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Posted
On 10/30/2025 at 12:31 PM, henrygandorf said:

i think pete and peggy kinda drank what others poured them, but i wanna say gin was in the mix. and i think lane drank gin.

Pete drank Cutty Sark quite regularly.  

Posted

Betty's purpose was to show a different class of victims of the wild chauvinism of that era. 

There's a pretty good argument that she should have been portrayed more sympathetically for that purpose.

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Posted (edited)

I don't skip anything, regardless of whether I like a character.  To understand the women in Don's life and how he relates to them is to better understand Don's character.  The finale makes that point not so subtly.

Hell, one of the first thing the show asks us is, "What do women want?"  Answer: A chance to get closer.

Edited by dcbc
Posted
6 hours ago, RPM said:

Then why was she such a bitch?

Chauvinism and misogyny?

But, more realistically, perhaps, I think she was intended to represent the underutilized housewife whose dreams and aspirations were crushed by domesticity.  The topic of Mother's Little Helper.  Why they had her express that as bitchiness is a good question.

To some extent, it postpones the viewer's candid assessment of Don, so he's not unlikeable from jump.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Folks who don't like Betty, what kinda character would you replace her with?

Well, you could make her a more sympathetic, less bitchy frustrated, depressed, and drug-addicted housewife that is kinder to her kids.

But that would make Don seem more like the dickhead that he probably is sooner than you discover that.

Posted
37 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Folks who don't like Betty, what kinda character would you replace her with?

Nobody dislikes Betty, the character is just given too much screen time.

January is hot, obviously.

Posted
17 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Chauvinism and misogyny?

But, more realistically, perhaps, I think she was intended to represent the underutilized housewife whose dreams and aspirations were crushed by domesticity.  The topic of Mother's Little Helper.  Why they had her express that as bitchiness is a good question.

To some extent, it postpones the viewer's candid assessment of Don, so he's not unlikeable from jump.

i like betty's character and her storylines are crucial the first time (or 3) that you go through the series. but yeah, when i rewatch, i want office shit. and when i say i like her character, i mean i like how it's written and played. you're not supposed to 'like' or 'admire' betty draper. she's an instrument. she's a reflection. she's shows us who don is and to a certain extent, who roger is.

what i really like in her character arc from s2-s3 is that she knows she's mad but doesn't really know why. she wants to be mad because she's quite positive don is cheating on her, but cannot prove it (finds only slogans on cocktail napkins in his pockets). that said, she's certain don is "hiding things from her" and she has that suspicion confirmed when she finds out he has a secret past/alternate identity/name/family, culminating in the gypsy and the hobo kitchen scene, which should've yielded every emmy imaginable.

it's where she is able to turn off the snark "oh i know, you're a very gifted storyteller" to some real empathy "i always assumed you were a football hero who hated his father" and "i knew you were poor, i've seen how you are with money, you don't understand it." we also see this in the scenes with her family, notably her brother, played by the incomparable eric ladin. i actually really like the hofstadt storylines throughout s2 and s3 and could've managed more of it, but obviously s4 went away from all things betty.

if i really put my women's empowerment hat on, i could even say that her s3-s4 arc is equally impressive, because it shows how strong and brave she was to want to get away from a destructive situation and actually act on it, whereas most women of the time would've stayed in an unhappy marriage because of 3 small children and all the money she could ask for. it's when she leaves to be with henry that we get a different pov on the whole thing. he will do anything to be with her - his character (underrated) always reminded me of sterling. a bit older, wiser, and willing to call a brat a brat. but like roger, he wanted what he wanted when he wanted it, and it didn't end well.

don writes her a letter basically saying that if they split up, she'll move on and find someone, but he'll be alone forever. even if he meant that metaphorically (he had to), we know what he really means and how he really feels. don, surrounded by people, is forever alone. always on the verge of panic and running away, not caring what he leaves in his wake.

one of my favorite story turns is how it doesn't take long for henry to tire of betty's shit, and that's the real moment that we know - she's the problem. betty is going to betty. she's incredibly consistent. her mother was a bitch and passed it on. her dad was a hardass who didn't make things better. everything wrong with sally is wrong because of betty.

don, in comparison, is surprisingly empathetic and thoughtful, which is why he's such a piece of talent in the advertising space. don has the ability to achieve perfection, because donald draper is an entirely fabricated individual. and if you were going to invent someone, you'd invent someone with minimal flaws. he had a traumatic childhood, upbringing, young-adulthood. but it never happened. it will shock you how much it never happened.

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Posted
17 hours ago, Parliament said:

Folks who don't like Betty, what kinda character would you replace her with?

I’d make her a swinger. With a deep dive into her proclivities.

 

But maybe that’s just me. 

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