) I think your friend would rather idolize a character than identify with them. We can all identify with some part of some character in Mad Men, but idolizing would be very difficult. They're too darn human for that.
Reply With QuoteAs much as I like the show, I think most of the characters - mothers and fathers, males and females - come off pretty badly.Originally Posted by tonyb
On the female side, Don's biological mother was a prostitute and died giving him birth. The woman who raised him was supposed to be quite mean to him. Peggy had a baby and gave it away for adoption. Not exactly mother of the year material. Peggy's mother is pretty dreadful towards Peggy. Betty is just plain and simply a bad mother. Marie Calvert? Nasty! Joan is now a prostitute herself. As to what kind of mother she will be portrayed as, we will have to stay tuned. Am I correctly recalling that her baby was fathered by Roger?
OK, so Roger is an unknowing father to the Joan's baby. He consented to prostituting his former lover and the mother of his child, making him a pimp. He also has blown through two of his own marriages so far, and is busy on wrecking Marie's marriage. Burt Cooper also consented to Joan prostituting herself. That is the worst thing we have seen him do, but there could be quite a back story about how he built the company - rich people don't get that way by being nice. Pete Campbell is a certified ball of slime. Ken Cosgrove is one of the few male characters that we haven't seen doing too much that is bad. If I recall correctly, he was present when the Jaguar dealer made his request for Joan, but it was Pete who took it to the partners. Ken merely suggested to the dealer that he could arrange other redheads for the car dealer. He's probably done those kinds of things for lots of clients. Harry Crane is more of a jerk than an immoral person. Lot's of people liked Lane, but let's not forget that he cheated on his wife and stole company money. He was also an absentee father, keeping his son at school in England. That would probably have been par for the course for anyone in his situation, but imagine how his child would feel about his father throughout the rest of his life.
And then there's Don... He stole a man's identity in order to escape his own past. He rejected his brother when he reached out to him because of his fear of his past. He cheated on Betty whenever he had the chance. Is there any question that he will soon be cheating on Megan? He isn't much of a father. He has taken his kids on trips, but we don't see him being very affectionate towards them. (Although he did get drunk, build a playhouse, and bring home a dog for his daughter all in one day!) Does anyone else remember him saying at one point that he does not feel anything? I'm certain that he said he feels no emotions and that he observes people and what they do. It is these observations that make him a good advertising man. He understands the emotions that drive people, but he does not have these emotions. Anyway, he has behaved himself this season, but that can't last long. He is highly immoral. I did find it interesting that he was the only one who objected to Joan prostituting herself. Could it tie into the fact that his mother was a prostitute?
