS AN ADULT your recollections are most valued. Lots of us remember the times, but from the perspective of a child which naturally tints the memory. Thank you for your most poignant recollections of your experiences as they mirror those of Betty.

Betty had a near "nervous breakdown", (as it was called in the 60's) after her international themed party.

I believe that after Don denied sleeping around and she could find no proof, she was so numb that she stopped functioning. She stayed in her dress from the party, didn't wash or fix her hair, neglected the children, etc. When she approached Don on the couch, I thought she was at the end of her ropes. I also felt that Don displayed no sympathy or empathy for the pain she was feeling by his betrayal.

Did she cry? My original memory was that it appeared that she had been crying although I don't believe that we actually saw her crying.

This is the one point that I think MM has not portrayed Don/Dick very well. When Don was with Anna, he expressed how badly he screwed up his life with Betty. But he didn't appear to have one single feeling about Betty beyond not wanting to lose the life he had crafted that night when Betty came to him.

It seemed to me that the writers changed their minds about the direction they wanted Don to take so instead of a womanizing a--hole, he was really just confused, yet very much in love with Betty.

Betty is a product of the times and I don't think the Betty-hating posters understand what it was like to be raised to be a wife & mother and then feel she was less important to her husband than his work, friends, and womanizing life style.

Now if she didn't cry it was because she was coming to terms with the fact that she was stupid for letting Don get away with so much and what the heck was she going to do with no means of support. And why would Don do this to her?

Good points, Peggyann--I think the writers changed their tack with Don/Dick also. He bounced from being a slick, whoring ad man to a brief wanderer who bedded a little girl to a born-again, chair-mending, cherry-red hot rod coveting, tarot card reading, friend of Anna the Touchstone, then back to slick ad man who might-whore-again-but-won't-disrespect-Betty-while-he's-at-it. What WAS the whole point of the guys and their dune buggies scene anyway? Wasn't that where Don said I need a job and I used to sell these and looked like he might stay and be Moon Doggie and find his Gidget in Cali? I was confused as well as sick with the flu when I watched that bizarre episode.

jamm54, how are you? I agree with everything you said about Betty. peggyann also had some good points.

JackDaniels, I have to disagree with you when you say "if Betty could see past herself, she would realize how privileged her life is." At 57, I've seen a lot of what life can dish out to people. I believe Betty said to Glenn once that she was 28, so maybe now she's 29 or so. When you are still young like that you often don't see how "privileged" you really are. Sometimes it takes a family crisis, a health crisis before you realize that life is truly short.

Believe me, I faced a health crisis last year and I now realize every day how privileged I am. But before my crisis, life could definitely get me down. Getting through the trials and tribulations of life are what young people think about. It's not until you get older that you start to reallize that you are getting closer every day to the end of your life, so you better start appreciating every minute. Life is a privilege, but you won't really understand the full meaning of that until you are older (unless of course you are unfortunate enough to be struck down by a serious, life threatening illness at a young age). Something like that can make you wise before your time.

So give Betty a break. The MM writers have been very accurate in their portrayal of her so far. I grew up back then and, although I was 11 in 1962, I was old enough to see what my mom and aunts went through. Kids are smarter than you think and I saw a lot.

tangfl: You really said a mouthful. I wholeheartedly agree with you that so many see Betty as spoiled brat who does not appreciate her privileged life but you're right, at her young age how could she fully understand things? 28, 29, 30 is still quite young and you probably have not even been through half your life at that point (unless you check out at say 40, or something). Viewers are also missing (in my opinion) that this is 1962 NOT 2008! So often they try and compare society today with society of 46 years ago and it can't be done. So much was different back then in the way children were brought up and the way women were viewed by not only their husbands and fathers, but by OTHER women as well! And Betty would have been born in what, about 1932, so the way she was brought up was even more stilted and narrow than the way she might bring up her own children 25-30 years later. I think that health crises or not (of course that certainly opens one's eyes, I agree), when you hit 50, you realize one thing (hopefully you realize it), and that is that you have undoubtedly lived more than half your life, and that time moves by so quickly you had better make the most of it. And before you know it, you are more than mid-way through your fifties and you think, gee, this half of my life is speeding by way faster than the first half did. Of course, trying to explain this to a teen, 20, 30, or 40-something is really not worth it because THEY think they will be different. I know I did. I think everyone does. When you reach 50 you realize you are no different than anyone else. And when you see your parents die, well, that really brings it home!

Very interesting reading above! I'm waiting with bated breath (old gals talk like this) for my pre-ordered DVD of the whole second season then I can catch up with all of you. What a truly amazing series this has been, to have all of us doing so much analyzing of it and of our own lives in relation to it. Mr. Weiner, his writers, set and costume designers etc., have maintained such a high level of truth and intelligence that one quickly runs out of superlatives in praising their series. Though we 'girls' back then were raised within this constrictive box of behavior, that didn't mean we were in obedience to it. I speak of MM's wonder-woman; Peggy. Her wonderful smile at the very end signaled to me what was coming to us; freedom! Betty Friedan's book was not only a revelation to us; it was a revolution! I actually felt that a weight had been lifted from my shoulders physically and once you tasted that release you could never go back again. Unfortunately, the first step was anger at society in general but especially with our men who pushed back very hard. It became a very difficult emotionally taxing time with many missteps on both sides. But, WOMEN were finding their voice and demanding 'fairness' with in your face confrontations - how sweet it was! There was a phrase back then; "Domestic Deafness" meaning that men didn't LISTEN to us. If we expressed our displeasure about how we were being treated, men thought it was their job to solve our 'problem' for us, they didn't hear that we wanted to solve our own problems now and that society had to change to be more inclusive of us. I can only hope that season three has some of this juicy stuff in it. If so, I can see Peggy going with the flow in her quiet, determined way, but Betty....being pregnant now, well, things may be harder for her, being home bound and dependent.

Did you guys know that Elisabeth Moss is in a play on Broadway? There was a nice article on her in the Wall Street Journal by Joanne Kaufman, 10/28. It's a revival of David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow". Try as she might, but gently, Ms. Kaufman couldn't get "Peggy" to reveal any future plot lines. Elisabeth, "Peggy", said the show's cast was so proud and happy for her and she hope's they all come to see her at the Barrymore Theatre. Bravo Ms. Moss!!
To: Jamm54 and Oogachaka: many humble thanks.