Don has no real home, and never had one to begin with. That's why he always ruins any idea of home, beginning with his Betty life, and continuing to his Megan life as well. One poignant expression in life is: Once is an accident, twice is a habit.
Here almost every scene had to do with home, home life, and what happens with a rat in the house.
Pete and his home life. Ted and his home life. Sally's home life. Don's home life. Sally's friend was a sort of rat in the home being kinda smarmy in her own way. Arnold's home life, all beginning with Peggy finding a rat in her home. Mad Men, the war at home, in the home.
Stemming out from the characters' lives is the idea nationally given the time, of a generation of rats in the house. I felt that's what's Mitchell was about, the Morrison wanna-be, one who would be seen a rat in the house nationally. But within that same building, there's rats. Sally's bratty friend is a rat, similar to the way Betty was a rat to her friend in convincing her to be with Arthur back in the horse riding days. Don is a rat in the house of Arnold (although trying to call Arnold and he allegedly is "out of the office" so Arnold is, possibly, hardly innocent). Also Manolo is a rat in the house of Pete possibly. Ted is accused of being a different kind of rat in his home through neglect although his inkling toward Peggy doesn't make him as wholesome as he appears at the end. The run-in with Peggy and Pete's mom as well.
Many people believe the crumbling of society begins with the crumbling of the home. Here, that's all we had, the ruins of the once great idea of home among a crumbling society in turmoil . I was reminded of Betty and Don's trip to Italy with the Hilton thing when their marriage was basically in their death throes, and he gave her a charm of the ruins of the Colosseum; one of the more important visuals ever in the series to me.
The Colosseum was the greatest built structure, one of great grandure to inspire, one to have people aspire to the idea of. Mad Men began with the whole idea of the wedding cake couple, the dream, the goal. Grandure of life, achieving the dream. Since day one that great home, that great Colosseum has been collapsing.
And now here in finality the home and society has collapsed, it's festered with it's own rats (with interestingly, the idea of societal rat much like beauty in that it's all in the eye of the beholder. Who are the rats? Depends who you ask). Also I'm thinking now that has been the idea behind Peggy's whole arc of story this season and her conditions.
A rat destoys from within, and these people are all rats destroying themselves and those around them from within. The great symbol, the great pillar, the Colosseum of the American Dream, for these people has crumbled since season 1, soon to be ruins; infested with hurt inside and is also symbolized now outwardly by nightly fires around them. And it's their own fault.
Don has no home and never will because he only knows destruction from within. Don has been battling his own self from within all season and clearly he is going to lose. He only knows ruins of what the Colosseum should be.
Did you notice of the rat scurrying across the floor, then got to of course Roger doing basically the same?
Great kudos to the people in some of the posts below for the way ahead call that Bob Benson will be the answer to the Sal replacement calls. The way I saw him was as a symbol of the growing stature of SCDP-and the rest of the alphabet and BB was, as a hanger on, one who was trying to play the game but too much of a novice and his character's place was to show the growth and expertise of these Mad Men; and had begin to learn the game through his playing of Joan. But good call folks, great stuff.
One obscure but I think important line, for those who get into the social issues of the series, is when Betty says Diplomacy Club is like all the rest, just an excuse to make out. It made me think of a documentary I saw on a very famous relevant band of the era and counterculture that I won't say because for whatever reason music stirs up to much reactionary emotion and takes topics way off course, where the singer actually said regarding the youth of which he was one of at the time, "... that's the problem with these people, they gather simply for the sake of gathering. That's all it is." And we still have that huge problem today. Great and honest line.
Sunkist vs Ocean Spray, and the line "They're all juices". Fighting from within on how to achieve an actual common goal of peace.
Sally is turing into both Betty and Peggy. The series began with the idea of Don having a wife in Betty and the idea that your secretary is your real wife. Sally plays the role of Betty in an almost exact imitation in parlance and attitude. Sally also experiences the hurt and betryal in the same way. Remember earlier she said to Don, "no one knows you", kinda like when Betty said "who's in there" in season 1. And in the cab Sally talks to the bratty friend basically about culture, and Betty was an Anthropology major. However she also plays the role of Peggy that she does him a favor to help him, her dad, her boss. "Favors" being the title of the episode.
A great visual was Don and Arnold hitting the bar, the shot of them across the booth from each other, it was so completely smokey. Very seedy, very bar. Just a great visual scene for the episode.
The conversation between Don and Sylvia. The warring inside of Don. It looks like he's trying to get himself to fall in real love.
2 comments:
The crumbling of the Colosseum
The idea of home.
Don has no real home, and never had one to begin with. That's why he always ruins any idea of home, beginning with his Betty life, and continuing to his Megan life as well. One poignant expression in life is: Once is an accident, twice is a habit.
Here almost every scene had to do with home, home life, and what happens with a rat in the house.
Pete and his home life. Ted and his home life. Sally's home life. Don's home life. Sally's friend was a sort of rat in the home being kinda smarmy in her own way. Arnold's home life, all beginning with Peggy finding a rat in her home. Mad Men, the war at home, in the home.
Stemming out from the characters' lives is the idea nationally given the time, of a generation of rats in the house. I felt that's what's Mitchell was about, the Morrison wanna-be, one who would be seen a rat in the house nationally. But within that same building, there's rats. Sally's bratty friend is a rat, similar to the way Betty was a rat to her friend in convincing her to be with Arthur back in the horse riding days. Don is a rat in the house of Arnold (although trying to call Arnold and he allegedly is "out of the office" so Arnold is, possibly, hardly innocent). Also Manolo is a rat in the house of Pete possibly. Ted is accused of being a different kind of rat in his home through neglect although his inkling toward Peggy doesn't make him as wholesome as he appears at the end. The run-in with Peggy and Pete's mom as well.
Many people believe the crumbling of society begins with the crumbling of the home. Here, that's all we had, the ruins of the once great idea of home among a crumbling society in turmoil . I was reminded of Betty and Don's trip to Italy with the Hilton thing when their marriage was basically in their death throes, and he gave her a charm of the ruins of the Colosseum; one of the more important visuals ever in the series to me.
The Colosseum was the greatest built structure, one of great grandure to inspire, one to have people aspire to the idea of. Mad Men began with the whole idea of the wedding cake couple, the dream, the goal. Grandure of life, achieving the dream. Since day one that great home, that great Colosseum has been collapsing.
And now here in finality the home and society has collapsed, it's festered with it's own rats (with interestingly, the idea of societal rat much like beauty in that it's all in the eye of the beholder. Who are the rats? Depends who you ask). Also I'm thinking now that has been the idea behind Peggy's whole arc of story this season and her conditions.
A rat destoys from within, and these people are all rats destroying themselves and those around them from within. The great symbol, the great pillar, the Colosseum of the American Dream, for these people has crumbled since season 1, soon to be ruins; infested with hurt inside and is also symbolized now outwardly by nightly fires around them. And it's their own fault.
Don has no home and never will because he only knows destruction from within. Don has been battling his own self from within all season and clearly he is going to lose. He only knows ruins of what the Colosseum should be.
Did you notice of the rat scurrying across the floor, then got to of course Roger doing basically the same?
Great kudos to the people in some of the posts below for the way ahead call that Bob Benson will be the answer to the Sal replacement calls. The way I saw him was as a symbol of the growing stature of SCDP-and the rest of the alphabet and BB was, as a hanger on, one who was trying to play the game but too much of a novice and his character's place was to show the growth and expertise of these Mad Men; and had begin to learn the game through his playing of Joan. But good call folks, great stuff.
One obscure but I think important line, for those who get into the social issues of the series, is when Betty says Diplomacy Club is like all the rest, just an excuse to make out. It made me think of a documentary I saw on a very famous relevant band of the era and counterculture that I won't say because for whatever reason music stirs up to much reactionary emotion and takes topics way off course, where the singer actually said regarding the youth of which he was one of at the time, "... that's the problem with these people, they gather simply for the sake of gathering. That's all it is." And we still have that huge problem today. Great and honest line.
Sunkist vs Ocean Spray, and the line "They're all juices". Fighting from within on how to achieve an actual common goal of peace.
Sally is turing into both Betty and Peggy. The series began with the idea of Don having a wife in Betty and the idea that your secretary is your real wife. Sally plays the role of Betty in an almost exact imitation in parlance and attitude. Sally also experiences the hurt and betryal in the same way. Remember earlier she said to Don, "no one knows you", kinda like when Betty said "who's in there" in season 1. And in the cab Sally talks to the bratty friend basically about culture, and Betty was an Anthropology major. However she also plays the role of Peggy that she does him a favor to help him, her dad, her boss. "Favors" being the title of the episode.
A great visual was Don and Arnold hitting the bar, the shot of them across the booth from each other, it was so completely smokey. Very seedy, very bar. Just a great visual scene for the episode.
The conversation between Don and Sylvia. The warring inside of Don. It looks like he's trying to get himself to fall in real love.
Roger's great Hemingway line
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