How a psychologist thinks about your favorite Film & TV characters.
I’ve been rooting for Jon Hamm. As a Mad Men enthusiast and psychoanalyst, I’ve written a number of pieces on the effects of Don Draper’s early trauma. Not only that, I’ve long admired the way Hamm brings Don’s very real struggles to life. Little did I know that his own early history, in some critical …
Jon Hamm deserves an Emmy for Don Draper. I agree with Variety’s Debra Birnbaum about that. But, I find it unfortunate that voters would only now consider awarding him that Emmy. As Birnbaum wrote, Jon Hamm likely hasn’t won in the past since “Don Draper … was a cheating husband, a neglectful father, an unapologetic …
We’re all still talking about Mad Men Season 7 Finale. And, yes, I agree – the characters often hit close to home with many of life’s painful realities. Yet, I have to say that the tongue-in-cheek jingle at Mad Men’Season 7 Finale was a bit too disturbing. Leaving Sally (Kiernan Shipka) doing dishes in the …
Right when it seems life is moving along for Don in a more optimistic way, Mad Men Season 7 Episode 11 Time and Life comes along. McCann-Erickson plays a manipulative trick, absorbing Sterling Cooper & Partners. The agency’s identity is now gone. Does it take away Don’s as well? Don says to Roger: “What’s in …
Mad Men Season 7, Episode 8, Severance, shows us just how much Don Draper needs therapy. Psychoanalysis would be even better, with his traumatic history, one he’s unconsciously living out. Don’s needed therapy for a long time. But, now, with Meagan gone, this loss repeats earlier losses. And, with Don finally opening up about the …
Doing it her way has never been easy for Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss). For subtle but understandable reasons to me as a psychoanalyst, Peggy needs Don and yet hates herself (and him) for it. She’s just not as self-assured as she thinks she should be. Then, again, neither is Don Draper (Jon Hamm). They share this. …
