I think this was about not just about coming to terms with the idea of death but more importantly and specifically: Don Draper coming to terms with the actual Don Draper.
One of the key lines for me was Roger to Don, "we sold death by ignoring it".
That's basically how Don has handled his own self. He was always able to hide and handle how he is entirely existing wrapped up by death, with death wrapped around his life, an oxymornic concept. He exists because death. He exists through Don Draper dying, he exists through Dick Whittman dying off, he exists because his own mother dying having him.
We've always had a long-running Don Draper theme of escapism. Here is escape in the idea of Hawaii, and escape in the idea of death being an escape. You have the death and bright light/Hawaii bright sunlight analogies of escape but also something that was poignant was the concept of aloha; hello and goodbye. Death is a hello and a goodbye. The first Don Draper ended and then Don Draper as we know him began in a common moment of hello and goodbye in Korea. And Don/Dick's own moment of birth and his mother's death was hello and goodbye.
You can even stretch that theme to how he handles his own life and relations; hello and goodbye.
In the pitch he used escape analogies about a jumping off point. Then later in the end here he says he wants to stop this. Is this his jumping off point? But into what? Stopping what he does and who he is? Who knows right now.
I think that's why the lighter hit him because it's similar to the dogtags from where his "life" began. Like dogtags it's an engraved item claiming personal identity. That whole idea shook him.
He may be being pushed to his own jumping off point. We had last season closing with his having a cause in Layne's death, before that his brother's death and of course the death of the "the first Don Draper", (or if you wanna play with the idea, you could phrase it Don Draper's "first death", as the name Don Draper will die more than once). Is this jumping off point what we're building to?
He's always been running from his own self, so is everything around him going to start finally allowing him to catch up with his own self? And if so, what will result from that?
He was on vacation in Hawaii, a place analagous with escape. He has escaped to California to see Anna before. He often escapes from Betty, marriage, the office. And here is being brought to our attention the idea of the ultimate escape can be said to be death. Don has often escaped for better or worse result many things up until now. But now it seems it's building to the idea of his own self moreso than the bits we've seen come out in confession about facing his own self, whatever that even is. What is, who is, his own self? Remember season one Betty looked at him sleeping and says "who is in there".
Thank about it. What does Don Draper escaping his own self even mean?? Killing himself off? Or coming clean and repenting, changing his behavior? Another hello and goodbye for Don?
Roger screaming this is my funeral and goes to his room and slams the door.
We had an emphasis of doctor and soldier, two faces of death of sorts.
He spoke of Hawaii/paradise, and then right next we saw Betty in what could be called Hell.
The initial voice-over from reading Dante, I assume it was The Inferno, the 7 levels of Hell. He mentions it to the woman at the end, the initial voice-over referencing the idea of going astray; that could be good or bad, but in the end says he wants to stop this. Stray from his own history of behavior?
An interesting line was where Betty was told in the slums "what you can't grok is we are your garbage". There was just a few days ago on one of the cable channels, history or one of those, a documentary on Robert Heinlen who wrote Stranger in Strange land which became a counter culture centerpiece, grok is a made up concept from that book the hippies and beatnick types loved.
Bert Cooper finally has an office, when Ken scolds the smarmy guy.
Another homage to the idea of the Greek chorus with the 3 Kenny, Pete and Harry together commentating at the funeral.
The photographer took a picture of Don in his office as Don was lighting a cigarette, you could hear the shutter. Remember his holier than thou letter that was published about smoking? Uh oh. Will this picture rear it's head later in the season?
Love your thoughts. As soon as I was done watching my DVR'd Mad Men I came running to your blog... i just finished the episode and I want to watch it again and see what I missed. Andrea
4 comments:
I think this was about not just about coming to terms with the idea of death but more importantly and specifically: Don Draper coming to terms with the actual Don Draper.
One of the key lines for me was Roger to Don, "we sold death by ignoring it".
That's basically how Don has handled his own self. He was always able to hide and handle how he is entirely existing wrapped up by death, with death wrapped around his life, an oxymornic concept. He exists because death. He exists through Don Draper dying, he exists through Dick Whittman dying off, he exists because his own mother dying having him.
We've always had a long-running Don Draper theme of escapism. Here is escape in the idea of Hawaii, and escape in the idea of death being an escape. You have the death and bright light/Hawaii bright sunlight analogies of escape but also something that was poignant was the concept of aloha; hello and goodbye. Death is a hello and a goodbye. The first Don Draper ended and then Don Draper as we know him began in a common moment of hello and goodbye in Korea. And Don/Dick's own moment of birth and his mother's death was hello and goodbye.
You can even stretch that theme to how he handles his own life and relations; hello and goodbye.
In the pitch he used escape analogies about a jumping off point. Then later in the end here he says he wants to stop this. Is this his jumping off point? But into what? Stopping what he does and who he is? Who knows right now.
I think that's why the lighter hit him because it's similar to the dogtags from where his "life" began. Like dogtags it's an engraved item claiming personal identity. That whole idea shook him.
He may be being pushed to his own jumping off point. We had last season closing with his having a cause in Layne's death, before that his brother's death and of course the death of the "the first Don Draper", (or if you wanna play with the idea, you could phrase it Don Draper's "first death", as the name Don Draper will die more than once). Is this jumping off point what we're building to?
He's always been running from his own self, so is everything around him going to start finally allowing him to catch up with his own self? And if so, what will result from that?
He was on vacation in Hawaii, a place analagous with escape. He has escaped to California to see Anna before. He often escapes from Betty, marriage, the office. And here is being brought to our attention the idea of the ultimate escape can be said to be death.
Don has often escaped for better or worse result many things up until now. But now it seems it's building to the idea of his own self moreso than the bits we've seen come out in confession about facing his own self, whatever that even is. What is, who is, his own self? Remember season one Betty looked at him sleeping and says "who is in there".
Thank about it. What does Don Draper escaping his own self even mean?? Killing himself off? Or coming clean and repenting, changing his behavior? Another hello and goodbye for Don?
Other points of interest:
Roger screaming this is my funeral and goes to his room and slams the door.
We had an emphasis of doctor and soldier, two faces of death of sorts.
He spoke of Hawaii/paradise, and then right next we saw Betty in what could be called Hell.
The initial voice-over from reading Dante, I assume it was The Inferno, the 7 levels of Hell. He mentions it to the woman at the end, the initial voice-over referencing the idea of going astray; that could be good or bad, but in the end says he wants to stop this. Stray from his own history of behavior?
An interesting line was where Betty was told in the slums "what you can't grok is we are your garbage". There was just a few days ago on one of the cable channels, history or one of those, a documentary on Robert Heinlen who wrote Stranger in Strange land which became a counter culture centerpiece, grok is a made up concept from that book the hippies and beatnick types loved.
Bert Cooper finally has an office, when Ken scolds the smarmy guy.
Another homage to the idea of the Greek chorus with the 3 Kenny, Pete and Harry together commentating at the funeral.
The photographer took a picture of Don in his office as Don was lighting a cigarette, you could hear the shutter. Remember his holier than thou letter that was published about smoking? Uh oh. Will this picture rear it's head later in the season?
Love your thoughts. As soon as I was done watching my DVR'd Mad Men I came running to your blog...
i just finished the episode and I want to watch it again and see what I missed.
Andrea
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