ScreenPrism anything about halt and catch fire if you watch it

Twin Peaks The Return

Please do one on the David Simon New Orleans series Treme

Amazing work

make one about spike speigel from cowboy bebop

I would second that. Never has a character made me love him, pity him, hate him, and yearn for him to change. I think we are all Don Draper. We love ourselves, want to protect ourselves, at times loathe ourselves, and we all yearn for change at times.

HrTjernoby

On the surface Breaking Bad makes it clear that it's a criminal drama about meth cooking, which catches viewers attention effectively. Mad Men on the other hand is harder to sell since it appears to be a period drama about the seemingly legal but dull business of advertising. Both shows have great character development behind the facade but Mad Men's viewership was stunted because not enough viewers were interested at first glance.

Genius

Tony Soprano

Haha

That's incredibly meaningful and extremely deep.

@@AllisonChains64 Interesting because Cary Grant''s real name wasn't Cary Grant

@@NaijaCINE Okay, well I'm pretty sure that's not what Cary Grant meant.

@@NaijaCINE And I think you meant to put an apostrophe and not quotation marks.

If Don has no past and "there's no tomorrow", what can he do?

ouidah He can either live desperately or he can be at peace and live in the moment. That will only happen if he comes to peace with who he is and what he has done. If he doesn't forgive himself he will paradoxically continue to engage in the behaviors for which he feels shame. I think his behaviors are judged without being seen as symptoms of experiences he continually fails to cope with. He has PTSD after causing and being witness to another man's death. He was molested--a boy from a strict Christian home, that wasn't really home, was molested...that's serious shame he's dealing with...oh, and he lost his virginity to a prostitute. Drinking won't solve his problem. Endless sexual escapism won't work. He denies himself love because he doesn't feel lovable. Radical self-forgiveness and compassion for himself is his best and only shot at peace.

I want to like this again.

John Platt Lol mass shooters think like this.

One of the best lines ever.

Very insightful observation!

I don't believe this is true. The impression I got at the end is that he hasn't changed at all. That smile is not a reflection of newly acquired self-knowledge but a recognition that he can make a quick buck of this burgeoning counter-culture, which sums up his ethos throughout the show

@@JohnnyFriendly disagree. you're conflating the nature of the business he represents for the character himself. there is a darker irony to the ending's implications about consumer capitalism, but how would the recognition that he can make a quick buck inspire him at all at this point? you don't think he already knew that from the very beginning? that just doesn't make any sense. the whole scene with him embracing leanord during that meeting is figurative of his evolution; he's finally embracing the wounded, repressed, more emotionally vulnerable side to himself and his persona (dick whitman) that he's kept hidden throughout the series

@@fluff975 These are all valid points especially about Leonard which I admit bypassed me totally. Where I continue to differ is with your view that the character is separate to his business. I don’t believe you cannot separate the two. Throughout the series we see that he can only truly express himself through his business which is essentially a cynical manipulation of genuine human motives. This cynicism is so pervasive that he cannot prevent it from entering and poisoning his private life as well. So ultimately even though there’s a vague hint of salvation (empathy with Leonard) ultimately he falls back onto the easy option, conning people the way he’s done his whole life because that’s all he knows how to be.

@@JohnnyFriendly if u listen to matt weiner explain it u might feel differently

I have done this.

They usually got fired, which was extra cringe because their character is getting fired and the actor is essentially being written off the show, which feels like getting fired.

ZacherlJem I never liked Faye Miller but I think because I thought she was so wrong for Don based on what Don wanted. This gives me a new perspective of her.

angbable I see it as she was actually the most suited to Don because she actually understood him, right from the beginning she saw his “type”. She is a smart, independent woman that actually takes a risk in him because she does know who he is and just like everyone else, is screwed over by him.

Faye and Rachel Menken, who he couldn't fool but he never chose them

@@GX2re Oh yes he did choose Rachel. She dumped him cause she told Don that hes a coward.

@@SardaukarNo1 what episode did Betty tell Sally that?

yes,perfect dialogue , I learn so much with that scene

Bill Kazmaier Maybe obvious, but someone had to write it...

I know I almost cried 😭

Why do you people call almost gimmicky lines like this - "complex" ? Sure it sounds perfect, being in the perfect frame but it also sounds like some kind of pick up line. It's cheap philosophy, maybe like a cherry on the top of a big, actually complex, multi layered, multi season cake.

@@marcusliber8865 It's a joke, everyone knows the line was supposed to be humorous

Jason Lefler also he “quit tobacco” when his identity was threatened and Pete had to loose the account

Very true, this show had so much dept

I like that analogy. Like by Don being transparent to people, it’s similar to a Surgeon Generals warning about the potential hazards so people know what they are getting themselves into from the very beginning.

That's a good point. Especially that they were required to be more truthful - not that they chose to be. And, of course, Don knew the perfect strategy: shift the subject - as he's done with himself. They're no longer poisonous - they're simply "Toasted."

Timothy Mullins That was a different account, but otherwise, I agree.

WASN'T THAT WHAT COOPER TOLD PETE WHO TOLD COOPER DON WASN'T DON BUT DICK BECAUSE DON HIRED WHATSHISFACE INSTEAD???

Pete Campbell: "The federal government." Next day: "Campbell, Sterling, & Cooper! May I help you?"

Shehzad Nawaz Same here

Yes,actually existential

So what? I was born in Cuba in 1956 where the population is majority white and we came here legally.America is the result of British Spanish, French,freed black slaves,and American Indians.Anyone who is born here has Contitutional and individual rights.The civil rights movement was organized to battle state governments that restricted black people from total citizenship.

And for this you will be much rewarded.

RECITE YOUR BASELINE!

D D CELLS! INTERLINKED! CELLS INTERLINKED! DREADFULLY!

NO fapping still better

If you don't care about accuracy. He didn't switch dog-tags to escape poverty, he did it to escape the war. He ended up as a 2-bit salesman.

@@SovereignStatesman Short-term yes, to escape Korea. But long-term, he switched tags to not have to go back to his family and to be able to start a new life.

I HAVE WATCHED MAD MEN AT LEAST 10 TIMES NOW. I GREW UP IN THE 60'S AND WAS AWARE THAT MAGAZINE ADDS TRIPLED BEFORE TV ADDS DID. AND THE CLOTHING OF THAT ERA WAS SPOT ON. IN FACT I COUNTED 21 PIECES OF FEMALE CLOTHING I ACTUALLY WORE MYSELF. MAD MEN TRUELY SET ITSELF APART FROM OTHER SHOWS BY BEING TRUE TO AN ERA LONG GONE...AND I WILL STILL WATCH IT MANY MORE TIMES...^-^..."IS IT JUST?ME THAT ALWAYS!USES ALL CAPS"...^-^...

Six feet under de HBO

@@realAfricanwithout question a top ten show I’ve seen. But come on the best ever title belongs to the wire🤷‍♂️you know that lad.

Its the only show I watch. It takes me roughly a year to watch the whole thing, I choose the odd Saturday night that Im in with a bottle of wine and I will watch several episodes in one sitting. Then when its all over, I just start it again. Been doing this for about four years now. Its the only show I will consistently rewatch, nothing else comes even close in terms of re-watchability.

Yet he defines it again for a new generation...in a package.

I think she works almost like a mother figure

It's true . Her character is a touchstone. The audience can also find something constant within the changing narrative. It's an essential element

i don't think its that simple. in the early flashbacks when she ask don who are you and he responds that he is don draper she obviously knows that's a lie as she was married to Don. we never get to see those days and weeks afterward where I'm sure she wrestled with the grief and shock of her husband being dead and this imposter assuming his identity. we do see months to years later though when they are close and she gives him the divorce to marry betty. she ultimately proves to be a saint but i imagine her and don had some real tense conversations and some real soul searching to get to that point. I think for Anna, Don coming clean early and leaving himself at her mercy enabled her to be her best person about the situation and resolve to help Don. she had to know that helping him made all he was guilty of her guilty of as well but she did it anyway because i think she saw that while she did lose she also gained don so in a way her husband didn't really die but was resurrected and she could live with that.

Neel Aren’t we all?

its about the " imposter syndrom" . Even if he is a liar he is not a fraud. He is extremely talented. What makes him so anxius is that he is addicted to his own lies, and cant see that it`s impossible to live up to it. And that his work and actions is MORE than enough. The word " persona" is greek and literaly means " mask", in reality we all where masks in public. Don`s ( Dick) problem is that there is a dissonans in the emotions he feels to all of it. He creates the fantasy that all people who want the " american dream" chase, but he fails to see that it is just a dream and not " the american reality"

All gatsby ever wanted was daisy. Don has everything -- the perfect blond wife, kids, a good job -- but he still doesn't know what he wants to make him happy.

Differently. The Fitzgerald book puts Gatsby into a more complete context with great writing and the perspective of the narrator. Mad Men never really decides by the end what it wants to say. Does Don really ever confront his past or only disappear into a new advertising illusion he's selling himself and others?

@@JOHN----DOE Agreed. a) It´s the ambiguity. The "Happy End" showed me: Don Draper is foremost an advertising man. His crisis led him to a new advertising idea. Did he change ? We don´t know. b) I like the "Gatsby" comparison. Draper lives, Gatsby died. Gatsby had to die, because he committed blasphemy and angered the gods...by trying to turn back time. In contrast Draper was always moving forward, trying to shed the past.

Underrated? Mad Men was like the most acclaimed show on TV during its run.

Mad Men is one of the most acclaimed shows of all time

Well said. ❤

tied with when anna died. for me, anyway.

yeah that killed me, that and the moment when Sally caught him having sex with Sylvia.

I cried then, never forgave him for that. Or Lane. Cried a bit when Anna died too

Pop Gas nah the most tragic part was when Duck locked his dog Chauncey out of Sterling Cooper

When his brother died, I literally said "don't" out loud without meaning to.

Statements like this show the person making the claim doesn't actually know why Citizen Kane is what it is for movies. Of course, it could be the person I am making this claim about actually knows this...

I'm sorry you missed watching Breaking Bad.

Oh, so I see you never watched The Sopranos.

Nitram Midnite pizza on the roof ?

That second episode of season 1 was fuckin garbage though. His secretary is boring, why the fuck the focus?

tal that applies to most humans

I ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY AGREE...^-^...

I felt the same exact way when I watched it for the first time

He’s not complicated. Just broken.

@@whxsleo9532 both

We do too! And thanks

Who doesn't

Scene was gold

Particularly as a child of a 40-year Kodak employee, I agree. What a different universe.

Rara Avis Actually, by you having that incredible insight about yourself shows you're not superficial. I think that by not being dragged by over thinking the writer's symbolism shows what a in-the-moment person you are and doesn't make you shallow but present in the now.

I'm right there with you lol. But like Kerry C. says, I'm pretty sure that point of self-knowledge is a sign that we're gradually starting to wade into those depths. And I think some of these theorists watch a series 10x over, anyway lol

I was a lit major and apparently rarely apply that to ... anything. I feel like everything goes over my head.

I can do without the typical American guilt and self-deprecating tone. C'mon, every country has had some shady past, but America has one of the most solid and moral history. Stop hating America.

@@sambee4927 What are you referring to? No one mentioned America but you...?

Insomniac DaydreamzZz yes please do. There the door.

Thank you!

Yes do a twin peaks

They did one, look it up :)

I don' know much about Jon Hamm, but he struggled with alcohol too, went to rehab not long ago. And there was something perfect about him being an unknown actor before- because the role couldn't have been cast better. Rather like how Don comes from nowehere to be the hot shit ad man everyone in the industry is drooling over.

I didn’t think about this and it makes me admire Jon Hamm so much more. I am incredibly proud of someone who can channel their own internal pain into something as beautiful a work of art as the show Mad Man. That is the mark of a true artist. Turn something deep dark and depressing into something light hopeful and beautiful in this world.

I also feel like this role was very emotionally and psychologically demanding for anyone.

He was an English teacher too-Jonn Hamm.

Jon Hamm lost both of his parents before the age of 21. He has some serious demons in his past and he probably took this into the role.

Thank April!

Yeah. They've been awesome on this!

Thanks! Glad you liked it. We are working on more Mad Men character studies

Asehpe --While I agree, generally people don’t change, they can become ‘grown up’ enough to accept themselves and find a measure of peace. That isn’t about money, it’s the genuine description of success. Remembering that FANTASTIC scene where the man in the therapy session describes being unknown ‘like being in a refrigerator when the light comes on’ and breaks down and we see Don recognize the same grief and loneliness and hug his fellow sufferer. It shows that empathy he has used physical closeness to imitate, he finally shows ‘the real thing’.

I think it’s ambiguous - you can read it as hopeful (don finds zen) or cynical (don commodifies his emotions AGAIN) - that’s the beauty of it

Def..even Jon hamm said he doesn't think don draper has a happy ending

Exactly!

andromedastar People think their children are their legacy when it’s actually how your children will remember you that is the legacy.

Thanks so much Noah!

An interesting explanation that I heard from other internet people is that throughout the series, which of course takes place almost entirely in the 60's, the country is going through a period of unrest and the general populace longs for the stability and prosperity of the 50's, just as Don longs for similar sense of a safe place of belonging. So he pitches ads that appeal to this nostalgia for the values and culture of the 50's (remember how much his ads focus on family togetherness and an adult's childhood nostalgia). However, by the end of the series (which is around 1970, -71), the country has become disillusioned and cynical, and longs for the optimism and raw idealism of the 60's. Don, in self-reflection, understands his need to be honest with himself and others, deal with his traumas, and ultimately becomes both more self-aware about himself and the culture as a whole. So, while he's cynically cashing in with the Coke commercial on the culture's desire for the ideological optimism of the past, it's also a sign he recognizes that he needs to connect with people honestly as his true self, as the commercial itself shows an idealization of people of all kinds of backgrounds becoming united, instead of idealizing a single image of what people should be (like being white, in a nuclear family, traditional, etc..). I hope that was intelligible, I know my syntax kind of stumbles over itself, and I'm not the best communicator. Regardless, the show (and this analysis) is great and thought-provoking. Also, I *do* like Coke...

Noah Berkley I guess is the other way around. He puts his new liberated view and strength into the culture and society needs (his own light, his own growing) through the publicity.

I read it as more he found solace and inner solitude in that blissful moment meditating in Northern California. He applies it to create the Coke ad, and it's his expression of self-understanding, bliss and harmony. Whether or not you perceive it cynically solely because Coca-Cola is unhealthy is your choice; Don's intentions are pure. He's not the creator of the product nor is he telling you to drink it in excess.

At the end of MM I had the feeling that Don found the keys to hippie culture (such as meditation, hugs and good wishes, liberation and multiculturalism) to turn it into advertising. There was catharsis, there was pain, but in the end Don reflects how advertising manages to appropriate even "good wishes" and turn them into merchandise. Despite this, this visual test I liked a lot and I hope to see more characters analyzed with the rigor of this fabulous youtube channel. Great job Screen Prism!

He should’ve went to prison and inform he will be up for parole at the age of 80 and all wishes is for Peggy to wait for him the day he leaves those doors

And that's the beauty of it ♡

Thank you so much Roland!

Thanks Elizabeth!

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

Thanks!

misha I think as a woman of color I always lived this show because of tbis. I identify with don so much. This is why I don't care if there are actors who look like me on tv. I identify with characters by their characters

i dont think you know what that actually means

Exactly , of course everyone wants to fit in but you got to be true to yourself and not forget who you are and where you came from.

You don't look like a POC to me.....are you Jewish?

are jew considered people of colour ?

We're working on it! :)

Thank you Sarah!

High key for me

She is lovely

Thanks so much Kam!

Gmael mEam I would like Pete, because even though he is the stereytope of the white male privilege kid. Growing up with a silver spoon. Even Don called him out on it in the first season. It was nice to see him grow up by the end of the show.

Pete: The 1960's Patrick Bateman

Thank you so much!

Peter E same here Peter. It's hard to WANT to understand him. But he's someone we could all relate to in different points in our lives. I understand him more now that I'm older.

Peter E --Not a guy, rich with kinda cute family 🤗, what I identify with is the deepest of shame, Don grew up deeply ashamed of who he is as the cornerstone of his personality. While he would commit an illegal act, one he could go to prison for, he only piled on the shame of his own actions to the ‘truth’ of himself. No matter what he achieves his inner self says he didn’t deserve it and he’ll lose it in a heartbeat, no one can REALLY love who I REALLY am, no matter the material or shallow surroundings, it’s all shadow. Someone loving him to assure him none of it matters, like he could have had, he would even see in her eyes “FAKE”, so he still had to run away to stay in the discomfort of distance. Outside ‘Stuff’ can’t heal the inside.

Yea don didn't make excuses that's why he was so successful. Had nothing to do with the color of his skin racist

A past that isn't that bad? Born to a prostitute, mercilessly beaten for years, raped by a prostitute, watches his father get killed by a horse, nearly dies in Korea. Yeah man, his past was just a walk in a shady park.

M S I think they meant it’s not something to be ashamed his childhood wasn’t his fault my husband has a similar background his mom was an addict abandoned him, he was molestes as child more then once. His uncle finally took him under his wing and finished raising him joined the army as well still serving. Only difference is his not a charmer or lady’s man but kind of socially awkward. Instead of hiding it someone who really loves you doesn’t care none of it was his fault