Jon Hamm to old white dudes in politics: You still run things, ‘it’s still a thing’

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Despite my qualms about Jon Hamm’s frat-boy-hazing past, I have to admit that the guy knows how to give a good interview. Hamm is currently promoting Keeping Up with the Joneses and his interviews have been really good. Hamm spoke to Elle Magazine and I came away from this piece really liking him again. He’s in his 40s, he’s single for the first time in more than a decade, and you can just feel that he’s feeling sort of vulnerable. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

What he would do differently about losing his virginity: “I don’t know. Everything? [Laughs] There’s no version of it that’s not awkward. Let’s put it this way: As much as I had practiced, I was still not quite ready for game time.

Whether he was young when he lost his V: “I wasn’t. I was in college. I was 19. I don’t know why that would surprise you. Maybe it’s easy for some people. It certainly wasn’t for me.”

What his dad taught him about women: “He was twice widowed. He was divorced from my mom when she died, but even so, there’s a deep sense of tragedy in that. I never had the opportunity to, as an adult, sit down and talk to him about that. It’s a real loss. I was quasi-adopted by my friends’ families. And even today I get e-mails or cards from these women who, for lack of a better word, were my mom. We talk about what it means to be a family. Mostly it’s about showing up. And being aware enough to check in and say, “How are you doing?” I’ve been incredibly lucky to have these people in my life.

What he would tell his 20-year-old self:
“I do think about that. The best thing you could say is: Appreciate it. Struggle is part of the journey. That’s what I’ve learned in my forties: This too shall pass.

Whether he talks to his dude friends about ageing: “I mean…yeah. Sort of. The conversation is not dissimilar to what it’s always been—a lot of bullsh-t, a lot of jokes, a lot of ridiculousness. But it’s leavened now with discussions about career, family, kids. Getting old sucks. I had an interesting conversation with an older actor whom I’ve looked up to for many years. He said, “When I wake up in the morning, I still think I’m 35. It’s not until I see myself in the mirror where I’m like, Oh, right…” I have that, too. That horrible realization that you’re not what you used to be….Listen, I’ll say this, too. The great thing about getting older is living life.

Why people loved Don Draper so much: “I think there was a fascination there. But women realized that he’s bad news. I think Don’s appeal is more to old white dudes than it is to ladies. Because he represents this mythical era of masculinity. We’re going through it in the political arena now. Old white dudes saying, “Remember when we ran sh-t?” You still do. It’s still a thing.

He’s pro-Hillary: “She’s definitely preferable to the alternative. It’s insane how much of her life she’s lived in the public eye—and how much she’s devoted to making this a better place. We need someone like that now. In this ridiculously polarized, obstructionist world, the operating principle should be, Let’s get something done. Not, Let’s freeze everything. We really need to fix the roads. We really, really should get on those bridges. At the end of the day, Hillary gets things done.

[From Elle]

My favorite part is absolutely “We’re going through it in the political arena now. Old white dudes saying, “Remember when we ran sh-t?” You still do. It’s still a thing.” Like, that’s what’s so crazy. America gets our first African-American president and all of these old white dudes are like “WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK” and it’s like… guys, you still run 99% of the country. Make America Great Again is basically that plea writ large, it’s old white men complaining that they don’t have all the power instead of just the overwhelming majority of the power. Anyway… I could use some Hamm right now.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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17 Responses to “Jon Hamm to old white dudes in politics: You still run things, ‘it’s still a thing’”

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  1. Original T.C. says:

    “In this ridiculously polarized, obstructionist world, the operating principle should be, Let’s get something done. Not, Let’s freeze everything.”

    Exactly. The Republican Party discovered two decades ago the way to stop progress and public good for our society is to halt government. Get elected and put a rusty screw in the wheel. They hate progress and also hate that they are the minority Party per population so they try to stop citizens from voting with their made up “voter fraud” B.S. Which there have been like 30 cases in a country of 300million.

    • Betsy says:

      Nicely put, although if you take a broad definition of “voter fraud,” the Republicans are responsible for millions. Disenfranchising likely Democratic voters in any number of creative ways, gerrymandering such that the greater Democratic numbers are overwhelmed.

      “Checks and balances” only works when both parties are working with good faith. The Rs are not. Witness our oddly short-handed Supreme Court, like Sheryl called in sick down at Wendy’s.

      • Lorelai says:

        Betsy! I am going to be laughing for the rest of the day at, “like Sheryl called in sick down at Wendy’s” HAHAHAHAHAHA! 😂

        Thank you for the much-needed laugh.

    • lightpurple says:

      And so far, from what I’ve seen, there “examples” are people who were STOPPED, not people who succeeded.

      My 87 year old great aunt was in the hospital when her driver’s license, her ID, (she hasn’t actually driven a car in years but still had a valid license) expired last winter. Because I had to take off so much time over the past several months for her various other, more important, medical appointments, I didn’t get the chance to take her to the registry to get some identification until 6 months later. During which time, she voted in the presidential primary. If our state had had those stupid id laws in place, she would not have been able to vote, despite having done so for decades.

  2. Nicole says:

    Absolutely correct. Old white men sobbing about how it’s not the 1960s or 1916 anymore. So sad…(not)

    • Ninks says:

      Trump, and his followers are the living embodiment of ‘When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression’.

  3. Scarlet Vixen says:

    My dad is exactly one of the old dudes he’s describing. My dad LUVS Don Draper and Mad Men, because it had this nostalgic feel of when men were men and women knew their place, and the country wasn’t being overrun with immigrants and-even worse-Muslims. My uber conservative father has apparently forgotten that his own father was a Jewish immigrant who couldn’t keep a job, that his parents were never legally married and that he has a black half-sister also born out of wedlock. But ‘people like that’ today are trash who are just trying to being our country down. (The fact that my 80yr old Jewish father also adores Ann Coulter baffles me to no end.) I see the fear in him and the articles he posts on Facebook–it’s white dudes who are afraid they’re no longer the top dogs who get to dictate everyone else’s place.

  4. Sixer says:

    He gives excellent interview. He’s done a few things over here – a Black Mirror, a TV series with Dan Radcliffe, etc – and he’s always come across as a sensible, intelligent, thoughtful man with a worth-listening-to perspective. I was quite upset to find out about the dodgy youth on here.

    • Lisa says:

      Not forgetting Toast! Frat boy assholery aside, I kinda love that he did a show on Channel 4 that gets about 5 viewers. I’m not even sure they run adverts.

      • Sixer says:

        Exactly. The Sky thing he did with Radcliffe got about two dozen viewers. It was on Sky Arts! And was totally delightful to boot. I really liked that about him. He clearly wanted to do this stuff for the work, not the cash or the attention.

    • Ariadne says:

      He was great in Black Mirror. It was the most depressing Christmas show I ever watched but good episode.

  5. burnsie says:

    Honking for Jon Hamm!! 😍😍😘

  6. original kay says:

    I think every post about this deplorable man should include the horrendous account of what he did to that poor man, Mark Sanders.

    What’s to like? He participated in torture.

  7. lisa says:

    Talk about the guy whose genitals you had mutilated with hammers and fire back when you were in college, Mr. Standup Nice Guy. Did you lose your V card before or after you turned his life into a living hell, just because it was the commonplace ‘frat hazing’?

    Oh, and unlike Nate Parker, this idiot apparently did get kicked out of college for it.

    Talk about that.

  8. Antigone says:

    I think he’s a good actor with interesting perspectives on things. He was 19 or 20 when the frat incident happened. From what I have read, he seems like a thoughtful person. I would be willing to bet he has privately made amends to his victim. I may be in the minority here, but I believe that you can make a terrible mistake and still go on to become a decent, honorable person.