Some Random Thoughts on Mad Men

1. No straight man would ever be able to resist Joan Harris. Not one. I don't care what they say. Even gay men probably wouldn't, or straight women.

2. Don Draper is the best character to come along since I don't know when. They will be talking about him for the rest of time.

3. They say that men and some women were really as sexually promiscuous as they portray them in Mad Men. Maybe in New York City, but not anywhere I ever lived or knew of. 

4. Roger Sterling is really Don Draper in 20 years if Draper doesn't clean up his act. Bob Benson is a Don Draper wannabe, and Pete Campbell knows it. It is always good to keep the pretenders around. When they fall flat on their face, you look better. Same reason Don kept Pete around.

5. When you are Don Draper,  you have "it". That essence. And everyone wants a piece of it. Until they have taken all you have to give and you have no more left. It can be very exhausting. So, you learn to take from others, in Don Drapers case, from women. That is partly the reason that Don is a taker.

6. People say Don Draper uses women for sex. Actually, it is the other way around. They use him for sex. He uses them for validation, and even he knows that doesn't work.

7. When you grow up in a whorehouse, you start to think of all women as whores, no matter how much they show you they are not. It is a scar that never heals within you.

8. Don Draper learned what all guys learn when he was young. There can only be one rooster in the hen house, and if you try to take his hens, he will try to kill you. The key for some is to kill the head rooster and become him. The hens only care who is the head rooster, not which one is.

9. Draper shows very infrequent bits of integrity, but for the most part, he has none. He is a user, even though he seems to not want to be one. Probably because, for the most part, it has worked out in his favor. People go with what works, not what seems right, most of the time.

10. You think "how could someone fall for the things they came up with" back in those days? Until you realize that people who shop at Walmart are convinced they are saving money. Then you realize why Don Draper makes the big bucks. He could sell cat food to a dog and make them think they are lucky they are allowed to buy it.

11. AMC has come up with Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead and a few others in the last 7 years. In that time, the networks have given us Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Dancing With The Stars. Need I say more about why very few people bother with network television anymore?

12. I think that one of the greatest lessons of Mad Men is that no matter how great someones life looks on the outside, on the inside, in their own skin, it isn't what anywhere near as good, no matter the facade they put up. That is probably why those people are so good at selling the lie to us. They live it.

13. A big part of the allure of the show is that although some of us were very young during the time period portrayed, we remember what it was like and this show completely captures that. Right on the money. It is like watching our own home movies.

14. Since Don is referred to by his stepmother as a "whore child" , if he thinks of all women as whores, then they can never be better than him, thereby boosting his fragile ego. A lot of us seek to do this, unknowingly, in the way we think of and refer to people we know.

15. Much of the shows drama is based on the concept of taking risks only when you know the other person has as much or more to lose as you do if it goes sour or ends. The ones who seem to employ this strategy on the show end up the winners and the ones who don't play that game end up the losers.

16. Even though I have seen it countless times, and could skip over it, I always watch the opening theme and credits intently. It sets the tone for the vibe of the show. Like the start of a James Bond movie does. It leads you exactly where you want to be to take in what is coming next. 

17. If you are going to play a game of chicken, you need to know two things. First, that the other person knows they have to bail. And two, that they are going to bail when it is time to bail. Having the upper hand doesn't matter if the other person doesn't think they have anything to lose anymore.

18. People will do just about anything for money, no matter what they say about their high moral standard. The higher the morals, the more cash you have to offer them. 

19. Sex is a much bigger vice than any other vice. Because the other things are things we don't need while sex we need, even if we aren't addicted to it. So, even when healthy, you can't abstain in a healthy way. As much as Don Draper appears to want to be loyal, he knows, and we know, that he can't. 

20. Your friend today can be your enemy tomorrow.  And vice versa.