Draper's Inferno

7/31/2019 Draper's Inferno

1/22

Or How To Sell The Hell Out Of It Without Even Trying

David Weisblatt

Shortly before its first season, Mad Men creator, Matthew Weiner described

his new series as science fiction set in the past. Despite the implied

contradictions, it is a fairly straight forward claim; perhaps deceptively so.

Though it is true both may act as cautionary tales, Weiner knows "Mad Men"

does something science fiction can't. Because when we replace Mars with

Madison Avenue, we get a chance, not only, to contemplate where we're going,

but how we got here.

While Don Draper and the rest of SCDP may believe it has been through the

all-American pursuit of happiness, we intuitively know happiness is not an easy

thing to define. As Draper says in "The Color Blue" (S03/E10) "People may see


2/22

things differently but they don't really want to." Though season five may have

opened with its characters relatively content, to quote Roger Sterling, "It wore

off."

This fits in neatly with one of "Mad Men's" dominant themes this past season"Not knowing when something is good. It began before its first episode even

aired: not in the controversial "falling man" ads (which we will address later)

but in the one seen here.

Through a glass darkly/ Don, in rare moment of self reflection

In the photo, Draper stares at his own reflection in a department store

window. The image is mysterious and alienating; but what may be more

interesting is what appears behind him. A close look above his hat reveals a

sign that reads simply "S Nicholas".

While this may seem inconsequential at first, it relates directly to somethingWeiner said in an interview earlier this year. When asked whether this past

season suggested theres a trade-off between happiness and success, this is

what he said:

"Right, (Don says) happiness is the moment before you need more happiness.

That is not a healthy way to think. I know he sold the hell out of it and the
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-04-dCsePogI/UDUAGFprrjI/AAAAAAAAAD0/IBskqtvK6nk/s1600/BIGG.jpg


3/22

audience was distracted by Jon Hamms incredible delivery and the great

directing in that episode. But the words hes saying are strange."

Are they? The reason "S Nicholas" is important here, is not because it's the

name of a fictional department store, but who S Nicholas was; St. Nicholas.

Life saver/ St. Nicholas patron saint of sailors

Long before being transformed into Santa Claus, Nicholas was the patron saint

of New York City...and sailors. The miracle he is most associated with is known

as "The Multiplication of The Wheat".

According to Wikipedia:

"During a great famine that the Bishop of Myra experienced, a ship was is in

the port at anchor, which was loaded with wheat for the Emperor in

Constantinople. He invited the sailors to unload a part of the wheat to help in

time of need. The sailors at first disliked the request, because the wheat had to

be weighed accurately and delivered to the Emperor. Only when Nicholaspromised them that they would not take any damage for their consideration,

the sailors agreed. When they arrived later in the capital, they made a

surprising find: the weight of the load had not changed, although the wheat

removed in Myra was enough for two full years and could even be used for

sowing."
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AME28IcyjY0/UDUAq56fq5I/AAAAAAAAAD8/wh23hMztrmc/s1600/st-nicholas-patron-saint-of-sailors.jpg


4/22

Not only does this story resound in the world of Sterling, Cooper, Draper &

Pryce, it could serve as a metaphor for post-war America as a whole. When

Roger Sterling quipped ... it's sacrilege to say this, but Pearl Harbor was an act

of genius. The only thing they didn't plan for was success", he obviously didn't

understand the irony of his words.

So, while Peggy may believe Don doesn't "know when something is good", the

problem more likely, is he has "too much of a good thing". But then again, it

may be the word "good" itself that is the problem. This reading of "Mad

Men" suggests a post-war America squandering its blessings by

associating happiness ("good") with power (also "good"); materialistic or

otherwise . But, of course, power too is open for interpretation; although "Mad

Men" ( at this point) appears to be taking a particularly Focauldian approach

(be it an early one) in equating it with domination and control. In "Anti-

Oedipus", the French thinker writes:

The strategic adversary is fascism... the fascism in us all, in our heads and in

our everyday behavior, the fascism that causes us to love power, to desire the

very thing that dominates and exploits us.

It's hard not to empathize with Peggy in this regard. Despite her truly Pegasus-

like ascent ; as a woman in 1967, she still ends the season on the ground floor

of a motel (watching from her window as one dog mounts another) . Don, on

the other hand, may be driven more by a fear of the "exact opposite" : the

realization control can not exist without chaos. It only takes an ill timed

elevator, as we saw, to expose him to the nothingness beneath his feet.


5/22

Schrodinger's Elevator/ Don stares down the abyss

The implications of gravity's pull are on full display in season one's "5G"

(S01/E05). The episode is literally one of ups and downs; people get drunk and

wake up hung over, horse shoe trophies turn from u's to n's; and the 5g's that

jerk Don back with the arrival of his brother, are resisted with 5g's worth of

cash. But, eventually, the most important thing the episode teaches us is,

that in the world of "Mad Men", the only way you can really defy it is with a

noose around your neck (and even then it's the gravity of the situation that

does you in).

Weiner & Co. have never relied on one literary or dramatic device to drive

"Mad Men's" narrative forward. In a single episode a viewer can be taken from

the Acropolis to the Globe; from the Uncanny Valley ofHitchcock & Freudto

the never-ever land of Derrida's ghosts. But there is one story line that has

been playing itself out repeatedly; given even more urgency by the writers this

past season. It is based in the Greek myth of Phaethon (literally, "The Shining",

something I'll come back to) and like much mythology it is a cautionary tale of

ego and hubris. Perhaps the most famous version of it is told by Ovid in

"Metamorphoses".

According to Wikipedia:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E7AWsxebYZY/UEImpFNV5cI/AAAAAAAAAbg/Fl3ylDH5NTc/s1600/donshaft.pnghttp://s1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii612/davion99/?action=view&current=e211bdaf.jpghttp://s1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii612/davion99/?action=view&current=e211bdaf.jpghttp://people.emich.edu/acoykenda/uncanny1.htmhttp://people.emich.edu/acoykenda/uncanny1.htmhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E7AWsxebYZY/UEImpFNV5cI/AAAAAAAAAbg/Fl3ylDH5NTc/s1600/donshaft.pnghttp://people.emich.edu/acoykenda/uncanny1.htmhttp://s1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii612/davion99/?action=view&current=e211bdaf.jpg


6/22

Phaethon seeks assurance that his mother, Clymen, is telling the truth that his

father is the sun god Helios (as her husband is Merops, a mortal king). When

Phaethon obtains his father's promise to drive the sun chariot as proof, he fails

to control it and the Earth is in danger of burning up (in most versions it does

burn up) when Phaethon is killed by a thunderbolt from Zeus to preventfurther disaster.

Crash & Burn/ Phaethon loses control of the sun

Like much folklore, the story not only equates the power of the sun with the

father, but the father with God. A less violent version of it is played out at theend of "Commissions & Fees" (S05/E12). Glen Bishop, in a moment of self pity,

asks Don why "Everything good turns to crap?" Don, in the role of the good

father, asks him 'if there were anything in the world' Glen could do right now,

what would it be? The episode ends with Glen behind the wheel of Don's car.

Drive/ Don & Glen move forward
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8jtTX_tGppk/UDUB1hdjbzI/AAAAAAAAAEM/aieRMpxwA5M/s1600/onadrive.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hTgCF4p0kmQ/UDUBN4dKvsI/AAAAAAAAAEE/OKmDW_cPiwg/s1600/phaethon.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8jtTX_tGppk/UDUB1hdjbzI/AAAAAAAAAEM/aieRMpxwA5M/s1600/onadrive.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hTgCF4p0kmQ/UDUBN4dKvsI/AAAAAAAAAEE/OKmDW_cPiwg/s1600/phaethon.jpg


7/22

While this version of the story may not end in a blazing crash and burn, the

one being enacted by Pete Campbell continues to do damage.

Although he may have not opted out like Adam and Lane (at least not yet) Pet

does experience the effects of gravity in a meaningful way. Clearly "over his

skis", He has not even yet learned to drive when he first sets his sights on

Jaguar. He soon finds out, however, that business at that "high a level" can

make you a little weak at the knees.

Over his skis/ Pete Campbell doing business at a "very high level"

Falling hard for another man's wife he asks her to follow him to sunny

California (which, like Don, he says always makes him feel better) but when, in

"The Phantom" (S05/E13), she opts instead to go through with electric shock

treatment for her depression, he is literally zapped from her memory; struck

down by Zeus like young Dick Whitman's father all those years ago. Landing

that same episode on a commuter train with the woman's husband, he is struckdown again. He returns home to his wife who believes he's been in a crash.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o2DPTeq4mmw/UDZFnwyq4eI/AAAAAAAAAFU/ozO_D4q9eag/s1600/ZSKEEZ.jpeg


8/22

Projecting/ A battered & bruised Pete Campbell in driver's ed.

Don's turn comes in "Commissions & Fees". After an exchange in a barber

shop in which he experiences, what Nietzsche called, "the pangs of undeserved

praise", he cleanses his conscience by taking a meeting with Dow Chemical.

"Free Credit" / Don gets religion in this dissolve from "Commissions & Fees"

In his pitch he makes the Faustian promise that thenapalm they profit from

won't hinder him from increasing their market share (that's right he literally

sells the hellout of it) ; of course he assures them the opposite.

And if Greek tragedy teaches us anything, it's that the sins of the father are,

more often than not, paid for by the son.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QAekpurk6Xc/UDUDVoVvkYI/AAAAAAAAAEU/C-cIlCgCEzo/s1600/downgoes.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalmhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CHVBZ9CPhpg/UDUEUbPwVnI/AAAAAAAAAEc/B_5vv3mXAok/s1600/phantomdisolve.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QAekpurk6Xc/UDUDVoVvkYI/AAAAAAAAAEU/C-cIlCgCEzo/s1600/downgoes.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CHVBZ9CPhpg/UDUEUbPwVnI/AAAAAAAAAEc/B_5vv3mXAok/s1600/phantomdisolve.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QAekpurk6Xc/UDUDVoVvkYI/AAAAAAAAAEU/C-cIlCgCEzo/s1600/downgoes.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalm


9/22

Selling the 'hell' out of napalm/ Don pitches Dow Chemical

Its employees may at times seem directionless, but Sterling, Cooper, Draper &

Pryce is on the rise. In fact, the money is piling up so fast, they've had to

acquire the floor above them just to keep pace. This is the same floor, we

learn, that once housed a parachute company. According to Harry Crane

they moved to Washington to be closer to the cemetery. But what at first

comes off as an ironic aside is, in fact, something more.

Up The Building Without A Chute/ The caption reads "A catastrophe that should have never happened"
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HO3TCIe1tl8/UHyGJVmLX1I/AAAAAAAAB68/B7xPOlwdPvM/s1600/TRAPPED.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wPek0qTAqYA/UDZLuaehbvI/AAAAAAAAAFk/3FEFtCRMtLg/s1600/sellinghell.pnghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HO3TCIe1tl8/UHyGJVmLX1I/AAAAAAAAB68/B7xPOlwdPvM/s1600/TRAPPED.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wPek0qTAqYA/UDZLuaehbvI/AAAAAAAAAFk/3FEFtCRMtLg/s1600/sellinghell.png


10/22

In speaking about his "Sopranos" days with Wesleyan University, Weiner

expressed his reverence for show creator David Chase's preference for

subtext. He tells the article's author he prefers dialogue to hint at underlying

tension not expose it: I dont like people talking about the real subject

because people never do.

With this in mind, Crane's observation makes for an ominous one. We

know the Time-Life building is still standing, and the 37th and 38th floors

have never experienced any physical trauma. But we've also seen the show's

opening creditsand understand their implications.

We also know Weiner has denied the image was meant to offend a nation still

reeling from the 9/11 attacks. It is interesting to note, however, that he has

never denied their connection. That's because he knows, whether implied or

otherwise, he can't. As television historian Gary Edgerton notes:

Mad Mens perspective is resolutely post-9/11. This vantage point is not just

chronological; it is psychic and visceral. On the surface, Mad Mens mise-en-scene and iconography may appear nostalgic, but it comes with an attitude

towards the past that exposes the workaday sexism, racism, adultery,

homophobia, and anti-semitism of the era

He continues, moving on to Richard Drew's "Falling Man" photograph:

The terrible, quiet serenity of that image provides a disturbing template for

Mad Mens animated black silhouette, capturing the full intensity andunease

of our time. As the protagonist lands smoothly on his chair, his perspective is

ours as we look over his shoulder. He may strike a confident pose with a

cigarette dangling from his fingers, but situated as we are behind him, we

know better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgNOMJBVEjchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgNOMJBVEjchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgNOMJBVEjc


11/22

There is an argument to be made Weiner is fully conscious of "Mad Men's"

9/11 subtext, as the image below may or may not suggest. Whatever the case

may be, "Mad Men" is in no way attempting to trivialize these events. More

importantly, the attacks are just a part of a much larger picture.

Writing On The Wall?/ A screen capture bears an eerie resemblance to 9/11 attacks

Like all tragedy, Weiner has said more than once his show is aboutconsequences. As I mentioned in an earlier post, for the Greeks those

consequences could extend not only to a play's characters , but possibly their

children or their children's children. This is what is commonly referred to as

the "family curse." But this idea is not relegated to the Greeks. A more
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1S4kzYLYP0Q/UHyT4j_ZFzI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/H19LUadV9pE/s1600/plane1.jpg


12/22

modern twist , that suits both our purposes, is Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall Of

The House Of Usher".

From Wikipedia:

The legend opens with the unnamed narrator arriving at the (decaying) house

of his friend, Roderick Usher, having received a letter from him in a distant part

of the country complaining of an illness and asking for his help. It is revealed

that Roderick's twin sister, Madeline, is also ill and falls into cataleptic,

deathlike trances.

Roderick later informs the narrator that his sister has died and insists that she

be entombed..Over the next week both Roderick and the narrator find

themselves becoming increasingly agitated for no apparent reason.

We later learn his sister was in fact alive when she was entombed and that

Roderick Usher knew (it).

The bedroom door is blown open to reveal Madeline standing there. She falls

on her brother, and both land on the floor as corpses.

The narrator then flees the house, and, as he does so, notices a flash of light

causing him to look back upon the House of Usher, in time to watch it break in

two.

More than a hundred years after the story was first published, science fictionwriter L. Sprague de Camp made the coomonly accepted argument that,

although it is never explicitly stated, it is inferred that the family suffered from

a history of incest. Writing about their eventual fall he states, "Roderick

Usher, his sister Madeline, and the house all shared one common soul".


13/22

In this sense, horror fans may recognize similarities with Stanley Kubrick's

"The Shining." Perhaps more a meditation on the nature of evil than a classic

ghost story, Kubrick's Overlook hotel is no doubt haunted. What exactly

possesses the building, and in what manner, has been a source of much of

debate. The film's dialogue hints at a Native American burial ground, while thescore of another scene makes chilling allusions to the Holocaust. It is more

than likely both were implied, and the hotel, not unlike the House of Usher, is a

living embodiment of man's inhumanity to man.

There Will Be Blood/Ever feel like you're being watched?

This past season, more than any other, there has been a sense that the offices

of SCDP are too alive. Again, metaphorically. I am not suggesting "Mad Men" is

a horror film; at least not in the typical sense.

An early reference to the building being something more than just a physical

structure comes in "The Grown Ups" (S03/E12). Now better known as "the

Kennedy assassination episode", the story begins, innocently enough with a
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-JWAjMylfI/UHy4KDeizoI/AAAAAAAAB70/Rz9vVSHXigE/s1600/SHINY2.jpg


14/22

discussion about the temperature. After first complaining about how cold it is

inside, Peggy later complains about the heat. Paul Kinsey's response, even if

not memorable, is important. "Ask the building for heat", he says, "you get

heat."

Going Down?/ Don on the edge

In season five, although SCDP relocated to the "Time-Life" building, "their

souls" have followed. Not only has the parachute company abandoned them,

the elevators themselves (as seen in the above photo) are getting in on the act.

The most telling scene is Lane being unable to start his Jaguar. If he wanted to

kill himself, it was going to be on the 37th floor. In this Easter-centric episode;

the office demanded sacrifice.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0pEOZhojTLk/UFTSpNGpXKI/AAAAAAAABFY/yqznfvmj8mo/s1600/DONELEVATOR3.png


15/22

A Dream Deferred/Lane envisions the futue

Here's Matthew Weiner describing an "actual" ghost in season four's "The Suitcase" (S04/E07):

This is the way that it happens, because were somehow connected to each

other. I always say, OK, its a ghost. Fine, you think its something

extraordinary. What about AM radio? Thats extraordinary. Cell phones are

extraordinary. A connection to another human being should not be seen as

extraordinary.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWygRhjxnLM/UH25mgy7TZI/AAAAAAAAB9k/6xq7Ecjk1GM/s1600/building.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWygRhjxnLM/UH25mgy7TZI/AAAAAAAAB9k/6xq7Ecjk1GM/s1600/building.jpg


16/22

Out Of The Past/ Anna moves on in "The Suitcase"

Weiner's statement is something I want to come back to, but let's go back to

Lane for a moment. Weiner described his suicide as a "high level" joke. This

may sound callous until you remember "high level" is also the way Pete

Campbell describes his business dealings with Herb Rennet. Rennet, head of

Jaguar's dealer association, is the man who demands to sleep with Joan, in

return for his business.

So, what do these two things have in common? Superficially, perhaps, nothing.

But this brings us back to what Weiner said about subtext. I would argue this

"higher level" is a the mythic/spiritual realm.

French thinker Rene' Girard, best known for his theory of mimetic desire, is also

discussed for his radicalized concept of the scapegoat. The essence of Girard's

thinking is as follows:

1. We learn to desire by imitating the desire of others
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NOhOdemnaic/UH29fBYvqqI/AAAAAAAAB-E/EjpEI-2ZNYg/s1600/ANNA.jpg


17/22

2. It is not merely that we desire the same things, we imitate the desire.

3. This desire leads to rivalry which inevitably leads to violence.

4. This violence ends in the lynching (symbolic or otherwise) of the scapegoat.

For Girard, a Christian, the ultimate scapegoat is Christ. For "Mad Men" it is

Lane Pryce. Think of his career since coming to SCDP. What he desires, more

than anything, is to be an American. He does this through imitation; the Mets

pendant, the Statue of Liberty, the Playboy Bunny. It reaches its pinnacle in his

foged imitation of Don. But he is caught. His "sacrifice" brings about stability

(the money, not unlike Christopher's death at the hands of Tony in "The

Sopranos", another Weiner penned episode) but it also comes with the

inherent guilt.

Cutting The Cord/ Pete completes his Oedipal cycle
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hUAm47kMA3s/UH3I8HtNfkI/AAAAAAAAB-k/GAvP8PbnJdI/s1600/pete-cuts-the-rope.jpg


18/22

I mentioned earlier that Weiner once described "Mad Men" as science fiction

set in the past. Let's take a closer look at the "science" part of that. Roger

describes Lane's suicide note with an interesting choice of words:

boilerplate. Let's take that literally. A liquid reaches its boiling point through

an increase in temperature. As the temperature increases, the kinetic energyincreases which causes increasing molecular motion (vibrations and molecules

slipping past each other). Eventually the molecular motion becomes so intense

that the forces of attraction between the molecules are disrupted to the point

where they break free of the liquid and become a gas. The energy is changed,

but not destroyed.

Lane Change/Gone but not forgotten

We'll talk more about the importance of this in just a moment, but let's

first head back to "The Grown Ups" for an example of how this device has

been used before. The Kennedy assassination is now thought by many to be

the spark that ignited the social unrest of the 60's. As I mentioned earlier, the

initital conflict of the episode takes place not between characters but

temperatures. First the building is too hot, then too cold. If you were a

meteorologist you would know when two fronts like this collide the likely

result is a tornado. A very strong argument could be made this country has
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J61ULIVZ294/UIGCjLG-6FI/AAAAAAAACEc/IJ09mbxY7iU/s1600/LANECHANGE.jpg


19/22

still not recovered from the shock of his death. I think of "Once in a Lifetime"

by the Talking Heads: "And now the twister comes, here comes the twister."

In the season five premiere Lane shouts "I will always be here." He will. He isnot dead, he has merely changed forms. But an investigation into the heat his

death has already given off isn't promising for the future of the firm. Yes, they

are "rising", but at what cost? There is more money, but that means there is

also a greater space to fill.

When Joan marks the spot where the staircase Lane's life insurance has bought

them will go, it appears to us not only as a memorial of his sacrifice, but also

as an eery reproduction of the annotation a chess player makes when he traps

his opponent. We know Joan and Don feel guilty. But to what lengths will they

go to repress to it? In the scene where Joan tells Don about Lane's life

insurance money we find another interesting choice of words : what are we to

do with this profit? Is it really too farfetched to think the word Weiner really

intended wasprophet?


20/22

At The Crossroads/Joan mark a new beginning

And let's remember that Joan too was sacrificed. Weiner has gone on recordsupporting her decision. He has not done the same for Pete and Herb. That's

because this "high level" offering was of the Faustian kind.

For Dante, the Devil had more in common with Phaethon, than the Satan of

today. Caught up in his own beauty, power, and pride, he attempts to usurp

Gods throne:

I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit

on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops

of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High."

But this was not to be. Instead he is portrayed as just another victim of

Hell; trapped, not in fire, but ice -- and mindlessly feeding.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UWWkCim6XhM/UIGVyu7dQzI/AAAAAAAACE8/YjaGuWcenRU/s1600/XMARKSPOT.jpg


21/22

Just Your Average Frozen Little Devil/Nicholson chills out in "The Shining"

We know, though, these sacrifices too are representative of something much

larger. It is the cigarettes they sold despite the cancer. It is the Jaguar, the

hummer, the luxury gas guzzlers that still guide our foreign policy. It is the

bombs dropped and the lives lost. Yes, 9/11 is a part of this. Global Warming

and the great recession are too.

Roger sterling says it's every man for himself. Matthew Weiner clearly

disagrees. And in the end that may be what "Mad Men" is about: a subtle

reminder that we're all in this together, and the price we pay when we act like

we're not.

For Don Draper and company that reminder will not be so subtle. The heat is

rising and the "madness" is spreading (note the expanding "family" and uses of

words like brother and sister in "The Phantom."). 1968 is just around the

corner. So is James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, Chicago and Watts. Manson and

Altamont are not far behind.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D5B6dplg2IQ/UH3NKADXacI/AAAAAAAAB_E/Lrrn9u4m_yM/s1600/FROZENJACK.jpg


22/22

In 1882 history's most famous "Mad Man" proclaimed "God Is dead".

Another now says the parachutes are gone. The elevator goes up, the sun

shines down, and gravity waits.

Documents

Draper's Inferno