We're Not Supposed To Judge Don Draper?!

As the last episode of the first half of Mad Men's final season (Whew! That is a mouthful!) approaches, everyone has their own theories on how things are going to end and that includes one Mr. Stephen Colbert. Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner stopped by The Colbert Report Tuesday night and he got to hear Colbert's thoughts on the show and his idea for the show's finale. He also explained how Don Draper isn't really meant to be judged which made me go, "What?! Then I've been doing it wrong all along!"

Colbert asks Weiner why Don Draper has to be so complicated. "Why present something complex? Why can't I just be kind of a fun and sexy, good looking guy and take all that inner life and just keep it down?"

For reals! This show is stressful! But as Weiner explains, it is all about dichotomies and presenting an account of the generation before the baby boomers and examining the American male and all that sophisticated stuff. He says,

I always saw it that [Don Draper] was about the split message that the American male gets... On the one hand you have to be, like, little league coach, PTA guy, great husband, great dad and, on the other hand, you are supposed to smoke as much, drink as much, and get laid as much as possible. Those two messages are being sent at the same time.

This part totally makes sense, but the next bit is harder to live up to. He says, "I'm always surprised by how much people get off on him winning, but I don’t judge him at all. None of it's supposed to be a judgement of the audience." I understand this, but it's nearly impossible achieve as a viewer. Judging Don Draper is one of the main attractions of the show. Audiences want tune in and torture themselves, not knowing if Don is going to cheat again, drink too much again, or screw himself over at his job again. When he wins we get to take a, usually short-lived, sigh of relief. You did this to us, Weiner! You made us this way!

Of course, Weiner kept his talk about Mad Men general, but Colbert offered up his own idea for an ending. "A great ending to this series, Mad Men, would be if in the last episode, Don turned to the camera and he explained the ending of The Sopranos." Ha. Ha. Very funny. I know he has a real theory in there somewhere, it just probably involves a lot of Don Draper judgments and he was too embarrassed to admit it.