If nothing else, Mad Men made it possible for me to tell people my occupation and not get blank stares in return. A few years ago, if someone asked me what I did for a living, “copywriter” didn’t garner much of a reaction. In a crowded bar, it was usually followed by an awkward pause, a couple of nods and a swift change of subject. Now, 9 out of 10 times, I say, “copywriter,” and I get, “Oh! Like Mad Men!”
Yep. Just call me Don Draper.
Or not. I have a confession. For all that Mad Men has done for me (making copywriter a profession people recognize, putting Jon Hamm in a suit), I don’t watch it. I’ve seen it a few times, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every episode I’ve seen. But when Sunday night rolls around, I am inevitably not tuned into AMC.
Forget the fact that Mad Men is a critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning drama. Never mind that I’ve always found something tragically beautiful about the disillusionment in post-war America. Not to mention that most of the plot revolves around advertising’s hey day and the creative revolution and everything I’m stupidly passionate about. It’s almost as though the entire show was tailored around my interests and created to end my weekend on a high note.
And yet, I’m not watching. I’m not DVRing. And despite the fact that my roommate swiped her father’s Christmas gift (sorry, Mr. Mallon) and Seasons One and Two are sitting in our living room, I can’t bring myself to crack open the DVD case.
Because doing so will undoubtedly confirm one of my worst fears. Once I start watching, there’s no turning back. And I’ll have to come to terms with a very real problem. Despite being a writer by trade, I’m a lot less like Don Draper than I would like to admit.
I’m not talking about his countless infidelities or his weird flashbacks to his childhood or whatever. I can do without those. I’m talking about his ability to command a room and dazzle the client. That episode where he waxed poetic about the Kodak Carousel?
(Watch it. Watch it right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus)Ho. Lee. Crap. Knowing full well that this is a fictional situation fabricated by writers in Hollywood, I got chills.
So while Don Draper’s got that whole well spoken, debonair, looks-good-in-a-suit thing down, I don’t. Well, okay, the business suit my mother insisted I purchase junior year of college made me look really masculine the three times I wore it, but that’s not the point.
Truth is, I’m pretty sure I’m way more Peggy Olson than I am Don Draper. And again, I don’t mean to say that I’m like Peggy in all her after-hours exploits. (Pete Campbell? The weasel in accounts? Girl, please.) But I can’t deny that we’ve got some things in common.
That awkwardness? Got it. The overwhelming need to gain the approval of others? Check. Walking around the office, constantly reminding everyone I’m a copywriter now? Oh, you have no idea. Plus, thanks to an over-zealous hair stylist, I spent the last 2 months of 2009 growing out bangs like Peggy’s.
(That look is not good on anyone.)So that’s that. My fear of identifying with a fictional character is keeping me from watching the greatest drama on tv. That’s totally normal, right?
First, I've got to say I'm a little disappointed. Project Runway, but not this? Really?
ReplyDeleteSecond, no one can pull off Don Draper. Watching Mad Men and hoping to make the client to tear up in a business meeting would be like watching Star Wars and hoping to lift your car out of the snow with your mind.
Third, if you watched it more than casually, you'd know that Peggy's more than just a big ball of insecurity. She's making it in a man's world, she's a much better writer than Paul Kinsey (and she knows it), and at the end of last season, she became one of the few characters to make Don apologize and maybe actually mean it. There's no shame in identifying with her.
Touche, Dan. Touche. Don is obviously the untouchable one we all aspire to be. I see that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've made it through the first season to the point where Peggy is promoted. She may be a little whiny, but she's got her ballsy moments. And hey, I'm like that too. I guess I just need to buckle down and watch the rest of the DVDs.
So you're right. But I'm totally not apologizing for watching Project Runway.
Don edited copy, but he was never a copywriter per se. He was a creative director, among various titles throughout the series, while Peggy was almost always a copy writer.
ReplyDeleteDoes this trivial knowledge make me better than you? Not likely.
Just wait until the show comes out about the "Web developer," that'll show all of you. But it won't because nobody would do that.