The part where Betty told Henry not to talk to Carla like that: not because it was rude, but “Carla works for me. Only I can talk to her like that.” (Or something similar) That floored me.

Not that the closet doesn’t exacerbate Sal’s problems, but it was a strong reminder that the oppression gay people face is mainly dished out by straight people.

Who else is supposed to be dishing it out?

Yeah, though Carla didn’t do anything on purpose, the power balance between them has been upset, and Betty is reacting by being more imperious and rude to Carla.  With the Birmingham bombings in the background, that kind of nasty reaction from a white person who feels her authority challenged has violent undertones.  Which again, just added another layer of irony to the northeastern white support for civil rights.  It was interesting watching this episode while reading the part of David Neiwert’s book where he talks about how white people in suburban white flight areas were able to congratulate themselves for their lack of racism compared to Southerners, all while pretending they didn’t actively and passively muscle black people out of their communities, and therefore out of the privileges that come with living in those communities.

Good take—I couldn’t quite put my finger on the slow, langorous tone to the episode, but there it is. The interrupted dream makes a lot of sense, because people have been getting rude awakenings for the past few episodes.

In this episode, some of the characters (except for the oblivious Betty) are now realising that a boss/client/corporation making inappropriate demands of a subordinate and intruding into her personal life isn’t such a great and charming thing after all. And what’s worse, the new corporate norms are trapping them in that very structure, the one that they built. Increasingly, the only way they can strike out is by using their limited power to crap on (“bring me more ideas I can reject”) or make inappropriate demands of their own subordinates, in an effort to maintain the illusion that they have power.

But the growing HR Culture will always remind them that, unless they’re major shareholders, they have no real power at all, and that even their inappopriate petty demands will eventually have to be made in a way that covers the arse of the almighty corporation vis-a-vis government legislation. The change that we’ve seen in the social compact over this season is making frustrated victims of everyone, and some of the supposedly privileged characters are slowly waking up to that fact.

As usual, nice little touches emphasise this point alongside the obvious. For example, Don sleeping on Betty’s (i.e. the “subordinate’s”) side of the bed in order to deal with Connie’s phone calls. And the woman from Rockefeller’s office telling Betty that she’s the one who briefs Henry (and hence has the power), and not vice-versa. It’s no wonder that Betty lashes out and rejects Henry.

I also love the running gag about Don and his late-night/early-morning (dream-time?) drives—he has that little smirk on his face every time he gains his “freedom,” but it always ends badly for him. I have a feeling that this daliance with the teacher (again, an expression of empty power) will give him the hardest bite in the arse yet.

If Don thought that Sal was straight, I doubt very much that he’d suggest that Sal should have had sex with a male client just to keep him happy.

However, if “Sally” had been a woman (like, say, his fellow Creative person Peggy), Don indicated clearly that he would have entertained the idea depending on the type of girl she was. “You people,” on the other hand, presents a problem, although one that’s easily “solved” with the application of a little Pete Campbell Accounts Man/MBA-style thinking.

The cocktail party chatter about civil rights while Carla silently waits on them in the background particularly stands out in this regard.

One thing I like is how they’re slowly bringing African-Americans into focus as a factor in American life in politics. Carla is the most prominent example, but there are small touches like the extras in the post-lawnmower hospital sequence between Don and Joan. It’s a nice stylistic touch that underlines, season-to-season, the difference between 1960 and 1962.

One reason that Betty is so clueless about Carla is that she’s completely caught up in her own fainting-couch victimhood, and because she takes her employer status of Carla as a given (“she works for me, not for you”). Given that, it’s no wonder she can so thoughtlessly put Carla in the awkward position of covering for her, and that she can be so oblivious to what the murder of the two little girls and what the “I Have a Dream” speech means to someone who isn’t a WASP.

A lot packed into one episode

You ain’t kidding.

Who else is supposed to be dishing it out?

According to this episode, other closeted gays like Mr. Lucky Strike. No doubt he votes GOP, and probably attends church regularly.

Zif, my point is that a lot of movies and TV shows that explore these issues go out of their way to displace the blame away from people who actually do the bulk of the oppressing.  So you have movies about fighting racism that have the conquering white hero doing the heavy lifting against the evil rednecks that are dehumanized and stereotyped—-which is a nice way of evading the fact that non-Southern whites oppressed black peope, by shutting them out.  (In a parallel way, Betty routinely shuts Carla out, even though Carla initially seemed to think they could be friendly, when she offered advice to Betty last season.)  Gay rights are dealt with by focusing on the closet, which is something that only the gay person has the power to overcome, and there’s less focus on the overt discrimination and shaming that creates the closet in the first place.  Shuffling the blame around for women’s problems is a little less easy to do, so mostly what you see is a sense that women themselves are silly and shallow and if they don’t get as far as men, it’s because of “choice”. 

“Mad Men” has always been better than that, even if it makes us uncomfortable to see characters we’re fond of overtly oppress people down the ladder from them.

Really, the tag line for the show should be, “Shit runs downhill.”

“They gave us money, now we have to do what they say.” -Cooper when the firm was bought by the Brits

Really, the tag line for the show should be, “Shit runs downhill.”

And weak, watered-down shit at that.

It’s more the tag-line for the season, though. The tag-line for the series should be “Delicious, tasty, toasted shit—now new and improved and available to all!”

You know when Don was having his lost weekend in California and Cooper had the shareholder’s meeting about merging with the Brits? The older lady that came and had lunch with Cooper in his office? I didn’t catch on until the 2nd or 3rd rewatch that she’s Cooper’s lesbian sister. She and Cooper had a brief and tense exchange about her “companion.” I’m thinking Cooper might be sympathetic and pull Sal back from the brink.

The Lucky Strikes guy reminded me of all those nasty right wing women like Kathleen Parker who feel powerful by exploiting sexism to beat up on other women.  I get the impression that Mr. Lucky Strikes has had a lot of success in the past using men’s closeted status to bully them into sex.

I don’t think I understand this. He reminds me of your average rapey guy who leverages his power over his victims’ weaknesses. BTW, did you all catch the rapey implications of that exchange where he made Peter take a drag off that cigarette?

Don and Sal… I have been pissed at him for turning out to be such an ass since Sunday night, but now I’m starting to look deeper into it.

Doesn’t it mirror perfectly the way Cooper uses Don’s secret to strong-arm him? In season one, you think Cooper is totally fine with it—wow, what a nice guy. And in season three—oh, Don is so cool, he really doesn’t think any less of Sal. And now, it comes out. Neither man, both described in that weird Randian ideal by Cooper, seems to be an asshole… but they both, it turns out, keep a ledger, and the moment a power dynamic necessitates it… shit runs downhill.

More than that, though, in the entire contract dispute wtf, he runs around in the whole episode, knowing that he’s cornered, panicking about it and… yelling at Peggy for acting like she has some entitlement (which she never did), yelling at Betty for asserting herself (justifiably), and finally dishing his sour grapes in Sterling’s direction. Projection, projection, projection, all of it connected to his own childishness and selfishness.

Something interesting is happening to him psychologically… growing pains from finally being forced to take responsibility for himself? Maybe.

As for the social commentary, here’s a self-made man coming from a very real minority position (class), capitalizing on all the new post-war opportunities… he could have so easily been his brother, but instead, on Madison Avenue, hobnobbing with old money like Roger Sterling. We’ve seen him twice, this season, shut the door on other minorities trying to come up (Peggy, Sal), and in both cases doing it in a pretty disgusting way. I haven’t formed a thesis around the thought yet, but I think you all get my drift.

And, working on the failed Hilton campaign, he had Peggy and the French gay guy and the French gay guy’s “partner” of undeclared sexuality. Given how he has now, previously, cut on both groups, I am very concerned with what he’s going to do with the Hilton situation.

I really missed something, because my understanding is that Sal has had ONE moment where he started to act on his true desires—the hotel in FL—and I got the feeling that his denial is so strong, it SHOCKED me that Don knew.  Only for a moment—Don is all-seeing, after all—but it really threw me.

If it had been a woman, Don absolutely would have blamed her as well.  The way he blamed Betty when Roger Stirling came on to her.

The last shot of Sal is at a payphone in the park. I hope something REALLY bad doesn’t happen to him.

Something that might be worth exploring is how similar Petey and Don are in a lot of ways. Both were raised by families who did not give a damn about them. Both of them don’t really know how people are supposed to behave. (Think of Petey plaintively asking Don how he should act when his father dies.)  The difference, because Petey had everything handed to him materially he never learned how to fake it. He had did have a long series of automatic mannerly responses programmed into him as part of an upper-class upbringing,  but anytime a situation happens where the rule book does not tell him how to act, he is lost. And he has no concept that anything he wants should be denied him. He gives his new wife chocolates, and then tells her to open them because he wants one. He tells the au pair that having gotten her that dress he deserves to at least see her in it. His bullying and even his raping stem from extreme entitlement. He can’t understand how a women he wants to have sex with would deny it to him.

Don, though a seducer rather than a rapist also acts from extreme entitlement. His ultimate argument with the teacher is how much he wants her.  And I think I’ve seen him use that before. In general both Don and Petey are borderline sociopaths. They may be on opposite sides of the border, but they are not that far from one another.

Unrelated: when Hilton told Don “When I say I want the moon, I expect you to deliver the moon” thus in essence acting emotionally abusive towards him, did anyone but me think “boy, Hilton really is like a father to Don”?

One thing I forgot to say. Because Don is outsider, unlike Petey, he has learned to “act like people”. But it is mostly the result of shrewd observation, a lot of which he has figured out, and some of which he has observed the pattern, but does not know what it behind it. But a lot of Don’s behavior is faked, stuff he does because he has figured out that is “what people do”.

She and Cooper had a brief and tense exchange about her “companion.” I’m thinking Cooper might be sympathetic and pull Sal back from the brink.

If he tries that, it won’t be out of any sympathy for Sal’s sexual orientation. He’s not Dick Cheney, but as a Randian Cooper probably shares that “it’s ok if you’re from a superior family” attitude. His sister’s Boston marriage is tolerable, but Sal is just an Italian ex-employee who was putting Cooper’s money in peril. And you don’t screw with kindly Uncle Bert’s cash flow.

However, what I am sure of is that Bert is himself going to get screwed over or somehow humiliated by the new corporate social compact just as surely as Don did, and just as surely as the still-clueless Roger did. At this point, the whole country is now weeks away from learning that no-one is safe, and that “happily-ever-aftering” is as much an advertising-fueled dream as anything else.

BTW, did you all catch the rapey implications of that exchange where he made Peter take a drag off that cigarette?

Definitely caught. It’s just the first small instance in the episode of someone intruding on a subordinate’s personal life (or, in Pete’s case, his lungs). Same with his drunken call to poor X, putting him in an awkward, no-win situation and then huffing out when doesn’t “deliver.” It’s rapey not because it’s a reference to oral sex, but because it’s about a raw and intrusive expression of power.

But in terms of Sal, see above: he’s a powerful gay man (albeit a closeted one) punishing and bullying someone like himself who didn’t acknowledge his power and give him what he wanted. And in the process, he works against his own personal interests by using bigotry that would be deployed against him. In that way Mr. Lucky Strikes is very much like Kathleen Parker.

More importantly, he’s like a lot of the closeted GOP politicians discussed in an HBO documentary I watched this weekend called “Outrage.” They go a little bit into the twisted psychology of these guys.

The last shot of Sal is at a payphone in the park. I hope something REALLY bad doesn’t happen to him.

Looked like some rough trade in the background. Lots going on with the atmosphere people on this show.

Don, though a seducer rather than a rapist also acts from extreme entitlement. His ultimate argument with the teacher is how much he wants her.

Notice how his language with her mirrors the conversation with Sal: “you people” (gays) ... “someone like you” (a young woman of limited means and power). Both almost sneering. This is all about him expressing power over perceived subordinates.

Unrelated: when Hilton told Don “When I say I want the moon, I expect you to deliver the moon” thus in essence acting emotionally abusive towards him, did anyone but me think “boy, Hilton really is like a father to Don”?

Yeah, but even more screwed up: it was a bait-and-switch. The joke is that Don of all people should have seen past that kind of flattery.

Because Don is outsider, unlike Petey, he has learned to “act like people”. But it is mostly the result of shrewd observation, a lot of which he has figured out, and some of which he has observed the pattern, but does not know what it behind it. But a lot of Don’s behavior is faked, stuff he does because he has figured out that is “what people do”.

A nice tie-in to the earlier discussion about marriage. I was also thinking about the episode while reading through that thread.

To be more precise though, it’s because he has figured out “what people want”—that’s what makes him so good at his job. Unfortunately for Don, he only focuses on the superficial, the external trappings, the “American Dream” of the mid-20th century we still can’t shake. And he’s left with a big hole in his centre that he’ll never be able to fill.

You went to a motherfucking sock hop!?

.... the part of David Neiwert’s book where he talks about how white people in suburban white flight areas were able to congratulate themselves for their lack of racism compared to Southerners, all while pretending they didn’t actively and passively muscle black people out of their communities, and therefore out of the privileges that come with living in those communities.

Yes.  As a white from Africa, I have seen this phenomenon all the time.  “You are more evil than us, so you can take the psychological burden of our racism and sexism, as well as being a useful political decoy for us, so that we can keep going on doing what we’re doing.”

My heart sank when Sal said “but I have a wife” to the lucky strike bully. The line is so self-loathing. Sal was screwed the minute the bully set his sights on him, screwed whether he had sex in the film room or not.  He was as powerless as the elevator operator, with more to lose. And damn, did I get pissed at Don when he said “you people” to Sal. I remember being proud of Don for his earlier reaction, after seeing Sal with the bellhop. Grrrr.

Roxanne- Looks like it’s underground gay hookers, which on one hand is him actually giving in to his desires and being more honest with himself if not his wife, but on the other, we as an audience know it’s bad because of how the underground nature of the gay sex trade at the time was a breeding ground for some nasty diseases including AIDS.

I think in general, I love the acting by Sal and Carla. They really conveyed the nuance of being completely shit out of options and trapped. The way Carla reacts in muted horror to catching Betty I think really captured the heart of it. Ah shit, now I know and now she knows I know, my job is going to be shit and I’d better watch my step unless she decides I’m too much of a threat to keep around.

And yeah, it does seem like the growing theme this season is how those of moderate privilege love to turn around a shit on those lower than them to try and regain some sense of false power. Very critical when you think on how the Southern Strategy would soon capitalize on that desire in people to make politics suck for a couple of decades.

Also I think on the Betty affair, a lot of what goes wrong is what they’re after. Don pretty much wants sex and the opportunity to dominate a passionate woman who thinks she can hold her own and thus he can find what he wants because of his privileged position and his good looks. But Betty wants romance and it seems especially she wants the romance novel with someone sweeping in and rescuing her from her miserable life and she won’t be able to get that pursuing an affair in the usual game because of the imbalance of power between men and women and the usual way the affair operates. To get what she wants, she would have to target a man of lower stature so that she could lay the groundrules and plan in advance which would mean taking the lead in another way. And thus, it’s also unsuitable for her fantasy.

Am I also the only one seeing in their affair how so much of what drives them apart could be solved if they were practicing BDSM together? I mean, they want the newness of characters, Betty to be seduced and challenged, Don to overpower and seduce and they explored a version of role-playing in Rome…

19- The you people line and Betty’s “oh there was backlash, well then you should give up” were really prime asshole moments. It’s seemed this season has been all about peeling back the curtain on the privileged characters that you have grown to possibly love and reveal some nastiness behind the eyes. Don’s petulant mistreatment of Peggy and Sal, Roger’s blackface routine, Burt flicking out the claws at Don, Pete’s rape of the au pair, the non-european young guy’s defense of the vietnam war.

I think it’s to show how the backlash is really a frontlash, it’s just more obvious once the targeted groups start to stand up for themselves.

And on the Hilton pitch, did anyone notice that Peggy was the person who came up with the ad campaign? She’s the one who looks nervous about the concept and the one who flashes a “ah ha” when Hilton says he likes it and looks sad when Hilton goes on his power trip.

And on the power trip, is Hilton lashing out with his privilege at those who can’t read his mind or is he actually insane to the point of beyond eccentric? Given that the moon thing was one of who knows how many thousands of babbling early morning, late night calls, it really seems like Don is at the beck and call of a madman.

I suspect that and Sal and TV Guy’s plight in the face of Lucky Strikes is a metaphor for how the HR culture formed the no-win you’re fucked culture where bizarre contradictory orders could be given with either one or one not even stated could get you in trouble, especially as companies began to find that screwing the workers could be more profitable than making a product.

Also, did anyone think that Lucky Strike’s idea for the ad: that the actor should look into the camera was the big hint of his closeted homosexuality? Basically, it looks upsetting or put on the spot for most, but it can be deeply passionate or intense sexually (think the guy’s reaction to the stare into the camera style of Bye Bye Birdie) and the Lucky Strikes guy was essentially using it to get some footage of hot mountaineer guy staring passionately and intensely at him potentially to masturbate to later? Could be reading too much into it though.

I think both Don and Betty’s issues are control issues.  They both want control.  I don’t see Betty as wanting romance, I see her wanting control.  She can’t control Don, she thought she might be able to control Henry, didn’t work out so she’s done with (him anyway).  She does have a (somewhat tenuous) control over Carla, but one wonders how long that will last.  And she has the illusion of control over her children, for now.  Don’s control has been stripped from him so he lashes out in conquest of someone else.  Someone who had the pretense of disinterest so that the conquest is sweeter, that somehow it is him and only him that is capable of controlling this woman (schoolteacher).  No control at all at work.  Home is on autopilot whether he is there or not, nothing changes.  Someone made a very astute comment last week about these people of moderate privilege basically asserting what they believe to be their rights to have, own, control, do what they want.  The secondary people involved are not really important to their vision of how things should be.  A very perilous game.

My biggest issue was for Sal.  Don’s behavior wasn’t just stepping on a subordinate, it was an outright betrayal and that Don didn’t see it as such was very enlightening.  I think Sal thought above all, Don had his back.  For me that’s the most heart wrenching part of this very dreary episode.  Don’s lack of character really shows through.  The run to the schoolteacher was him relinquishing all efforts to be a better man.

22- Yeah that look on Sal’s face when Don betrays him was heartbreaking. Given his next scene “down by the docks” as it were, I think it really represents his loss of faith that by playing by the right rules he would be mostly ok and that if he was going to be treated like shit anyways, he might as well get some good sex out of it.

Yeah that look on Sal’s face when Don betrays him was heartbreaking. Given his next scene “down by the docks” as it were, I think it really represents his loss of faith that by playing by the right rules he would be mostly ok and that if he was going to be treated like shit anyways, he might as well get some good sex out of it.

This.  The plotline with Sal and Don underscores the absurdity and horror of DADT.  I was in the Navy when that policy was implemented and saw sailors who were gay or perceived as gay treated even worse than they were when there was an outright ban on being gay.  It was like the homophobes decided it was open season - “I can’t ask you if you’re gay and kick you out so I’m going to assume you are and make your life a living hell.” 

Betty remarking to Carla that it was “too soon” to agitate for civil rights mirrors the patronizing attitude by a lot of Dem leaders to the gay community today.

“Betty remarking to Carla that it was “too soon” to agitate for civil rights mirrors the patronizing attitude by a lot of Dem leaders to the gay community today.”

Thank you.  When I heard Betty say this, I smiled in thanks to the writers, thinking they must have meant this to be a nod to the gay community.  There is never a right time for a minority group to be granted their rights.  No one grants it to you.  You have to demand them.  You can’t wait until everyone feels comfortable. 

I am in a strange DADT situation at work.  People know about my orientation, but it is OK as long I don’t talk about it.  However, I have been told that if I “come out” (you mean I’m not out?) I will lose my job.

For people concerned about Sal’s safety in the park.  I wouldn’t put it past the writers to deal with the rape of a man.  But the danger wouldn’t be from the guys in the park.  It would be from other men coming in to gay bash.  Rape is a danger from straight men, like in a prison situation.  The scary looking guys all decked out in leather?  They’re all bottoms.  Maybe you have heard the joke.  Why do the leather guys all wear those big, heavy boots?  To keep their feet on the floor.

one of the things that’s been bugging me is how gayness on TV is almost always represented in relation to the closet, and how the closet and coming out and whether or not to do so is an easy way to generate tension.

But if you had a gay man who was at peace with himself, whose friends and family all accepted him, and who was happily partnered in a long-term relationship—there wouldn’t be a story.  Now of course, you could have a story with gay characters in which gayness wsn’t an issue, but simply a random background fact—but you then might not even notice that the characters were gay, because it wouldn’t be an issue.  The big difference between fiction and real life is that fiction has to have a plot, but real life usually doesn’t.

I remember being proud of Don for his earlier reaction, after seeing Sal with the bellhop

Ok, I definitely missed Don seeing Sal with the bellhop.  Was this on the Miami trip, or did I miss an episode this season (I finished Season 2 on DVD just in time for the AMC Mad Men marathon, and I thought I was all caught up.

The “too soon” is used to argue against all sorts of progressive movements.  I’ve heard it used to retroactively defend slavery against the Emancipation Proclamation.  It’s still being used to argue that we should give up and let the antis ban abortion.  And yes, it’s used against gay rights, the most right now since they’re the newest movement in a lot of ways.

The ONE REASON I have to support the “too soon” argument for gay rights is that almost any action will involve the Supreme Court, and I don’t think the current court makeup is favorable, to say the least.

26- I liked how The Wire handled that. Omar was gay, completely comfortable in himself and with genuine support from the vestiges of family he had. The dramatic tension then came in how the homophobic gang leaders responded to that and the vengeful lover crusade.

But if you had a gay man who was at peace with himself, whose friends and family all accepted him, and who was happily partnered in a long-term relationship—there wouldn’t be a story.

Of course you could!  You could portray him having a) troubles that aren’t directly related to his gayness or b) external forces that want to hurt him for being gay. Did you read the rest of the post?  That was my point.  You’d think, watching most gay closet plots on TV, that there was no such thing as straight people who would reject or oppress gay people.  And that’s because the mostly-straight writers are uncomfortable examining the role straight people play in this.

Like on “The Shield”, Vic uses Julian’s closeted status to threaten and control him, but even then, Vic is portrayed as not being personally homophobic, just opportunistic.  You begin to wonder why the threats even work, because it seems that no one in the police department would discriminate against a gay cop.  So instead, Julian’s hesitation is constructed as purely a personal problem, his own internal inability to come out.  As if there’s no such thing as discrimination.

I liked the fundraiser party discussion about what Rocky (a Republican, although today he’d be ridden out of town on a rail) would do for civil rights. When coupled with Betty’s ‘too soon’ comment, it reminded me perfectly of the old political adage: Republicans are for change. Just not yet.

My gay friends have long-term relationships, flings, disappointments, breakups, reunions, periods of celibacy, periods of dating around, realizations that they’ve grown apart from their partner, realizations that there’s no-one else in the world for them and that they’ve found their soul-mate….in other words, the same tensions—and inspirations for a writer’s plot points—that straight people have; those real-life things that we exploit when writing “romantic drama”.  It isn’t all about the closet per se, not all the time.  Although I don’t doubt that having the closet figure more prominently in dramas that are set in decades past is, sadly, an accurate comment on those times.

Also, the aspect of “forbidden-ness” is kind of catnip to writers; it automatically injects a drama with a bit of tension: will he or she be found out?  Will he or she get to live happily ever after with his or her true love?  So the closet aspect, esp. in period dramas, provides automatically the kind of If-Loving-You-Is-Wrong,-I Don’t-Want-to-Be-Right tension we get in, say, Romeo and Juliet.

I don’t get how anybody had the impression Don was an ally to Sal. When he saw Sal with the bell hop, all he did was Not Talk About It and Act Like It Never Happened, which is generally how people deal with matters they consider too gross and embarrassing to acknowledge.

So many great comments and such a great post!  I think so many comments were spot on.  This episode was very interesting on so many levels.  Thank you all for giving me some more things to think about.  I agree with so much of what has been said, and the nuances of Sal’s performance and Carla’s were astounding.  Also in terms of people at higher levels condescending or oppressing those below them, in addition to the “too soon for civil rights,” I loved the line when Betty remarked to Henry that her girl would be back soon, as if Carla isn’t a good 5-10 years old chronologically and a good 30 years older than her in terms of maturity!

On Don and Sal:  My instant gut reaction was the same as everyone else’s, very dissapointing with respect to Don and disheartening in general. Having said that, the more I think about it, the more I’m not really sure Don comes out as big of monster as everyone is making him out to be.  He’s definitely not a stand-up guy, to be sure.  He’s obviously pretty ignorant about homosexuality and is nevous as hell about losing another client that could “turn [S&C;]‘s lights out], so he’s gonna blame someone and blurt out “you people” in a disgusted manner.  But on the other hand, he didn’t say shit after seeing the bellhop incident and he did tell Sal that he’d be fine (not particularly comforting under the circumstances, I know).  He also encouraged Sal in his directing career.  And Don makes it fairly clear that he might expect a woman to have sex with a client under similar circumstances, so I’m not sure that saying he wouldn’t expect a straight man to do it is particularly significant. 

It seemed the homophobia just came out as a part of the whole fiasco.  And on top of that, I’m a little confused as to how he was exactly supposed to have Sal’s back.  What leverage could he possibly have against Roger or Lucky Strike?  I can’t envision a scenario where Sal could be saved.  But I can definitely envision a scenario where Don’t career would be jeapardized if he stood up for Sal.  More attention would be drawn to the whole thing and they’d both hbe worse off.  Don definitely could have handled the situation with more compassion and less homophobic scapegoating.  But if you look at the totality of the circumstances, I’m really not sure how this could have played out differently.

Um, ginormous caveat: the fact that Don would expect the same thing from a female employee is outrageiously fucked up.  Re-reading my post I can see I didn’t make that clear at all.

I’ve always seen Don as a lone wolf, or perhaps even a shark.  He moves forward and serves only himself; if it furthers his purpose to do nothing—or if doing nothing will not impede his progress or impinge on his ability to get what he wants—then that’s what he does: nothing.  He keeps moving.  However, when something does require that he make a decision and choose to take one of two paths, he will always take the path that a) gets him what he wants and b) does not threaten his personal status quo.

Don can see the writing on the wall in terms of women coming up in the workplace, and he can also see the raw talent (and good instincts) that Peggy has going for her.  I’d love to believe that his counseling her in the asylum/hospital at the beginning of Season 2 was about some altruistic, soft-hearted, humanitarian side of his, but I’d be sorely mistaken, don’t you think?  Don may have felt some flicker of kinship with a damaged soul when he told her to move forward, that “This never happened”, but looking back, I am thinking he was merely advising her as a fellow traveler: Look, you can move past this.  I know it’s possible, because I’ve done it myself.  You’re talented; don’t let the past hold you back.

And so it was with Sal.  Don had no reason to out him; at the time, he had every reason to keep him on board: Sal was shaping up to be a superb director at a time when television advertising was galloping ahead in terms of the dollars associated with media buys as well as its obvious and real potential to influence large numbers of people and guide their consumer habits.  Sal was valuable.  Then.  In this latest episode, though, Sal’s continued presence meant Lucky Strike would leave and “turn out the lights” at SC; correspondingly, the other side of the balance bore more weight, alas.

One more thing: while there is obviously plenty of racism to go around in MM, I saw Betty’s dismissive remark to Bobby—“She doesn’t work for you, she works for me”—and her referring to Carla as her “girl” as much more classist than racist.  Growing up, I recall lots of women, who were my mother’s friends, referring to their Latina, Asian, black, and white housekeepers and nannies as “my girl”, even if said employee was chronologically older.  It was emblematic of class division.

That said, Betty’s comment about it not being the right time for civil rights?  Jesus, that was racist.  Because if there was a question of blonde, white women being targeted for atrocities or not being allowed to sit in the front of the bus, or similar, there’s no WAY she would have said “oh well, maybe it’s not time for us white girls to fight for our civil rights”.

Betty is a product of her time.  I don’t excuse her obliviousness, but I do understand it.  I am also remembering her, Nordic and repressed in her upbringing as she was, kinda-sorta bonding with her Dad’s housekeeper in the previous season when she was helping her make the bed.  And listening to (and taking to heart) the kindly advice of Carla after she kicked the philandering Don out and was at odds and ends, wearing her housecoat and drinking wine 24/7—remember?  Carla advised her to get herself outdoors, and she would see that everything was just as she’d left it.  Think about it—truly racist, stuck-in-the-times-of-the-plantation women do not help their housekeepers do things like make the bed.  Or talk to them (or take their advice) about deeply personal matters like the impending doom in their marriage.

Not all the social changes taking place in the 1960’s were firy and obvious; some were very, very subtle, but they were definitely happening.  That Mad Mend captures them so perfectly is a testament to the quality of the writing and the observing alike.

Don can see the writing on the wall in terms of women coming up in the workplace, and he can also see the raw talent (and good instincts) that Peggy has going for her.

Anyone have any idea WTF Don’s damage is with Peggy lately? All he does anymore is snap and growl at her. He was also rude to the Smittys this last episode though so maybe he’s just feeling threatened all over. I don’t know. But he seems to have a real bug up his ass when it comes to my Pegs.

He’s feeling like he’s being put upon by his superiors, and shit runs down hill.

Sal was valuable. Then. In this latest episode, though, Sal’s continued presence meant Lucky Strike would leave and “turn out the lights” at SC; correspondingly, the other side of the balance bore more weight, alas.

Another irony presented by the show, since the Surgeon General’s report will be out whthin a year of the current show’s time, and TV ads for cigarettes will be banned within eight years time.

Cerberus:

The way Carla reacts in muted horror to catching Betty I think really captured the heart of it. Ah shit, now I know and now she knows I know, my job is going to be shit and I’d better watch my step unless she decides I’m too much of a threat to keep around.

Yeah, people hate people who know their secrets, because it makes them vulnerable.

Connie opened up to Don, even sharing a silly idea about Hilton on the moon.  When Don “rejects” that idea, even though his campaign is great, Connie becomes angry.

Carla suspects Betty’s dalliance.  So Betty has to push Carla around.  Even her suggestion that Carla take a day off is a slap in the face, because it’s not like Carla would get paid, and it reminds Carla that she can be dismissed at any time for any reason.

Sal knows about Lucky Strike Junior’s orientation, but rejected him, so Junior wants him gone from the agency, in a way that won’t reveal his own secret.