Why do we hate betty draper

Despite Henry making it clear he wanted to move away, Betty held onto to the house, happily letting Don pay for everything even though he wasn't living there. It was just one of many examples of her stubbornness as a person, refusing to let things go from her past.

She clearly just wanted to take advantage of Don and sponge off him for as much as possible, but it wasn't something that made others happy. It was clear from very early on in the series that Betty Draper had some underlying issues, but at that time period, it wasn't something that was talked about a lot.

Betty did see her own therapist early on in the series, but it didn't really lead to much because he was having secret calls with Don and Betty was too childish. However, later in the series when Sally saw a child therapist, Betty took full advantage.

Despite the therapist believing Sally no longer needed meetings, Betty continued to push to have them as she was basically using the therapist for herself while making Sally think she needed it. Even though Don Draper wasn't in a relationship with Megan when he was with Betty, he didn't waste much time in getting married to her. Despite the fact that Betty was happily married herself with Henry at this point, she attempted to sabotage his marriage in a very petty moment.

Using Sally as a pawn for her own twisted games, she took her child's homework and tried to twist it. With Sally having to make a family tree, Betty tried to get Sally to ask about Don's first wife.

Clearly thinking it would cause them to break up while showcasing there was no low she wouldn't stoop to. Carla had been the Draper family nanny from the very start of the series but had clearly been with the family for much longer than that.

After this episode had aired, many fans accused her of being a cold and abusive parent, especially since she had expressed anger at Don for refusing to discipline his son. To this day, I am shocked, not by Betty's insistence upon disciplining her son, but by the fans' reactions. Surely they realized that the episode was set in ?

Before this decade and in the following two, parents had disciplined their children with spankings. Yet, fans had acted as if this was something rare and accused Betty of being an abusive mother. In a later episode, 2. She punished the girl by locking her in a closet for a few hours.

Again, fans accused Betty of being abusive. They completely ignored the fact that Sally, a young girl under the age of 10, was smoking and focused upon Betty's punishment. I find myself wondering how my parents would have reacted if they had caught me smoking. I suspect that they would have shown less restraint than Betty. Hell, I suspect I would also show less restraint. Betty eventually let Sally out of the closet and explained - somewhat - the situation between Don and herself they were separated at the time.

But the damage had been done. Betty was now a bad mother. Finally, Season Three had premiered last month. And if the fans' reaction to Betty had been hostile during certain episodes of Season Two, it became downright vitriolic during this season.

In the season premiere, 3. They also complained of Betty's desire to give birth to a second daughter, citing this as an example of her immaturity. They also accused her of being immature when she insisted that her ailing father, Gene Hofstadt, remain with the Drapers after his live-in girlfriend abandoned him.

They claimed that Betty wanted to prevent her brother William from selling their father's home and profiting from it. Again, they complained about Betty being curt to Sally, when she ordered the young girl to zip up the dress she wore at Roger Sterling's garden party in 3. Of course, this was untrue.

Betty Draper is an incredible example of a tragic character: a woman who thought she had everything she ever wanted but learned too late that she could be more than a housewife. Looking for more info on classical screenwriting and storytelling techniques? Something I remember from Shakespeare studies is that the greatest tragic characters' flaws stem from the excess of a virtue. Othello loves his wife to the point of murderous jealousy, Hamlet's fatal indecision comes from an overworked desire to do the right thing, etc.

I wonder how many tragic heroes from other era might be described that way. Perhaps Betty tried too hard to make her daddy proud? Skip to main content. No Film School. By Evan Littman. BUT wouldn't you become a fridged bitch if you were in her shoes? How many humiliations from Don can she take? If she's an ice queen, Don's the one who helped lock her in the fridge. No one should feel sorry for her when he throws locks on the door to the house and all there stuff is on the lawn.

Your not supposed to really like the villain. I find it riviting. Based upon her dismal efforts on SNL, January Jones is not making much of a stretch when she portrays a shallow, self-centered, not-too-talented beauty.

Something that is over looked here. January Jones can't act her way out of a paper bag. A more gifted actress, hell even a gal from the Canoga Park HS drama club could make better sense of the part. That's the main reason I loathe Betty.

Aaagh, you Betty-haters, don't you see? You've fallen into the elephant trap that Weiner devised for you. Don Draper hates his mother, the whore. Don's hatred for women in general, and his pivotal role in 's advertising, is what informs the consumer society that we grew up with.

Betty's character is essential to Don's story arc. Perhaps the daughter wanders in only to find Mommy dearest in all her flagrante delicto glory. Now daughter dearest is holding the cards.

And dear readers, don't let me have it for the sake of the child. January Jones has all the intrigue and allure of a Marshmallow Peep. Sincerely, Kelly Gaines. Betty's treatment of her children reminds me in many ways of my mother. Different details my parents were Jewish, my mother cheated on my father , same era, same selfishness and lack of emotional maturity. Pat McCormick was a funny man no matter what he was doing.

He got his start as a production assistant on "I've Got a Secret" in the late s and appeared on camera a number of times, always appearing to be at least three feet taller than host Garry Moore.

He was a good panelist on "Gong Show" - blended well with the freewheeling format - and hosted some of those "Best Chest" shows on Playboy. I will always remember him with his head between Candy Samples' large breasts, and as he's being "bronskied", he declared, "I hereby accept the Nobel Prize for culture!

WV: bellm - he carri your lugg up to your ro. I feel that Betty is an essential character on the show, despite or because of? What I'd really love to see, though, is a transformation with her character. I am hoping the same thing for Don. Betty had the emotional maturity of a child in Season One but that was also the season when she was most sympathetic. Then she evolved somewhat in Seasons but only reached the maturity level of an angry teenager.

I think now it would be interesting to see her grow into an actual adult perhaps influenced by the feminist movement on the horizon? Naturally, it would require major upheaval for Betty to reach such a breakthrough - probably a situation involving Sally - but it would definitely make for great TV.

And on a superficial note: Betty gets the best costumes! Just saw this thread. I agree with, well, anonymous, that January simply can't act. I've seen it since day one, but hoped I was wrong, that the flat affect was somehow a "choice". But she's just awful. She was cast for her looks, and the producers were mesmerized for precisely two seasons. Maybe even they were sorry they saw her SNL.

I typed in "I hate Betty Draper" in google looking for others to share in my sentiment. This was the first result, and I think I'm done reading. You've put on the internet what was in my head. Living in that house with the family while Don pays out of pocket.