Mad About the Man

AMC's "Mad Men" is populated with a cast of flawed characters.  Roger, Pete, Peggy, even "always in control" Joan.  Their leader, and the most flawed of all, is Don Draper.  And ironically, with all his flaws, Don is the one that capture's viewers imagination the most.  So how did one of the most flawed characters on TV become one of most popular?

Consider the idea that we like Don BECAUSE he is flawed.  From the outside he looks perfect (ladies, back me up here) and perfectly in control of his world.  But inside, it's a different story.  And how many of us feel like that every day?  That the image we present in public is a front to hide the flaws underneath.  It can be comforting at times to see behind the mask and realize that the rest of the world is equally flawed too.  And in that moment, we don't feel so alone in our flaws or in the world.  We connect with our humanity and the humanity of those around us.  And in accepting others in their flaws, we learn to accept ourselves too.

Ironically, Don doesn't seem to accept himself.  In more than one episode we've had the opportunity to see his longing to figure himself out and find some sort of peace in the world.  Maybe we hope to find a peace in our own lives if we follow Don on his journey or just find solace in walking with Don on his.

Then there's the whole Don Draper/Dick Whitman issue.  For the uninitiated, Don isn't really Don Draper.  His real name is Dick Whitman.  He became Don Draper when the real Don Draper passed away while the two served in the Korean War together.  Desperate to escape his poor and undesirable past, Dick re-invented himself as Don Draper.  And as Don Draper he manages to pull himself up from very humble beginnings and achieve great professional success and some personal success as a provider for his family.  And in America, rising up from humble beginnings is a story that always sells.  It gives the rest of us hope in achieving what we want or desire in life too.  This aspect of Don always reminds me of a Fitzgerald character gone bad.  Guy of poor or modest means makes his way in the world and rises above the means or manner into which he was born.  Just in a Fitzgerald novel his heroes usually rise by education or hard work, not by escaping their pasts and assuming another identity.

To wrap up, I think it's Don's flaws, his search for personal peace and acceptance and how far he's come in the world that make him so popular.  In liking Don we learn to like or accept ourselves, faults and all, we hope to learn from his own journey for inner peace and we learn that we can achieve so much more than what we come into the world with or as.