How To Be Don Draper

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Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:05:36 -0400

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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:18:29 -0400

Being a Threat.

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 01:10:20 -0400

“Ok send Draper in.” One thing Don Draper is, is a threat. People continously send him in to fix problems and he repeatedly does so. In that way, he is a mercenary. He is focused, determined, and confident he can handle the problem with his charm, force, whatever. Not only is he a domain expert (creative team), but he understands the business at Sterling Cooper. He has social intelligence as well as he is fit (which he uses against Roger in an episode). These make Don a threat. Where in your life do you feel a lack of control / expertise? Being a threat means feeling powerful. It means knowing (not simply thinking) you can control your circumstances.

Take it or leave it

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:43:09 -0400

I think the hardest thing in the world is to realize that our actions really have no meaning. Don says this himself:

“I’m living like theres no tomorrow, because there is none.”

While this philosophy could be taken as his free ticket to bad behavior, I think it illustrates something profound in Don’s life: his loneliness. If you truly feel like there is no stability — that tomorrow could end at any moment and that there is no real thing called “happiness” (simply something invented to sell nylons), then your view of life is simply: it is what it is. I am who I am. Meh, I dont give a shit if you care about my view of life or not. there is this very strong idea that in your solitude, there is strength. People have no control over you. You don’t seek their approval or seek love. Love is simply what people fall in and fall out of.

"Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell..."

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 14:02:04 -0400

““Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance that whatever you are doing is okay. You are okay. “”

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:17:27 -0400

Don is a man who knows himself, knows what he wants and doesn’t want. To want to be like Don Draper is OK. But through this site and process, you shouldn’t forget who you are and make smoking, women, and drinking your wants. Go after what YOU WANT. Quit that job that doesn’t bring happiness, dont be muffled by others, or please others. Please yourself. Self-interest. That is what Bert Cooper says to Don regarding being like the people in Atlas Shrugged:

You are a productive and reasonable man and in the end, completely self-interested

Don’s type? Contrast Rachel Menkin with Betty. Don...

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:06:00 -0400

Don’s type? Contrast Rachel Menkin with Betty. Don marries Betty since shes the “perfect” wife - perfect for the time. glamorous, perfect purebreed homemaker. Rachel is intelligent, perceptive, independent, and doesn’t put up with Don’s nonsense.

don: what do women want? roger: who cares?

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:29:31 -0400

i think theres some truth to that. haha. hear me out i think any guy who wants to know what women want, is headed in the wrong direction he's looking to be something to get women's approval which is inherently unattractive, but i guess uve got to do things like that to get to self-acceptance and dont giving a shit which is always attractive.

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Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:26:28 -0400

BUSINESS BEFORE WOMEN

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:24:40 -0400

- Don never approaches women, although if he did, i bet he’d kick ass and be successful. instead, he does his work and women come to him. example: rachel menkin, beautiful powerful business owner of a large boutique store. most men would be slightly intimidated (nowadays anyway) / affected. Don is not affected by women, he lets himself be affected. Meaning, he isn’t one to fall in love at first sight — based on looks, like most men. instead, he is just like a woman — he needs to find connection. however, he also is a man with a lot of issues, so when women make a pass at him (as long as he passes their “tests” — which is nothing for don, cuz thats who HE IS, there is no conscious passing), he cant refuse.

ABILITY TO MANAGE TENSION

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:13:21 -0400

- not just sexual tension, but any sort of tension. Look at how Don will stay silent instead of cracking, maintaining strong eye contact. he is the master of the pause. sometimes great communication is the art of knowing what not to say.

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” - Mark Twain"

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:47:56 -0400

““Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” - Mark Twain”

- Don makes sure his clothes are right. He has a wardrobe that is just as stylish as women’s.

"When you make something no one hates, no one loves it."

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:35:32 -0400

Don’s strong masculine qualities (doesn’t give a shit, on his path, work ethic) as well as negative qualities (big ego, lying) — along with the positive qualities that encourage envy, makes him someone people hate and love. Pete has a love hate relationship with Don. But that doesn’t matter.

The point: Don is not something for everyone. He doesn’t please everyone. Watch yourself in your life where you are trying to please others. Instead, ask: WHAT DO I WANT. That’s the trick. Don is a man who knows what he wants. Most people don’t. In fact, this is what he says to Rachel Menkin unapolegetically on the terrace.

Personality - Wikipedia

Sun, 30 May 2010 13:30:00 -0400

In many respects, Draper is the stereotype of an American upper-middle class white man of Post-World War II America. It becomes clear during the second season that many of Draper’s less admirable qualities (his infidelity, for example) are his way of dealing with internal conflicts. Draper appears to be one of the very few men at Sterling Cooper who does not engage in the sex-centered, locker-room style conversations that characterize its corporate culture. In fact, Draper keeps his extramarital affairs to himself and otherwise appears to be a decent and chivalrous man.

He warns Pete Campbell in the first episode (“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”) about his rude remarks to and about Peggy Olson, whom he has just met.

In the first episode of the second season (For Those Who Think Young), Draper is in an elevator listening to two younger men having a crude sexual conversation. Draper is disgusted and, when an older woman enters the elevator and they continue their graphic conversation, Draper twice tells one of the men to remove his hat. The man ignores Draper, who proceeds to remove the man’s hat himself, thereby ending the men’s conversation and sparing the woman further embarrassment.

During the episode “Six Month Leave,” Draper admonishes several subordinates for mocking Freddy Rumsen’s episode of urinary incontinence, a symptom of his alcoholism.

In “My Old Kentucky Home” (Season 3, Episode 3), Draper attends a festive Kentucky Derby party hosted by Roger Sterling, where he watches as Sterling serenades his young wife in blackface minstrel makeup. He and Pete Campbell seem to be the only guests who disapprove of or are uncomfortable with the spectacle.

Draper also adheres to a more strict code of business ethics than many of his colleagues. A second season arc has Draper upset about being told to drop the small local Mohawk Airlines client in favor of a chance at American Airlines. In Season 3, he is hesitant to sign a wealthy client eager to pour his fortune into promoting jai alai, a sport the client thinks will replace baseball as “America’s game,” Don knowing the client is about to squander his considerable fortune on a doomed enterprise.

He also keeps the secret of Art Director Sal Romano, a closeted and struggling homosexual, whom Don sees in a compromising position in a Baltimore hotel during a fire evacuation. Although Don continues to keep the secret, he nonetheless expresses his distaste for Sal’s sexual orientation when he fires him in Season 3 because the son of a prominent client is irate at Sal’s refusal to accept his sexual advances in the film editing room.

He has demonstrated a bold streak, perhaps best displayed in his snap decision to get fired from Sterling Cooper in order to form a new advertising agency.