Capitalism Saves Don Draper
Image courtesy of AMC
Who or what is Don Draper? Is it a person, a name, an invention, a product? Or is it all of the above?
At the end of Season 3, we saw the writers reset the show and strip Don of every foundation he might have had: his family, his career and his identity. His wife leaves him, his company gets acquired and everyone knows his real name is Dick Whitman. In the face of this upheaval, Don doesn’t try to maintain family unity or go back to work: no, what he does is start his own company.
Mad Men began as an exploration of identity; identity by birthrite and identity by name. Nowhere does the idea that capitalism is the only true force that can offer Don Draper a life and identity than in the last scene in the Season 4 premiere: it ends with a PR interview. The real Don Draper isn’t interested in talking about himself, but nobody cares about that, so Don Draper the person decides to weave a dramatic tale to the Wall Street Journal about Don Draper the product, not at all differently from the way he has done with all of his clients’ products. Don Draper can’t get what he wants by being himself, but he can if he tells the world what they want to hear. Cue the ironic music (Tobacco Road), but we know anyway that Draper is soon going to be an overnight, moneyed sensation.
Whether or not most of us want our jobs to define who we are, at least we always love a good story.
