Saturday, November 15, 2014

Faye, You Were The One...


Oh Faye... Let me use the beginning of this article to say that we are all dearly sorry for what transpired between you and Don Draper. He knew not what he did. Don's useless arrogance overshadowed the importance of his relationship with a driven and career-oriented woman who genuinely cared for him despite his endless pursuit of the bottom of the bottle.

This is starting to feel like an obituary.

The 10 episodes of Mad Men you graced us with gave us hope that Don might finally situate himself with someone who could heal the wounds of Anna's death. Not to mention, you're the only woman in the entire Mad Men series given the respect and credibility of a professional. With your gentle, considerate demeanor complimented by the powerful and intimidating doctorate degree in psychology...

No, perhaps this is a love letter.

Faye, you're a classy chick. You didn't whore your way into Don's good graces either; you made him work for it. After he hit rock bottom the night of the Sonny Liston v. Mohammed Ali fight, he realized if he ever wanted to be worthy of someone like Dr. Faye he was gonna have to clean up his act. And they couldn't have picked a better actor to play her part.

Cara Buono, I might actually be falling for you.

A New York City girl born and raised, you graduated from Columbia in 1995 to go full time with your acting career which was already well underway.  Buono even wrote and directed the short film "Baggage", which I must say is up there with Wes Anderson's "Hotel Chevalier" as one f my favorite short films I've seen. But most of all, your character Dr. Faye was so natural because it seems she wasn't far off from the person you are in real life.

Faye was the one.

Faye's character makes men ache for the women they've hurt in the past, and I imagine women feel that same pain much more directly.  The story of Faye seems to comfort and massage all of our hearts before violently ripping them out of our chests.

We the fans still love you Faye.

We appreciate how you got our protagonist back on his feet. You don't cook and you're not good with kids, but Don would have much rather gone to dinner and pass his kids along to ex-wife anyway. You thought you two were going all the way, and we were strapped in for the same happily ever after. And then Don drove that bus off a cliff. SURPRISE!!! Don's sleeping with his secretary again.
But this time, Don's naive and vulnerable enough to think he's experienced the "struck-with-lightning" love he told Rachel Menken doesn't actually exist. Turns out he was right. Don proposes to Megan in Disney World (real original Don) and Faye's world gets shattered with a soulless break-up phone call from Don.

A good man doesn't do that. But Don isn't a good man. Even though it seems you might never love again, we're all cheering for you Faye. And it's good to know that Cara Buono is happily married and leading a continually successful acting career.

If you ever read this Cara Buono, know that I deeply respect your acting work in Mad Men and The Sopranos. AND your poise has struck me similarly to how you struck Don Draper, and I (along with many others, I'm sure) am deeply enchanted by you. Intelligent, intimidating and beautiful in all sorts of ways.

P.S. I'm glad you talk so fondly of your husband in interviews.  It makes us all very happy to know that there's not some miserable alcoholic putting you on the back burner of his agenda in real life.

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