@@headphonic8 It can buy you a better class and wider variety of the pain of the human condition, or ease the way through life's difficulties. It's better than having none. That's its only promise, always kept. Any misadventure is one's own making.
And the politicians are much worse. Especially the socialists. They make their money by stealing from others. At least Draper convinces the idiots to give it away, he doesn't TAKE it against their will with guns.
only because it's framed that way....it's just a basic statement and view, before more can be added. i can see many hippy responses countering this view. what hippy would be defeated by this basic opinion?
Not really because the hippies did call him out on bullshit. He does invent wants, he does corrupt Americans to have a want for shit they don't need. He's also correct that the universe doesn't care about human bullshit. Both are right. But don is nihilistic while the hippie is more humane.
The universe is indifferent. But Draper's "There is no system" is a lie. His big lie he tells himself. Humans make systems. It's our nature. He lies to himself to avoid looking at the the results of his systems.
Mmm considering that life gets smarter over time, I'd say the universe steers in the right direction despite having conditions that stress and develop said life in ways that seem paradoxical.
It doesn't matter what it does and doesn't do, only what people believe it can do. People buy toothpaste everyday not from necessity, but because they believe it will improve their life, their image or even change them as a person. For hundreds of years people bought anything on the promises of healing, redemption or being a part of something bigger. The power of buying into a belief, even if it's a fantasy, is a fundamental part of advertising and selling literally anything, regardless of whether its a product, an idea, an invention or a cause. You don't sell on facts, you sell on dreams.
Not really hippie. And I'm pretty sure after he's got his cha-ching idea to use hippie propaganda against them he went right back to his privileged existence. Like a baws.
@@tblightningbolt8902 that zen don found didn't last long. The creator and Jon hamm don't think that would last long. He would die probably in 1981 from hard living.
Great scene. Also interestingly subtle that he gives midge the check, like he's paying her off for services rendered. He never sleeps with her again.. Love this show.
@Paulo Ricardo Pimentel agreed I think he cared for her too. But I also think he knew she would put the entire check into her arm. And knew that he never really did anything for her when they were hooking up.
I love this scene with the context of the whole series. Don's entire arc is about the slow destruction of his ego - and he's just exploding with the stuff here. With all his speeches and declarations, early on your might actually buy into his pride, until the slow reveal that he's a deeply unhappy man whose hunger cannot be sated.
Respectfully, how have you come to the conclusion that Don’s arch is about the destruction of his ego? There’s a cursory nod to Don temporarily embracing enlightenment at the end of the series but this is rejected as Don chose to exploit that experience and create the Cola ad. Im not trying to start an argument, I’m interested to understand why you think that?
A lot of critics suggest that Weiner is imposing his liberal views on this show, but it's really an amalgam of conservative and liberal views. Don Draper is obviously a conservative icon, tempered by a tepidly liberal social conscience. But he is in essence a conservative figure: the self made man, who wants to get ahead, who answers to no one. He expects others to do the same. The key component is effort.
Excellent comment. A good piece of fiction can show the truth and the hypocrisy in any person's ideology. What I love about this scene is that the guy who tells Don "you create the lie. You invent want" is correct. But Don's response is also true, in my opinion.
ryan, studying some psychology, you quickly figure out that the "want" is universal. Not only to humans but to animals as well. It's adaptive when applied in nature. I think what Don is saying here, and this might be just me impressing my ideas on his words, is that there is no "system" that sat down one day, scratched its head and decided to come up with "the lie", this elaborate plan to sell things to people. The system evolved organically, without an overarching plan. And Don's character obviously works to support the system, but the hippie, by denying the natural existence of the "want" and making the system the enemy, is contributing to the problem as well.
I never believed that I was a slave to indifference like you. I hope you feel shame for believing that the Universe is indifferent. You should be proud that the Universe offers you the freedom to believe that the Universe doesn't care about you, that's how free you really are.
He's a sexist douchebag who's unhappy and grimacing for most of the show. Why would you want to be like him if you're happy being yourselves. "Making something of yourself" is completely subjective.
Wouldn’t want to be exactly like him, if I could be Don without the false identity, stolen valor of another soldier, the drinking excessively, smoking, depression, and unhappy children because I don’t give them enough of my time then yes. No one’s perfect but almost all these things were by choice for a person to make.
LOL, you haven't noticed how that question gets to Don, and basically pisses him off - because the kid hit home in a major way. Don's life - both personal and work - is a lie and he knows it, so the only defense he can jump to is to attack the kids for being more authentic than he is, even if their authenticity is only authentic laziness and self-indulgence. At least it's real, which he knows full well _he_ is not.
I always considered this scene to be incredibly ironic. Draper is, after all, far more of a hippie than the vast majority of his peers on Madison Avenue. He may work for "the man," but he is distinctly not of them. He considers running away from his family with Rachel Menken, almost does the same when the Department of Defense sniffs out his trail in season 4, disappears without notice for several weeks in season 2 - so on and so forth. His statement that the universe is indifferent combined with his impetuous actions throughout the series reveal that Don Draper is quite possibly the most hippie-esque man that could exist. He is willing at any moment to drop everything and run away to something new, leaving behind all his money and his established position within Establishment society.
“The universe is indifferent.” This is an excellent point. We could look at scriptures, philosophers, science, and anyone who would label themselves as intellectuals, and nothing would change the fact that a lot of the world operates on coincidences. The world isn’t out to get you, life isn’t fair, and sometimes things happen just because. It’s neither liberal nor conservative, it’s just part of life. The only thing we can do is just make the best of what we have, live the best life we possibly can, and hopefully, something good can come of it. The universe may be indifferent, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference. There is no meaning to life, only then to make meaning in your own life. Nothing more, nothing less.
exactly Brian. People spend so much time trying to figure out the meaning of life they waste it. Best philosophy is that time is precious and you'll never get it back so spend it wisely
Unfortunately, Don didn’t put it exactly that way, though he should have, but kept the universe being indifferent. He might have actually gotten one of them to change themselves for the better. This whole bit by Don has nothing to do with selling the American dream. He is purely talking from a place of pragmatism. He is saying to basically all of them, that crying over your situation is for the weak minded and people flush with riches. The only person that in the end, has any direct responsibility for your place in this universe is yourself. Everything else is random. Life is a game that we are all forced to play, but that doesn’t mean you have to waste it. You’re all in from the start, so why play a weak game. Play your best game at all times because pouting about where you start the game does nothing for you except serve as a waste of your time. What’s even more funny is that besides the black chick, nobody else in that room has probably had to endure a lot of shit like Don has. He was probably poorer than all of them, got the piss beat out of him by his father and his step mother. His step mother never treated him like her own, and he never knew his real mother. He has had to genuinely struggle, that’s why he looks at all of them like the losers they are; they silently scream to have all of that struggle based existence as if it gives them points for having to struggle instead of just shutting up and taking the advantages presented to them and working for even more advantages. Instead, they throw it all away and burn down their castles because they think they are above it all, but they have no idea of the world they abandoned for their idea of “paradise”.
"People want to be told what to do so badly that they'll listen to anyone." Not on this scene, but basically Don Draper's outlook. "People need the lie, reality is too dismal. They live alone and die alone. We provide that comfort. You're welcome."
Exactly. there's a bunch of nonsense in these comments about this being about don's ego. It's not, it's about his pessimistic (and in my opinion, realistic) world view. There is no big conspiracy. The world is chaos, no one is in control, the conspiracies the hippies tell themselves are just another form of comfort in that it makes them believe that as soon as they fight the "man" or the "lie" the world will finally be better.
@@jsrlord2625 and you are an idiot idealist who thinks peace love and chlamydia solves problems. Good is a subjective term used by small minded people with selfish interests. Their is only those with power and those that have none. If you have power you can make all sorts of decisions however you like. When you have no power you have less options and can make pretty much no decisions. Money is power. Respect is power. Connections is power. They who have the connections and the money get the respect and the power.
The clash between beliefs and values in this scene well exemplifies Don's internal monologue with himself. Deep down, Don is just as unhappy, masquerading as an individual who has a bearing on the worlds realities. In reality, both characters are shamelessly attempting to create the illusion of enlightenment. People look at this scene all wrong and think that Don has it all figured out, saying that his comebacks are the sole truth. The only time I'd say this is about politics is that your political views, on first viewing, may dictate which side you agree with during this conversation. I don't think this was meant to show Don as an all knowing individual. But more or less demonstrating how both men have created a reality for themselves that are convenient to their existence. They can live within their realities comfortably without remorse, and believe that they are on the correct moral side of the coin. Don saying "the universe is indifferent" is the reality he chooses to live within, as it is convenient and does not pose any moral inequities with his own life. I can't help but think Matthew Weiner had a much more nuanced idea for this scene than simply "hippie vs square" or "liberal vs conservative".
i agree completely which is indeed funny as my first time watching also had my own one sided beliefs but this scene goes way further than that and is why this show is so incredible
I do agree that this is not a simply "hippie vs square" moment, but it is because I do not see Don wielding that "the universe is indifferent" as a way to respond to the guy from his own corner, but more like stating a reality which is ultimately true. "The universe is indifferent" goes waaaay to far from any "liberal-conservative" perspective, and I see as a way of Weiner of stating that, somehow, all the answers Don was looking for were already there, within him... I think the end of the show points to that. Somehow, Don did have all the answers, he just couldn't see them, and this whole show is about Don getting to know himself and deal with his inner demons. So yeah, in this moment of the show, that clever answer, "there is no big lie, there is no system" comes out in the form of pride, but I do feel that the Don Draper of the finale would keep that idea, just with a much more meaningful significance.
And where are you now, small boy? To say such an ignorant thing, it's quite obvious we are born alone in this world, however, to learn how to love, and tie your string forever with someone else's, AND STILL work and do all bullshit, now that's how to survive and be alive. Things we can never quite reach.
Jesus. I gotta think you guys have only seen clips like this, and have never actually watched the show. Because the entire POINT of the series just flies right over your heads. I mean, it's astounding how much you don't get the message of Mad Men.
The subtlety of this scene lies in the fact that the beatniks seem just as concerned with appearance as the “squares”. They are also misogynistic as evidenced by how the ginger asks the girl to get him some tea and how they always have to sit around and listen to the “men talk”. They see Don as one of them at the end though, evidenced by the line “you cannot go out there” Don Reminds him. You can’t, your obsession with appearance has made you a target. For me it’s just a tool I use to get where I ultimately want to be. Great scene full of subtext and nuance!
It's not sexist to ask your romantic partner to get you some tea. And no one prevented the woman from conversing. She was simply annoyed that the conversation was not interesting to her. And it went on long enough that she began to feel excluded. Accusing the men of misogyny was a shaming tactic to get Don and the hippie to end the conversation. The only sexism in this scene is the woman's sexist exclamation to the Don & the hippie.
I was right out of college when I saw this scene. Now I am 8 years in the advertising industry. I went from the guy in the couch to draper's shoes in that timeframe. Time is a hell of a thing.
Jason S. Hippies like most comedians are just fucking complainers because they don't value the systems they were born into. Still most of them are too afraid to live in the wilderness alone. Can't spend all day getting high, having sex, and bitching and complaining if you are truly living FREE. You will be alone in the wilderness ... taking what you need to live each day and to get you through the winter. That's FREEDOM and it's very very rare to find anybody living in modern times.
@@TicoHyuuga I think he's critiquing the idea that by railing against that status quo you can somehow uncover a secret 'truth', i.e. the system. But if you really dig down, all you end up with is the universe itself, and it doesn't care.
I yearn for the day when someone will finally say "Speaking as an ordinary person" instead of whatever terms you're all using to seem cool or up-to-date
I love how everyone thinks Don "won" this exchange. This is from the episode "The Hobo Code" where Don flashes back to his father cheating the hobo out of a promised wage, and the sign for "a dishonest man lives here." Don's glib comments about how nothing means anything, and the beatniks are stupid for thinking otherwise mask that he's deeply insecure about being an empty suit and a professional liar-- to the point that he wakes up his son in the middle of the night to try and prove his honesty. Don brags about how his acceptance of the system gives him power to leave the apartment... but in the end, Midge is in love with the guy and refuses Don's offer to go to Paris. The money can't get him what he wants, which is a larger theme of Mad Men.
Though, Don doesn’t ‘really’ believe in love... he desperately wishes to, expects of himself a kind of organic acquisition of romantic love (as seen in his love of poetry); but, he ultimately doesn’t believe in love... he may have lost the opportunity of running off to Paris with Midge, yet, in Don universe that was/is a kind of fantasy framed within an illusion of ‘the unrealizable’ that plagues Don at a fundamentally level... which is all to say, he acknowledges and ultimately expresses what he know to be truth: in a universe of mere causality and entropy with self manifesting laws, only the superficialities of our individual cultures count for anything (that is the big lie, the operative knowledge fundament of culture and its denial of deep biological historicism we replace with surfaces and language and fashionably)... he is revelling to them he is a true master of the universe, in that he has surmounted the zero sum game of capitalism and civilization, all the while managing to be fully aware of the truth and the lies all of us tell ourselves continuously...
Magido89 well that's his choice. He could have done more with it. Still you can do more with a lot less. Cultivate the skills to live a nomadic hunter gatherer life and live off the land FREE!
@@ninjesus4079 I think Don realizing everything he was doing wrong and where all the pain was coming from in his life helped him to finally find peace with himself, and that led him to think of the commercial.
@@citizenearth71 The "Universe" doesn't care, it also doesn't matter. It sounds like a badass thing to say, but it's just as meaningless as the nonsense those beatniks are dishing.
It's not a coincidence to me that this scene is in the first flashback-heavy episode (I know we get a quick one in an earlier episode - Babylon, maybe?). If Dick Whitman had made it through Korea, gotten himself away from Pennsylvania to a city, he would've been one of those hippies; and he knows it.
one of my favourite lines is "I wipe my ass with the wall street journal" it's hilarious because the guy thinks it's a statement, rather than an inditement of his own stupidity.
Nah. What the bitniks were talking about is that for them there is a top-to-bottom system that is purposely rigged and that "control" people's desires to benefit the ones that rig it. Don is simply saying that this doesn't exist. That this "system" is just people living their own lives and taking their own decisions indiferent to everything else. That's why the "universe is indiferent". There is no person telling the "big lie", it's just descentralized people carrying their lives on. Don being able to get out of there because of his looks (that exposes his status) without being bothered by the cops does not go against his point. There are no one "pulling the strings" of the preconception of those cops. They were just people living their own lives, having their own beliefs and prejudices. It wasn't a "system" made by few that created that preconception in the minds of those cops, it was their own beliefs and prejudices against who is different of them (in that case the bitniks/hippies), which is actually kinda of a tribal trait that humanity still carrie (the bitniks also had an entire preconception of Don without really knowing him, as it is shown in this episode and in an episode earlier).
@@bfrglm system 1: dress in a way cops find acceptable. system 2: be born white so as not to be suspicious to cops system 3: if you don't fit the world you want to live in, take on a new identity to conform to the world. don't be who you are - be who you want. it makes complete sense that Don is in advertising - he sells things to people based on their desire to conform to these things. That's what the beatniks were trying to tell him.
As has been noted, Don’s foil in this sequence that takes place in the early 1960s is a beatnik. The term hippie and the style that term referenced didn’t emerge until the mid 60s.
The bit at the beginning when the guy said "toothpaste doesn't solve anything" made my eyelid twitch a bit. Uh, yeah it does, it solves a VERY specific and important issue. Haha
@The Exterminating Angel ROTFLOL!!! You are the pot calling kettle black. I'm a Gen-Xer who met A LOT of the former beatniks and hippies in my 1970s-80s childhood. The beatniks were the same losers who became hippies (in some cases literally so) or whose younger relatives were inspired to follow in their footsteps. It was all part of the same "counter culture" crap that a segment of the Baby Boomer population latched onto because they didn't want to compete in society, rejected their parents' views on matters, etc. These arrogant espoused socialist or utopian rhetoric, but in the end it was all a farce. A tiny number of them became business people who made a lot of money then moved out to larger suburbs where they could preach while cutting themselves off from the consequences of their political beliefs. A far larger number ended up as addicts in the Haight or West Village, or just got by as public school teachers, university profs, or whatever BS job they could pull that didn't require more than a forty hour per week commitment.
The heart of Don’s beliefs and fear is what he says right here. And really at the end when he walks out, he shows he is freer than any of them with their canned politics and their fake authenticity. They sounded like the voice of the alternative not really they aren’t individuals. Don is the true individual, independent and self made.
Exactly. Reminds me of a bunch of hipsters at my high school who were just posers telling each other how independent, free and better-than-mainstream they are. But in fact, there was no individuality in them. They just sucked up to each other.
And yet everything about him is a lie, while the kids are being open and honest. That's why Don gets pissed off when he kid says "like you?" Because he knows the kid is right - he's a phony, and no matter how much clout or power he may think he has, he will ALWAYS be a phony. The kids smell it on him, and he resents the fact that his fancy suit and nice manicure and Brylcreemed hair do not fool them for a second. The irony of the scene is that the man in power is captive to his lies, while the powerless kids are freed by their honesty.
+Kafkaesque Clearly you have your head up your ass, since the upvotes tell me that some people DO care. But then, you're just a shithead troll, so your crap isn't worth much.
"YOU can't." What I've learned in my progressing years is that those that rebel against the system like these beatniks are not any freer - they're even worse off. The only freedom there is in this world is the ability to do what you want and make others do what you want. And the key to that is money. The poor are prisoners to their circumstances - the wealthy create their circumstances.
"Make others do what you want" isn't freedom, that is power. Some people are hungry for power and some are not. Those who want freedom without much power, are naturally at odds against those who want a lot of power - because power can only be gained at the expense of another's freedom.
I'm pretty liberal, I can relate to beatniks in some ways, but this nails down that thing that bugs me about them. They think they are in touch with the Ultimate Reality but are just as delusional as anyone else, even more so because they're not aware of their own delusion, just other people's.
I think a lot of people want to avoid the fact that the universe IS indifferent. People don't like hearing that, because then it makes them accountable for their own actions, its much easier to blame the "system", racism, or any other ism for your downfalls.
@@blondegirlsezthis8798 Awwwwww....poor little braindead leftist still suffering from TDS? Watch the scene a few more times and you might realize why real humans of accomplishment--not worthless, failed, blamers like you--will always win, and you'll always lose, as you stay single and alone, aging, and get more bitter and resentful by the day. Hahahaha! Just wait, sweetie. Life's gonna work you over gooooood.
Then he watches his fabricated life fall apart before his eyes and (presumably) becomes more of a hippie himself. As iconic as his whole persona is, the show was never advocating to live like Don
He never became "a hippie", he confronted his own issues and rose above them. These people are deadbeats who act like they're enlightened about the system, which Don rightfully calls out because they're useless junkies. Don fought a long and hard battle and to interpret the ending as him becoming a hippie, well, I honestly don't understand. The show's message in terms of Don is that you can never keep running from your own problems.
I agree and will go further, lots of people who hated the show was because they hated Don; but I’d say Don isn’t a protagonist. He’s just an interesting dude, who’s lead a wild life. The show never makes him a hero to be emulated.
Ripleb ... living like Don seems just fine. If you do it smart you can have a very satisfying life. Fucking 18 year olds from around the world until the day you die is very satisfying way to live life.
@@donvandamnjohnsonlongfella1239 maybe if you're 19. Being old and hanging around teenagers trying to get laid seems a bit hollow and sad in your old age 🙃
@@donvandamnjohnsonlongfella1239 have you watched the show? Sure Don’s wealth and sex life seem attractive, but the show makes it very clear he’s hollow and totally unhappy. The dude’s life sucks.
SPOILER ALERT It's funny how in the finale, a broken Don ends up in a community surrounded by similar hippies. There, he discovers inner peace, and then finds a way to sell it (with the Coca Cola ad). In a way, he bridges the gap between enlightened ideals and consumerism, paving the way for the social order of the 70s.
basically what the beatnik said: "you work for them, not for us", and then Don goes outside and greets the police... but everybody here is acting like he proved them hippies wrong when he in fact did the complete opposite
@@robertucarlus1 If you feel the need to announce it then I think you fall short of the mark. Whatever mark it is you're trying to live up to--though if you feel the need to be categorized then I think you're entirely off target.
This is why I love mad men. It’s the layers upon layers in conversations like this. Each side of this argument is both right and wrong, both are flawed while having a point. Don speaks of action, working with the world around him instead of against it. He doesn’t believe that there is some great conspiracy out there. And he has a point. Then again, Don has literally stolen someone’s identity, pretending to be someone else this very moment, undercutting his straightforward “no lie” point of view. All the while he is consistently showing his inability to actually form meaningful relationships in his world. The beatnicks are critical of dons world, seeing him as a slave to the capitalist system, even actively perpetuating it. And we see in mad men over and over again, how flawed Don’s work environment is and the injustice surrounding this time (oppression of women, and other minorities). Then again, the beatnicks speak from an unbelievably naive place of moral superiority, believing their lifestyle of waging war against the world and spouting half poetic none sense to be actually productive, where they actually are just sabotaging their own lives and everyone around them. They’re not working to change anything, they’re not building anything. They just aim to destroy. And they are quite unable to see someone else’s point of view or the merit of cooperating with society. I can see myself siding with neither side here, but I kinda love it
Their non complacency is their rebellion against the system and Draper doesn't care that's not his target customer group probably though they still are consumers everyone is. Don is such a good salesmen he sells himself on ideas too justifies things minimizes crimes even when his wife found out he was surprised she wanted to leave him and felt betrayed thought all he need do is be a good provider even her own lawyer said that to her and to consider working it out were the politician not smitten with her she might have.
Thank goodness. No real hippies are just sitting around. Their the ones that are the most Community focused people I’ve ever seen. Cleaning up and taking care of people the system leaves behind. Glad to see that the narrative has changed.
I remember as a kid asking my mom whether she and my dad were hippies in the 60s (less than ten years before I asked the question). Her response in a sort of patronizing mom voice: "No honey, your dad and I were in the F.B.I." I didn't understand the answer then, but now when I think back, I love it.
I saw this scene when I was 16, high as fuck. Really changed my perspective on identity, good/evil, and conformity all at the same time. They don’t make them like they used to.
Great point. Also remember Don's speech to Bert about not wanting to work at a big agency? "Who the hell is in charge? A bunch of accountants trying to turn a dollar into a $1.10?
I never quite understood that whole flirtation Don had with the hippie subculture until the last episode circled back to it by coopting the sound and feel for Coca cola.
because he achieved the heights of the American dream - walked into an ad agency and was clearly recognized as a genius by a bunch of blue blood who wouldn't let him hold their piss bucket if he was still in Pennsylvania or on the farm. And for all his overt success - clear love and respect by bosses, competitors and underlings - and money and the house with two kids and model wife he is fundamentally super unhappy. So he reaches out to cultures that are alternatives to the thing he "won" at. Midge is a good contrast to his wife because she doesn't seem to want a relationship or rely on a man. Its also why despite him trying to be cool, the real reason he 'makes something' of himself is because its the only way he can accept to be loved. But he cant really explain that stuff to them so he has to pretend the stuff that made him unhappy is actually fun.
Yeah, but they hold up signs saying “CHANGE!” or whatever so they can pretend like they’re actually doing some good in the world. That way, they can go home and get stoned with a “clean conscience.”
@@Logan912 that’s the Crux, the beatniks and hippies saw the world needed real social change, they felt guilty about their privilege but instead of effecting meaningful systemic change they held up signs to assuage their own guilt. Then they sold out and bought in perpetuating the status quo, had children who in the 80’s grew into the most consumption based society the world had thus far seen.
@@joshuapatrick682 Children growing up in the 80s had bicycles & rubik's cubes. Children growing up 20 years later needed cell phones, computers, dvd players and tv sets in their bedrooms. I bet is was a lot cheaper to raise kids back then.
Imagine watching a whole show about a guy in constant state of dissatisfaction and self destruction and still think his lack of moral compass is awesome just because he managed to own a bunch of stoned hippies. You're the guys with the Rick Sanchez profile pics aren't you?
Imagine watching this scene and feeling defensive enough to attack Don. Who do you really think is more fulfilled in life him or the broke, pretentious, pseudo intellectuals? I'm not saying money = fulfillment in life. Because it isn't that simple. But acting like you're above money and acting like you're too deep to want that success is just a pathetic lie. For pathetic individuals. Maybe you won't be very successful in life, that's not the issue. The issue is whether or not your try. Choosing not to try and then acting like you have life figured out on some deeper level is a coping mechanism and a lie. Give anyone who acts like that a million dollars and see how quickly their attitude changes.
That's interesting. At some point, he said one of his best quotes: "what you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylon". And now, with another famous point he says: "there's no big lie". What point he meant it?
Greenwich Village was full of beatniks, they were pre-hippy. Most of them were artists, beat-poets, it was pretty cool. You'd be lucky to hang out in a room of these guys in Manhattan and shoot the breeze, listen to records and smoke dope. Hippies were kind of just loafers out in San Fran a few years later. Love ins and VW vans. Big difference.
In SF, many hippies camped in GG park, but along Haight Ashbury, rent was dirt cheap in those houses because the city was planning to build a major highway through that street (never happened). Just a few people washing dishes part time was enough to rent a whole house for the group.
Lucky? I think they should have been forced to go to Vietnam and been bartered and swapped to the Vietcong for real Americans. To consider my grandfather died in Vietnam, and these fucking freaks would spit on them and call them baby killers when they were forced to go, and these draft dodging cowards act like their the heroes. Fuck them. They deserved no rest, no safe space.. they should have been living in constant fear, but the only thing they had to be afraid of was water and soap. Pathetic. And people wonder why the country is shit. Because you idolize people who would love nothing more than to burn it to the ground. Well fuck you Boomer, your time is over, and we will fix your fuck ups.
I wouldn’t say he becomes a hippie necessarily, but he definitely confronts the pain that’s been inside him instead of pushing it back like he had been doing, and he finally finds peace with himself.
Needs are physiological like hunger, thirst, sex etc which are inherent whereas wants i.e. Pepsi-Cola, Dominos Pizza, BMW etc can be generated & influenced
They don't create most want, the just fill a void for instance an advertiser says well you need to drink, so why not drink pepsi. you need to eat why not eat pizza, you need to get to work so why not get there in a BMW, providing a product to fill that need.
Draper was wrong here. Admen do invent wants and desires. They do create lies. And we are all suckers for consuming those lies in the hopes it will make us feel better about ourselves or make other people like us more. I'm with the hippies on this one.
Everybody commenting how "cool" they think draper was in this scene but when you think about it, the hippies are right. They are no better really but they're not wrong about him.
I feel you, but you dont think they're being a little pretentious trying to lecture a guy when they're lying around stoned, afraid to go outside because the cops are out there?
This scene was great paired with Don's memories of his father being a dishonest man. Don goes home and tells his kid he will never lie to him, even if he doesn't know the answer. I think his ad work is also honest in a way, his inspiration comes from his true life experience and deep emotional feeling. He knows human nature very well. His girlfriend is finally honest with herself, and they both know their relationship is over.
Really? You must be easily impressed, because there's not much here. Basically "get off your ass" and "I can use the system but you don't want to". That's hardly a killer argument, more just some smoothly spoken sneering. Only impressive to someone who already agrees.
