Characters on the Couch will feature a set of articles on Mad Men – a TV series so popular and realistic that Newsweek (March 28 and April 2, 2012) dedicated a double issue to “Welcome back to 1965.” Eleanor Clift, a Newsweek contributing editor and television pundit, lived through those changes. In her featured article on Mad Men, she bears witness to the problems of the day: “the early 60s – before civil rights, feminism, and antiwar protests were ‘the good old days . . . only if you happen to have been born white and male and heterosexual.’” No question about it. As we enter the world of Mad Men, we come face-to-face with all-too-blatant sexism, misogyny, racism, and antisemitism. As fantastic as this series is, the entitled elite men in Madison Avenue’s advertising world are, well, “cringe-worthy,” to say the least. Yet at the center of it all is trauma. Terrible childhood trauma. Don Draper’s trauma. Trauma he runs from for his life.
On the surface, the behaviors we see in him are quite disturbing. His sexual addiction, alcoholism, infidelity, lies, false identity, and the ways he hurts his children and many, many women. But beneath it all, hidden away and covered up, is a terrified, hurt little boy. A boy running from what he cannot know or face. Running, running for his life.
The early 60s were at the cusp of the countercultural revolution. As Bob Dylan sang, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” And they were, especially for women. For Don Draper, too, by the end, as hard as it is to heal from severe trauma.
In the articles to follow, I look closely at Don Draper and how severe childhood trauma is expressed. In starvation for love. Fear of love. Distrust of love. Infidelity. Self-hatred. Shame. Living lies. A desperate need to be desired. Terror of facing your past. And ultimately, finding that facing it brings healing and salvation. Don Draper goes through it all. And ... we will go with him …