Back in Austin, Pandagonians, and so regular blogging will commence. Which means I’m finally able to get around to “Mad Men” blogging, since I finally saw it last night. This edition’s title was suggested by Marc. As usual, spoilers.
Early on in the show, Don and Suzanne are laying in bed, talking about that little childish thing you wonder and never completely resolve as an adult: everyone roughly agrees on what is blue (or red or yellow), but are we actually seeing the same thing when we look at “blue”? In the strictest sense, we know that not everyone sees colors the same—-the existence of colorblindness proves that—-but for those of us not missing the sensors for certain colors, the question remains. When you see blue, does it look different than when I see blue?
On the surface, the conversation highlights the differences between Suzanne and Don’s worldviews, and explains why Don is going to start seeing Suzanne as a daughter figure he must protect (as Betty continues to wonder about Henry, a father figure). It’s not just that Suzanne engages with childish questions so earnestly (seeing a value in them I find legitimate), but also that Don is so cynical, believing (probably correctly) that the question is more a disturbance to most people than anything else, because everyone wants to see blue the same way.
But the questions also sets up the theme of this show, which is perception. The various story lines are all about looking at how one person’s view of another person may not match what others see. Or I’d say what’s there, but I think the show ends abruptly on an important question about what reality even is, as we get a shot of everyone looking at Don, and Betty’s view is so different than everyone else’s. But is it more accurate? At this point, I contest that Dick Whitman is really who Don Draper is, any more than we are “really” our childish selves, and not the people we become. Don just shoves his childish self in a box, while the rest of us file it away in our minds. But it’s understandable that Betty’s not going to see it that way. And so we’re asked to believe that the multiple views of Don Draper have varying degrees of accuracy, and two people who see very different views of Don can both be right. Roger’s speech points to this, when he calls Don a father, a husband, a partner, etc. Many different ways of seeing blue.