Conrad Hilton: You know? I got everything I have on my own. It’s made me immune to those who complain and cry because they can’t. I didn’t take you for one of them, Don. Are you?.
”Shut the Door. Have a Seat
Roger Sterling: How long do you think it’ll take us to be in a place like this again.
Don Draper: I never saw myself working in a place like this.”Shut the Door. Have a Seat
Don Draper: Because I’m sick of being batted around like a ping pong ball. Who the hell is in charge, a bunch of accountants trying to make a dollar into a dollar ten? I want to work. I want to build something of my own. How do you not understand that? You did it yourself forty years ago.
”Shut the Door. Have a Seat
Roger Sterling: So you do want to be in advertising after all.
”Shut the Door. Have a Seat
Don Draper: I have a life. And it only goes in one direction. Forward.
”5G
Bert Cooper : Would you say I know something about you, Don?
Don Draper: I would.”Seven Twenty Three
What is a self-made man? We think of a man who came from nothing and worked hard to build something big. Without the advantages of money or privilege, he beats the odds and becomes a success. Conrad Hilton. Perhaps Bert Cooper.
Don is a very different type of self-made man. He literally made himself by stealing another man’s identity. From there it was a matter of grabbing on to whatever came next. Don built his career Tarzan-style, grabbing any opportunity branch that happened to swing his way. He may have had ambitions, but he had to exercise a certain amount of low-laying. So long as too many questions weren’t asked and contracts weren’t signed, and provided he himself never looked back, Don Draper could move forward.
And so his priority could never fully be his career. His priority had to be not getting caught. All along, in the center of Don’s chest, is the fear of discovery. What if his employers were to find out the truth? What if anyone from the past, be it a Draper or a Whitman, were to cross his path? What if his wife found out, for God’s sake?!!
We’ve witnessed it all happen. Adam Whitman. Then Pete Campbell, and Bert Cooper. We even see how it all worked out with Anna Draper. And finally Betty.
In some cases it went kinda well, in others not so much. But they’ve all happened. And really, as it turns out, Who cares?
This season so much was taken away from him”his job was nuts, he was forced to sign a contract, he was physically beaten up, he lost two women he cared a great deal about. And the very fact that he is still standing is fuel to start the next thing. He’s got new breath and he may not even know why, but it’s because for the first time since he switched those dog tags, his neck is not on the executioner’s block.
I think the knot that was all of his fears twisted together has loosened. I think somehow the final straw of Betty finding out the truth and then leaving him, this which has been his final and greatest terror”I think the very fact that it that it didn’t break him resulted in a fresh excitement about life.
See the question I asked myself that led to this little exploration was, Why is Don suddenly hungry to build something for himself?
Because he can.
Because he’s whole. Dick Whitman and Don Draper are finally integrated. He is Don Draper now.
Part of being that man is telling the people around him what they’re worth. Bert, Roger, Pete, Peggy, now know they have value to Don Draper.
We’ll see how this goes.
23 Responses to “Mr. Campbell, who cares?”
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I thought it was interesting when Bert told Don that he had been "standing on somebody's shoulders". When Bert said it the obvious meaning was that Don had succeeded in his career because Roger and Bert had taken him in and made him their golden boy. But really Don has always been standing on the shoulders of the real Don Draper. And in many ways he still is. Don has taken the step of building his own company but he is still carrying that false name. Part of me says "Who cares?" too, but the fact is, the law would care. You could say Betty finding out and leaving Don means the worst is over, but if Don's crime was exposed it would mean the end of this "work" that Don has made his new calling.
The discussions here are almost always about Don but this quest to become a self-made man is something that is a broader theme of the show. All the men at SCDP share this quality of wanting to be self-made. And like Don, both Roger and Pete share the burden of carrying somebody elses name that prevents them from being truly self-made.
- In S3 Roger whines that his name was left off Guy's chart even though his name is on the building. It's actually his father's name. In the last episode Roger admits that he never started his own business he only inherited it. For the first time Roger is questioning his privilege and realising that he never really earned his own success. And maybe he'd like to…
- Pete's father told him "We gave you everything. We gave you your name. And what have you done with it?" While Roger carries his parent's success, Pete carries the weight of his parent's failure. The Dykemans were once rich and reknowned. Pete's father and grandfather blew it, but Pete is the one who gets the stingma for it because he is the end of the line and he chose to go into the disreputable profession of advertising. The only legacy that Pete has left is their bitterness and an empty sense of entitlement. Pete has reason to become self-made too, because just like Don he resents where he comes from and he needs to prove himself.
In smaller ways you have Lane, who was the meek servant to PPL for so long, finally wanting to rebel and make his own decisions. Even Harry can claim to be striving for self-madeness, since he created his own position as Head of Television. And (she isn't a man but) Peggy is the one person at SCDP who might succeed in becoming truly self-made, especially now that she seems determined not to be kept in Draper's shadow.
The image of Don as Tarzan is going to just make my day.
falafel, just to nitpick your comment a little (isn't that what we're here for? To nitpick?):
Don's legal jeopardy results primarily (I believe) from him impersonating an officer to get out of military duty, assuming that he would have been sent back into battle as Dick Whitman. Whatever name he used from thereon out wouldn't change that criminal act, even if he went back to using Dick Whitman once he got back. But other than getting out of the army early and using a new name to give himself a fresh start, it doesn't appear that he's "used" anything of the real Don Draper's life to get where he is now — not his resume, not his experience, not his education, probably not even GI benefits (if he was smart.) And in fact he made sure to take care of Don's wife Anna financially.
So, in that sense, I don't really see him standing on the shoulders of the real Don Draper, although the guilt of his cowardice and desertion probably make him feel like he is. And who knows how much of the story Bert does or doesn't know.
Gypsy, I'm not sure that's true. What he said to Betty was vague, but implied that he did use Don Draper's identity as a stepping stone.
I'm sure that Don's status as a decorated vet helped Roger decide he was a good bet. But those medals were put in Don's hands when he left the service.
He would have loved to go to college on the GI Bill, but was attending night school when Roger met him. The GI Bill was enough to support a young guy without dependants in those days–without a job. But it did require considerable paperwork. (As a Cold War Orphan, I qualified for a version of those benefits.)
Don felt guilty about taking advantage of The Other Dons' death to escape possible death in Korea, but it would have been very unwise of him to show up at a VA office & fill out all those forms to get benefits.
#3 gypsy howell…just to nitpick your nitpick to falafel
I don’t really see him standing on the shoulders of the real Don Draper, although the guilt of his cowardice and desertion probably make him feel like he is.
Don probably is embarrassed to be called a "hero" and feels guilty about deserting (although, I'm not sure that Dick Whitman wouldn't have been sent home for his injuries), but I don't think he sees himself as a coward. Don's storyline has always reminded me of William Holden in "Bridge on the River Kwai" who also opportunistically changes identities with a dead officer. Holden's character is certainly self-serving, but not a coward per se.
"From there it was a matter of grabbing on to whatever came next. Don built his career Tarzan-style, grabbing any opportunity branch that happened to swing his way."
Is this true? I see continuity in his career. He wrote ad flyers at the car dealership. Somehow he moved from that to writing copy (under the guidance of an old school pro) at the fur company.
Maybe, as a PP offered, working in advertising was a glamorous career he saw in the movies. Or maybe, he realized that he liked words and saw it as a way out of the snake pit he was born into. We haven't been given all the details of the trajectory of his career yet, but it was not quite as mercenary as you describe. Otherwise, we would have seen some job-hopping, and we didn't.
GREAT POST, Roberta. I am ever thankful for you.
I think that Don also learned something about alliances, this year: that he can't build them just by telling the truth.
I'm going to turn this into a post later on, when I can develop it better — but Don has a history of telling his story only very strategically, when his back is to a wall, or when he finds a soulmate. The people who have heard pieces of his truth (and as we know, no one's heard it all) typically become his allies.
In this way, Don has always been a Pied Piper of identity. But this year, the magic didn't always work: first it failed with Connie, then — big time — with Betty.
I do think that Don has became an integrated person by Season 3. But he's gotten there in an interesting way. He's learned that there are people for whom honesty means nothing — nothing. Some of those people are now tied to his life and work. Living, to him, means living with them.
And he's learned the high price of individual success. It's all there, in that beat between Roger's question: "Hilton?" — and Don's "No."
Don had to trade a piece of his personal story to gain Hilton's trust. It was a high price to pay — and the price got higher as the relationship progressed. If the new Don Draper remembers anything, I hope he remembers this.
Maybe, as a PP offered, working in advertising was a glamorous career he saw in the movies. Or maybe, he realized that he liked words and saw it as a way out of the snake pit he was born into. We haven’t been given all the details of the trajectory of his career yet, but it was not quite as mercenary as you describe. Otherwise, we would have seen some job-hopping, and we didn’t.
I don't think little Dick Whitman dreamed of being an Ad Man. I doubt Anna Draper turned over a Tarot card indicating his future road was Madison Avenue.
I think Don had a knack with words that got him the job with the furrier while he was going to night school. And I think he resisted Roger's offer of a job at Sterling Cooper–initially. Then he fell in love with Betty & realized he needed a better job to support her.
So he quit school & went to Sterling Cooper. I seem to remember him saying his next job would not be in advertising. His refusal to sign a contract was a way to stay "free."
In the last episode, Roger taunted him about really wanting to be in advertising, after all. I know his affairs were bad, but he had given up a bit of his future to give Betty the home she thought she wanted. Now she had found somebody else to give her what she thought she wanted. But his co-workers made him realize that the years at SC were not wasted; there was a future with them.
Dick would have been a decorated vet either way – it was his own, very real injuries that got him awarded the purple star. But it was quite clear from the hospital scene that the reason he was sent home was because he was "short" (or rather Real Don was) Otherwise they would have sent him back into battle after he recovered.
Yes, I'm sure Don's status as a vet, and maybe his presumed rank, was important to Roger (it seems the only thing Roger's ever been proud of in his life was his war experience.) so yeah, that helped Don.
Although he didn't talk much about his hardscrabble upbringing to anyone, he didn't really pretend to be anything else either.
I guess I'm not sure how else he would have used Don Draper's identity as a stepping stone, other than he wasn't "Dick Whitman" any more.
When Connie dumped S-C, he acknowledged that their personal relationship wouldn't save the account. That's when Don realized he couldn't do the work of an account man.
Roberta, I am not sure I agree that "he lost two women who meant a great deal to him." Suzanne, arguably yes, he seemed genuinely sad that their ending was abrupt.
Betty? Remember in S2 he seemed relieved to be out of the house. And this time, he called Betty to say, "I'm not going to fight you." If a man wants a woman back, he moves mountains to do so. Don's ego was bruised that he lost her to Henry Francis but he was not upset enough to go after her. I actually read Betty's expression on the airplane as a bit of shock that Don let her go so easily.
I think the new Don Draper, who has been freed of his need to be evasive, is going to be very interesting to watch.
I don't agree that not fighting her at this stage means he doesn't have feelings for her. Betty has made it clear that she is moving ahead with this divorce, with or without Don's cooperation. She said she doesn't love him. She has SHOWN she doesn't love him. She is involved with someone else. We know the men that fight divorces–we usually call them assholes. Don was being generous instead of vicious. Let's not forget the humiliation of finding out through Roger who assumed he already knew.
I'm sure that he is experiencing relief–that has been one tense household. But that doesn't mean he does not care, or that he isn't experiencing loss.
We know the men that fight divorces–we usually call them assholes. Don was being generous instead of vicious.
That's true, but it did seem to me that he was falling in love with Suzanne, and that the only reason he didn't continue the relationship was that he'd really be screwed in every way if he did. Betty's finding the box threw the cold water at him, so to speak. I think he valued the structure that marriage to Betty gave him, and (almost) daily contact with his children, and was upset to lose that, but I'm not sure he felt a whole lot for her by that point. The kids, yeah. Her, I don't know about, although I'm sure he did once. They did seem a million miles away from each other, even before she found the box.
Heck, I'm still thinking Betty is going to hear scuttlebutt about Suzanne, and that will change her mind about taking him to the cleaners.
Don & Suzanne certainly didn't act discreet about their relationship. But we don't know that anybody saw anything.
We know that the Junior League threw Betty at Henry–although they thought she'd only bat her eyes a few times to get their point across. Francine definitely thought something was up & will gladly spread the word.
Betty did not agree when Henry said she should only depend on him; she just sat there. No matter what Don had been up to, she needs to arrange a sensible settlement. After all, her people know how to handle money.
But we don’t know that anybody saw anything.
Not yet, although I find it hard to believe absolutely nobody else knew. But the likelihood of their being found out would have increased with every further encounter. Especially with at least one of them, if not both, falling in love.
And agreed, we haven't seen Betty say yes to anything yet, just not saying no. If Betty's lawyer is any good, he'll probably tell her it's foolish not to ask for a dime from him for child support, at least.
I could be wrong, god knows I've never predicted anything correctly about this show, but I think we're done with Ossining.
I’m still thinking Betty is going to hear scuttlebutt about Suzanne, and that will change her mind about taking him to the cleaners.
I'm not sure this would affect her decision at all. She's already made up her mind about "what she's entitled to", and only Henry's advice steered her away from it. He's her counsel right now. (Whether or not he should be.)
Betty knows that what she needs to prove infidelity is evidence, and perhaps that she's closer to losing on those grounds than her husband is (Carla, the Junior League ladies, people in Henry's office, the lawyer …?). I don't think she'll step any closer to that land mine than she already has.
Anyway, Betty only considered the infidelity charge as a means to getting what she wanted — a divorce from Don, the freedom to leave — and now she knows she'll get that. She's not angry enough to go for more. Betty does not love Don anymore; the opposite of love isn't rage. We've seen her in that state, and it passed.
This, where she is now, is the true opposite of love: indifference. "You'll always be their father" is not something you say to someone who still makes you feel enough to hate. Betty only wants to move on.
I still think she'd be outraged over him specifically being with Suzanne, because she was Sally's teacher, and it was going on right under her nose while she was home taking care of a newborn infant and being told he was being run ragged by Connie Hilton (though I still don't think she bought that, exactly — "I've never been enough for you" sounds to me like she thinks he's still screwing around). I think she'd take that a lot worse than finding out about a Rachel or a Midge, who never met Don's family and never came anywhere near where they lived.
And Roberta #17, I'll bet you're right. S4 is going to mean a lot of new scenery, everywhere. I'm not even so sure we'll see Betty again, let alone Ossining. (Though I can't see them skipping 1964 entirely, there's way too much going on then that's germane to this show.)
"Maybe, as a PP offered, working in advertising was a glamorous career he saw in the movies."
I'm having flashbacks to 'Death Of A Salesman'!
'Betty did not agree when Henry said she should only depend on him; she just sat there.'
But then the lawyer said that if all she wanted was a quick end to the marriage that she should go to Reno, and that's what she did. It doesn't prove she won't ask Don for a settlement, but it indicates she may not.
Reminds me of a saying I once heard, along the lines of, “Everybody's a self-made man; but only the successful ones are willing to admit it.â€
Anne B, I see here, opines "Don has a history of telling his story only very strategically, when his back is to a wall, or when he finds a soulmate."
I read that and thought, "Is there ever another reason to do so?" To me, the thing about telling our own stories is that it's hard to find a person who cares. What's worse still is if in exchange, you have to listen to his.
It's a "purple heart"….not a purple star.
It’s a “purple heartâ€â€¦.not a purple star.
Doh! Of course. I knew that.