Don Draper 101

My college course on Mad Men taught my students to be smarter TV watchers.

It can teach you, too.
By Anne Helen etersen

The !nal e"am was to answer one o# two decept$%ely s$mple &uest$ons' ()ho $s
eggy *lson+, or ()ho $s Don Draper+,
Mad Med photos courtesy o# AM-. Blac.board by /hud$#eng0Th$n.stoc..
I# you were an $ncom$ng #reshman at my college th$s #all, you had do1ens o#
courses a%a$lable to usher you $nto the l$#e o# the m$nd. 2ou could ta.e Intro to
sych and !gure out why your roommate $s so we$rd. 2ou could ta.e Intro to
M$croeconom$cs, 3ust to show e%eryone who e%er told you4d ne%er learn
anyth$ng use#ul at a l$beral arts school. 2ou could enroll $n 5em$n$st 6ew$sh
Myst$c$sm to pro%$de coc.ta$l party con%ersat$on starters #or the rest o# your
adult l$#e. *r you could ta.e Mad Men' Med$a, 7ender, H$stor$ography, w$th me,
and ma.e your #r$ends wonder e"actly how you got your parents to pay #or you
to b$nge a show on 8et9$".
I don4t doubt that some o# my students %$ewed the class as an easy A be#ore
arr$%$ng on the !rst day. But by the end o# the semester, they .new you can
pac. a lot o# academ$c r$gor $nto a class about one cable drama ser$es. Because
a Mad Men class, l$.e so many other s$ngle:show:centr$c classes popp$ng up
across h$gher ed, o;ers a potent$al model #or a mode o# tele%$s$on cr$t$c$sm that
$s at once engaged, h$stor$c$1ed, and apprec$at$%e ... wh$le also thoroughly
$n%ested not only $n analys$s, but cr$t$&ue. roo#, $n other words, that #andom
can be smart and sel#:$nterrogat$ng<and that med$a consumpt$on can be as
academ$c and $ntell$gent, albe$t $n d$;erent ways, as an econ class.
eople are always ama1ed that you can teach an ent$re course on a tele%$s$on
show. (Don4t you get bored+, they as. me, or (Don4t you run out o# th$ngs to
tal. about+, But pro#essors teach ent$re courses on arad$se =ost and The
-anterbury Tales, on the wor. o# a s$ngle d$rector >(The 5$lms o# -l$nt
?astwood, and (The 5$lms o# H$tchcoc.,@, author >Aoth, 6oyce, 8abo.o%@, or
ph$losopher. )hether or not Mad Men e&uals these te"ts $n art$st$c mer$t $s a
bloody battle #or elsewhere, but the hand:wr$ng$ng o%er classes de%oted to
contemporary pop culture $s m$splaced' 8ot only $s there enough Mad Men
proper to !ll an ent$re course >more than BC hours o# $t and count$ng@, but a
wealth o# cultural h$story sp$rals #orth #rom e%ery ep$sode, r$pe #or d$scuss$on.
Do here4s how we d$d $t.
?ach student s$gned up #or a 8et9$" accountE be#ore each class, they4d watch
between two to !%e ep$sodes ass$gned by me. They4d also read an art$cle or
boo. e"cerpt<the %ast ma3or$ty o# wh$ch were wr$tten at or around the t$me $n
wh$ch the ser$es $s set. 5or an understand$ng o# the d$%$de between Don4s
suburban and urban l$#e<one o# the many roots o# h$s unhapp$ness<we read
Ae%olut$onary Aoad, The Man $n the 7ray 5lannel Du$t, and Med$tat$ons $n an
?mergency. 5or a not$on o# eggy and 6oan4s l$#e $n the c$ty, The Best o#
?%eryth$ng and, later, De" and the D$ngle 7$rl. To ma.e sense o# F$nsey and
M$dge, 8orman Ma$ler4s (The )h$te 8egro,E #or Betty4s ennu$, The 5em$n$ne
Myst$&ueE #or Dterl$ng -ooper4s m$l$eu, Da%$d *g$l%y4s -on#ess$ons o# an
Ad%ert$s$ng Man.
Those ass$gnments shouldn4t be all that surpr$s$ngE some, such as Med$tat$ons
$n an ?mergency, e%en ser%ed as #ocal po$nts w$th$n the %ar$ous ep$sodes. 2et
read$ng these wor.s ga%e students a larger sense o# what was percolat$ng
outs$de the narrat$%e bounds o# the show' ?%en $# eggy ne%er read De" and the
D$ngle 7$rl, she was !rmly pos$t$oned w$th$n a culture that $ncreas$ngly
reproduced the att$tudes toward se" and consumpt$on art$culated by Helen
7urley Brown. ut d$;erently, these te"ts made culture, and culture made our
characters.
All but two o# my students entered as non#ans' In my e"per$ence, college
students l$.e to watch th$ngs that help them w$nd down a#ter a n$ght o#
study$ng >The M$ndy ro3ect, Archer, and Dcandal are current #a%or$tes@ not
ponderous GH:m$nute &uas$:e"$stent$al contemplat$ons on Amer$can $dent$ty. In
the beg$nn$ng, many o# them adm$tted to d$Iculty $n embrac$ng the show. It
d$dn4t b$nge as eas$ly as someth$ng l$.e House o# -ardsE $t #elt, $n one student4s
words, (%ery long., And so $t $s<at least at !rst. Be$ng $n a class, howe%er,
#orced students to power through the natural $ncl$nat$on to go #or someth$ng
snapp$er and se"$er. A#ter all, so many o# the best th$ngs $n l$#e<co;ee, beer,
mushrooms<taste we$rd unt$l, one day, they taste ama1$ng.
*#tent$mes, deep $n lo%e w$th a show, we 3ust don4t read the th$ngs that
threaten to puncture our en3oyment. But my students had to.
)h$ch $s pretty much what happened about a month $n. Duddenly I had
students ema$l$ng, tweet$ng, and .noc.$ng down my oIce door to tal. about
plot po$nts as they happened. They de%oured the 4J0s and 4K0s (pr$mary te"ts,
not necessar$ly because a pro#essor told them they were (good,, but because
they unloc.ed the characters, the$r m$l$eu, and the$r mot$%at$ons, wh$ch only
#urther aI"ed them to Mad Men proper.
There4s a danger $n any class de%oted to a s$ngle author or te"t turn$ng $nto an
endless #an club<a danger that, a month $n, I #elt acutely. I# a show were
worthy o# such susta$ned attent$on, $t would #ollow that $t would also mer$t our
unadulterated lo%e, wh$ch was prec$sely what I was beg$nn$ng to sense #rom
the ma3or$ty o# the class. But Mad Men4s not $nterest$ng because o# $ts &ual$tyE
rather, $t4s &ual$ty because o# the ways $t $n%$tes us to th$n. o# narrat$%e,
$dent$ty, race, gender, class, memory<and how all those th$ngs contr$buted to
what became 1LK0s Amer$ca.
To cons$der those &uest$ons, %$s$t$ng those 4J0s and 4K0s te"ts wasn4t enough.
Thus, $n add$t$on to read$ng more recent te"ts that conte"tual$1ed %ar$ous
cultural trends o# the 4K0s >Thomas 5ran.4s The -on&uest o# -ool, #or e"ample,
or =$1abeth -ohen4s A -onsumer4s Aepubl$c@ we also &uest$oned the way Mad
Men $tsel# (does, h$story. How does the show address<and $gnore<race+ How
does $t $llum$nate the 6ew$sh e"per$ence, g$%e short shr$#t to the A#r$can:
Amer$can one, and almost completely el$de the e"$stence o# other races+ And
what does the ma.eup o# the wr$ters4 room<and that o# showrunner Matthew
)e$ner<ha%e to do w$th the answers to those &uest$ons+
)e d$dn4t necessar$ly arr$%e at answers so much as de%elop strateg$es<and
$dent$#y traps to a%o$d. Because when you lo%e a per$od p$ece, $t4s easy to
e"cuse $ts #aults $n the name o# h$stor$cal or narrat$%e accuracy. The blatant
rac$sm, m$sogyny, class$sm<that4s the po$nt. There4s some mer$t to th$s
argument >I lo%ed )$lla as.$n4s recent appl$cat$on o# $t to True Detect$%e@ so
long as we4re constantly tal.$ng about the absences<o# characters o# color, o#
9eshed:out #emale characters<$nstead o# s$mply #orgett$ng them.
)h$ch $s why we read (Mad Men4s ostrac$al 5$gurat$on o# a Aac$al ast,, a
superb essay by h$stor$an Fent *no that not only e"pands the cr$t$&ue o# Mad
Men4s rac$al pol$t$cs to $nclude $ts treatment o# As$an:Amer$cans but e;ect$%ely
undercuts the cla$m that Mad Men4s dep$ct$on o# rac$sm $s, $n truth, an ant$:
rac$st act. -haracters o# color<e%en relat$%ely well:de%eloped ones l$.e -arla or
Holl$s<become #o$ls to eluc$date the act$ons o# wh$te >ma$n@ characters. It4s not
3ust the sett$ng that segregates and de%alues them but the narrat$%e $tsel#.
*no4s stunn$ng argument de9ated many o# my students who, by the end o#
Deason H, had #allen hard #or the Mad Men un$%erse. *no4s argument wasn4t
ent$rely no%el<people ha%e been cr$t$&u$ng Mad Men4s rac$al pol$t$cs all o%er
the Internet #or years<but, at least $n the conte"t o# the classroom, $t was
un$gnorable. *#tent$mes, deep $n lo%e w$th a show, we 3ust don4t read the
th$ngs that threaten to puncture our en3oyment. But th$s essay was ass$gned,
and necessary #or a wr$t$ng pro3ect, and the #ocus o# an C0:m$nute class
d$scuss$on' ?%en $# a student d$sagrees, she st$ll had to hear the argument4s
most compell$ng po$nts hashed out, elaborated, made %$s$ble and %$%$d. The
classroom #orced the students, as %$ewers, to engage w$th counterarguments $n
depth, at length, and w$th thought#ulness<the %ery $n%erse o# much o# what
the Internet as.s o# them on a da$ly bas$s.
5or HG students, the Mad Men class modeled an engaged, h$stor$c$1ed, sel#:
re9e"$%e approach to the med$a we lo%e. The$r !nal e"am was to answer one o#
two decept$%ely s$mple &uest$ons' ()ho $s Don Draper+, or ()ho $s eggy
*lson+, Instead o# art$culat$ng what they lo%ed or hated about the show, they
were #orced to cons$der the how and the who, the cultural and narrat$%e and
aesthet$c #orces that produced characters whose place $n tele%$s$on h$story $s
already secure.
I4m certa$nly not the !rst person to teach a class th$s way<The )$re, The
D$mpsons, =aw M *rder, The Dopranos, Bu;y the Vamp$re Dlayer, and do1ens o#
other tele%$s$on te"ts ha%e been taught as standalone classes #rom *berl$n to
MIT to DN82 *swego. 8o two classes are the same<each $s $n9ected w$th $ts
home d$sc$pl$ne >med$a stud$es, h$story, pol$t$cs, soc$ology@ <but $n %ar$ous
ways, they all o;er a s$mple recal$brat$on $n the way we th$n. about our
tele%$s$on' not whether or not we l$.e someth$ng, but why.
And e%en $# you4re not $n college, you can st$ll e"per$ence th$s $ntense, deep
engagement w$th a show. My syllabus $s onl$ne, but you don4t e%en need a
read$ng l$st<although I guarantee $t w$ll compl$cate and enr$ch your e"per$ence
o# a show. 2ou 3ust need to start th$n.$ng d$;erently, whether that4s wh$le
watch$ng Mad Men or 7ame o# Thrones or Dcandal. Ae:embrace your $nner
student and remember why, $deally, we ta.e classes $n the !rst place' not to
aIrm what we already bel$e%e, but to challenge and change us.