Men Choose Television Sociopath as Their Biggest Influence in 2009
In a poll conducted by Askmen.com, readers have chosen Don Draper as the most influential man of 2009 -- yes, that Don Draper, Jon Hamm's 1960s ad man who coasts through Mad Men while cheating on his wife, changing his name, uttering horrible secrets about his (and your) childhood, and gently warming his kids to the idea of patricide. Now, you're wondering: What can be the benefit of admiring this sociopath when we already trust the teachings of Dexter, The Joker, and Roald Dahl? AskMen has the not-even-joking explanation after the jump.
"Men are seeking the stability of tradition in the masculine qualities that they imagine their fathers and grandfathers to have had," said James Bassil, AskMen's editor-in-chief. "The character of Don Draper brings all these traits together, and in doing so speaks directly to the modern man. He's a man whose time has come."
Breaking: I actually prefer not to think of my grandfather as an unscrupulous asshole. Nor do I like imagining him treating my grandmother like an alcohol-powered parking meter. In sympathy with the voters, though, I do imagine that my grandfather had a desk.
Don Draper beat out Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, President Barack Obama (talk about power rankings), Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and American Idol producer Simon Cowell in the poll. Those men all strike me as real, which is interesting. I think the non-voting men of 2009 deserve a mea culpa from Bassil, perhaps a quote along the lines of, "This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened." Have mercy and shock us, please.
Don Draper is AskMen.com's Most Influential Man of 2009 [AMC]
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Comments
I would like to nominate Gregory House for Best and Most Totally Supercoolest Dockter of '09.
Morons.
Hopefully this means we're heading back to a spurt into the "Manliness" area after all that damage "Phil 'Pre-Oprah' Donahue" did in the early 80s.
(Sorry, gotta go empty the dishwasher or the wife's gonna have my BALLS when she wakes up.)
Men of this age have never seen anything like him before, and supposedly, he's a model of what strength men once possessed. Many men admire him to offset the climate of today, where a woman picks out her man's wardrobe before taking him to see 'Sex And The City' (after a joint Pilates workout of course).
Most men (myself included) wouldn't be as suave as Don when it comes to effortlessly handling mistresses that seemingly fall out of the sky. Nonetheless, as fiction and as a fantasy - it's thrilling to see Don navigate himself through it all so easily (with a Lucky Strike and an Old Fashioned in hand).
He IS the new standard of grace under pressure. He edges himself out of tough spots time and time again with little more than vague assurances and elusive declarations. He is an extremely flawed character, but he excels in spite of it. Amidst all his troubles (many of them his own doing) he remains cool, calm and collected. This is what most men aim to be in life: ALWAYS IN CONTROL no matter what's on the plate. That's all.
WHat silliness. He is a sociopath and an abuser. I feel bad for the women who love men who like Don Draper. Utterly disgusting.