The Maddening Loneliness of Mad Men

Mad Men, by Matthew Weiner, is an American period drama show that follows the advertisement industry of Madison Avenue, New York in the 1960s. Weiner uses the perceptions of Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss) to deconstruct and analyze the social atmosphere of the era, incorporating issues ranging from adultery to gender-disparity, and highlighting the anachronistic features that make both respective characters intriguing in their own regard. This, consequently, builds up a fundamental theme of Mad Men — loneliness — something that is further touched upon through the use of framing. By analyzing two scenes in particular: the final shot of Don with his kids (“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”) and the second women's’ bathroom scene with Peggy (“Ladies’ Room”) — one can see how framing is used to exhibit the three aspects of loneliness both Peggy and Don are dealing with at the start of the series — disconnection from society, isolation, and identity.

In order to establish the isolation both respective characters feel, Mad Men’s cinematography uses framing to provide insight on both Peggy and Don’s motivations — specifically their desire to defy the expectations of their society (the source of their disconnection). Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) and Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) both act as the expected templates of their gender within the era — Joan through advising Peggy on how to be appealing to men in order to achieve success and a stable marriage, and Pete through his lewd behavior and own impending marriage. Their motivations can be seen as inherent to the time period they are living in, both seeking the values expected of them. Don and Peggy are anomalies in this sense, their motivations stemming from desires that are internal to them. They both struggle to adhere to the social structures of the era. This disconnection from the society around them acts as the set up to each scene’s use of framing, isolating them further from the quick-paced world that surrounds them.

As a result of their inability to conform to expectation, both Don and Peggy are dealing with isolation — something that Alan Taylor (the director) delves further into through the framing of characters in their moments of contemplation. As Peggy enters the bathroom in “Ladies’ Room”, she encounters a fellow female employee sobbing. The setup is constructed to display both women through separate mirrors (one hallway and one sink mirror), disconnecting them from each other. Peggy herself is slightly emotional, annoyed at the fact she has become the sexual target for many of the male employees — something that Joan tells her to “enjoy while it lasts.” For a moment, Peggy glances over at the crying woman, but instead of helping she returns her gaze to her own reflection. The frame removes the woman, highlighting Peggy alone as she fixes herself up. As she leaves, the frame returns to its original shot, capturing the woman crying alone in the bathroom stall. The scene provides a significant amount of exposition on the character of Peggy. Firstly, it gives insight to Peggy’s own motivations, as she confines herself to her own box (the mirror in front of her) — capturing Peggy’s self-imposed isolation while also displaying the juxtaposition of reactions between her and her fellow female-employee. Taylor shows the audience that Peggy’s motivations differ from others in that they are exclusive to her own desires — she does not want what is expected of her. She refrains from letting herself cry, choosing to suppress her emotions and maintain her composure — illustrating the determined nature Peggy seeks to display to her colleagues in order to achieve a higher level of respect. Therefore, Peggy seeks to create a depiction of herself that fights against expectation, at the cost of emotional suppression.

Interestingly enough, Don seeks to create a depiction of himself that conforms to expectation, but also at the cost of emotional suppression. The final scene of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” shows Don sitting with his two kids, staring at the wall in front of him as Betty (his wife) watches from behind. Betty stands in the door frame, leaning to the side — symbolically gesturing at her need for Don, one that aligns with the need for stability. Don is centered in the shot, his gaze (similar to Peggy) also reiterating his motivations. Don’s isolation stems from his nihilistic view of the world, something that heavily contradicts the familial and corporate lifestyle he’s developed for himself. As Don states earlier in the episode, “You’re born alone, you die alone, and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. But I never forget.” As a result, he’s a heavy drinker (emotional suppression), adulterous, and opaque — simply because he cannot heed to the expectations of men that have been established throughout the show. Despite having a beautiful wife, two loving children, and a more-than-stable job, Don just stares at the wall in front of him — disconnected from the image he works to maintain, and apathetic to the life he’s living.

Through the use of disconnection and isolation, the two scenes help to raise an important question about each character — who are they? Their disconnection from society and isolation from the people around them makes it harder to understand their motivations and desires, yet it is also their source of interest to the audience. Just as the camera isolates Peggy from her colleague, Don too is separated from his wife Betty. The frame captures them as momentarily isolated, despite the presence of people around them. Both Peggy and Don are the center of their own personalized world — one which houses their unique desires and separates them from the people around them. While Peggy is attempting to find a way to give hers a voice, Don is attempting to hide his. Peggy’s identity therefore relies on the strength of her determination — contradicting the female-suppressive society of the 1960s. Don’s nihilistic view of the world means he sees Peggy’s philosophy as counterintuitive, claiming "I'm living like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't one.” While Peggy seeks change, Don has accepted that there won’t be — two views that help construct much of their persona (Peggy’s resilience and Don’s mysteriousness). Yet, both must hide much of who they are in order to achieve their goals (specifically the suppression of their emotions), leaving much of their identity to be discovered.

Through the theme of loneliness, Mad Men manages to create fully-realized characters whose unique desires provide a majority of the context to their characters. As seen through the two respective shots of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” and “Ladies’ Room”, Weiner and Taylor use framing to illustrate these qualities of loneliness in both Peggy and Don, as well as how it affects them to live in a society that seeks to suppress these qualities. This, in turn, leads to their disconnection from society, highlighting their isolation and providing integral context to their respective identities with room for more to be uncovered.