"Why did you move here?"--Don.
"Well, first of all, it's New York. For an artist it's Mecca."--Megan.
"You're an artist?"--Don.
"I wouldn't say I'm an artist. I'm an artistic person. I majored in literature. I've dabbled in writing and paintingand a little bit of acting."
I'll concede on that. I remembered it coming up and the
Wikiphrased it that way.
In fact, in this scene, Don tells her he can't sleep with her because he can't afford to make any mistakes right now. Megan is the one who convinces and seduces Don. (Megan then goes back to the business relationship and calls him Mr Draper--strong independence.)
(Seriously, watch this scene again, Season 4 Episode 11--she downplays the acting and uplays everything Don did. Even when Don writes that letter to Tobacco and the office hates him, she comes in and praises it.)
The rest of this scene is literally spent selling herself about how interested she is in Don's work and how she wants to do this for a living. She makes no mention of acting again until her friend brings it up in California--where she immediately torpedoes the conversation. She does not talk about acting again until she decides to leave SCDP and tells Peggy.
I don't think we disagree that she worked at seducing Don, just that we don't agree on her motivations. Perhaps I'm not giving her enough credit, but I never saw her as thinking that far ahead, just taking advantage when situations (like her friend's commercial) arose. If we're going to compare her to Don, I think her improvisation skills have been impeccable.
The other points are fine, and you can't really look into someone's head to understand their motivations. However, these two points, combined with her 180 on children, and her attitude toward work (Don did not push her, remember the first time Don had work open in front of her, she requested to see it and told Don how much she wanted to do it--Don said nothing.)--leads me to believe there was a good amount of deception behind her motivations--but again, people are rarely one dimensional, for me it's easily believable that an amount of affection can exist simultaneously with a desire to use another person.
I agree it's hard to know the true motivations. We wouldn't be able to have these conversations if the writers felt the need to spell everything out for us. The way I see it, however, there's two interpretations to her motivations: Megan was interested in advertising and used Don as a way of getting her foot in the door. - Or - Megan was interested in Don and used advertising to get her foot in the door.
I think you lean towards the former, while I lean towards the latter. I think she was truly interested in Don and used what she knew about him to get close to him. I think we can argue over how deceptive either is, but I think the motivations play into how we judge those actions.
I initially saw Megan as being Peggy's "road not taken." Both start in the secretarial pool and lucked into situations which provided advancement. For Peggy, that's being noticed by Freddy during the lipstick trials. For Megan, it's Ms. Blankenship dying, allowing Megan to get closer to Don. The difference being, Peggy ultimately pursues the work, while Megan ultimately pursues Don. (Which, I think, leads to Don's disappointment when she decides to quit to become an actress. Megan was psuedo-Peggy up until that moment.)
People can change, sure. But when patterns emerge, it's silly not take notice of them. All of the above happened. Judging Megan by the sum of her parts is all we can do. For me the biggest thing wasn't the children, or her jump from advertising--it was actually going from being independent and making a big show of NOT using Don's power (There is a line where she says it's her money, and then she tells Don she doesn't want him to interfere in the office, and again, her rejecting his attempts to talk about their sexual liason)--to a woman who is bawling on the bed like a child for Don to fuck over her best friend and pull strings to get her a part.
It was a pretty stark 180, and jarring for me. I'd never, ever--ever--expect a strong, independent woman like Season 4 Megan to throw a tantrum and cry on a bed to get what she wants, ever. Would I expect her to ask Don for help? Of course. Who wouldn't exploit some sway if they had it. But to throw a fit like a little kid? Meh. I think we were shown a core of Megan's character there, and given all the other deep changes, I doubt it can all be written off has her "changing"--I think she was always that way, but she adapted to her environment, like all people do, when she was a secretary and getting to know Don.
You're misremembering that scene. Megan approaches Don and just asks to be put in the list of names. Don explains that he can't because of how it looks, to which Megan replies that she'd use her maiden name. He tells her that people from work would be there and recognize her, and that this isn't how she wants. She wants to be "someone's discovery, not someone's wife", to which she says, "You're right. I know you're right." and then tells him to forget she asked. Never once does she cry, throw a tantrum, or act like a child.
Later, Don finds Megan drunk. She tries to have sex with him, but he turns her down, and she says that that's all she's good for - that he won't give her a chance because he wants her waiting at home for him. This isn't an attempt to manipulate Don, but because her mother put these thoughts in her head by shitting all over her dreams (because "The world can't support that many ballerinas") , and telling her she was "an ungrateful bitch" and that she should be happy to have the things Don provides for her, be a good wife, and disparages her for not "giving him a family." Don even realizes this is because of Marie and confronts her for making Megan miserable.
, I don't know bro.
