Don Draper looking perturbed in Mad Men
By
Ben Sherlock
Published 49 minutes ago
Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.
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After rewatching Mad Men, I’ve come around to loving Don Draper’s most controversial trait. Throughout Mad Men’s seven-season run, the show received near-unanimous praise from critics. It’s a rare long-running TV drama that actually gets better with each season. There’s never a lull or a dip in quality; it’s one of the greatest TV shows ever made.
But it’s not without its criticisms. There are a few recurring complaints about Mad Men that are perfectly valid. Some of the parallels between fictional story events and real-world historical events are a bit on-the-nose, and the fact that Glen Bishop is played by series creator Matthew Weiner’s son raises all kinds of red nepo-flags.
When I was watching Mad Men in its original run, I thought Don’s backstory was unnecessary. Every time the show brought up his history as Dick Whitman and the life he left behind, it took valuable screen time away from the reason I loved the show: the messy Swinging Sixties-era office politics of Sterling Cooper.
I’ve seen a lot of other fans complain about Don’s origin story. It feels like the kind of plot engine that works a lot better in a pitch meeting, when the creator is trying to sell the show to a network, than it does in execution on-screen. But after rewatching Mad Men, I’ve come to realize that Don’s backstory serves an important dramatic function that strengthens his character.
Don Draper's Backstory As Dick Whitman Is One Of Mad Men's Most Polarizing Storylines
Young Dick Whitman at the dinner table in Mad Men
Early in its run, Mad Men revealed that the protagonist we’d been following, suave New York ad executive Don Draper, was living a lie. He was born Dick Whitman, he grew up in squalor and poverty in Illinois, and he was raised in a house of ill repute by sex workers, abusive johns, and a horrible madam.
Dick briefly served in the Korean War, but was discharged after being injured in a gasoline explosion. The explosion killed his commanding officer, Lieutenant Donald Draper, and left his body unrecognizable, so on the train home, Dick switched dog tags with Draper and assumed his identity, essentially faking his own death and abandoning his old dysfunctional family.
At first, this convoluted origin story seemed like an unnecessary addition. Tonally, it felt a bit too melodramatic and sensationalist for this otherwise grounded show. It played like something from a soap opera, and Mad Men painstakingly strove for realism in every other respect. But after revisiting the show, I’ve had a change of heart regarding this bit of polarizing Mad Men lore.
On My Latest Mad Men Rewatch, I Changed My Mind About Dick Whitman
Jon Hamm's Don Draper smiles in Mad Men
I recently went back and rewatched Mad Men. I fell back in love with all the characters, I spotted a ton of little subtleties and details I’d never seen before, and I had my heart broken by Lane Pryce all over again. But I also changed my mind about Don’s backstory. It adds a ton of depth to his character — and, by extension, to Jon Hamm’s performance.
If Don was just a run-of-the-mill sleazebag who neglected his kids, cheated on his wives like clockwork, and only cared about himself, then the audience could only invest in him so far, and there would only be so much that Hamm could do with the character. By giving him this tragic, traumatic upbringing, Mad Men added a sympathetic layer to this otherwise amoral figure.
Don's Origin Story Is What Makes Him Such A Compelling Character
Don Draper looking surprised in Mad Men
Don’s origin story is what makes him such a compelling character. Most of the other TV antiheroes, from Walter White to Tony Soprano to Omar Little to Vic Mackey, lead violent lives and find themselves in life-or-death situations every day. Don is just as captivating as any of those characters, despite the lack of shootouts and murders, and his backstory is what gives him the edge.
Knowing that Don came from such tragic and humble beginnings adds a layer of context to his debauched, extravagant, unscrupulous life of mind-numbing excess as an adult. A straightforward portrayal of a hard-drinking, sex-addicted playboy would get old fast, and feel empty and vapid, but Don’s childhood traumas perfectly explain how he ended up the way he is.
Don's History As Dick Whitman Means He Can't Relate To His Own Kids
Don takes his kids to his childhood home in Mad Men
Don’s backstory means he can’t relate to his own children. Don’s kids are enjoying a privileged childhood in a nice home with financial security, which is nothing like Don’s upbringing. This fundamental difference is clearest when Don takes his kids to his childhood home. They’re speechless; they can’t imagine living in a place like that, and it makes them realize how disconnected they are from their dad.
Don's Identity Was One Of Mad Men's Most Poignant Themes
Don looking deeply troubled in Mad Men
Don’s grapple with his own identity became one of Mad Men’s most poignant themes. When Don is doing a photo shoot in his office, struggling to strike an authentic pose, the photographer tells him to “be yourself.” It’s an innocuous turn of phrase, and a pretty standard direction, but it throws Don into an emotional tailspin, because he isn’t really himself; his whole life is a lie.
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