One image in particular stood out for me whilst
viewing the Mad Men pilot. This image
was towards the beginning of the episode and I believe it foreshadowed what was
to follow in the rest of the episode. The image is that of Peggy standing in
the elevator with Paul, Ken and Harry standing behind her. These three men are
all staring at Peggy whilst she isn’t paying attention to any of them, her gaze
forward and into the distance. It is almost as if she is looking as far away from
the men as she possibly can, her eyes showing a mixture of being unimpressed
and pleased with what the men are saying about her.
I believe this particular shot is important and
relevant to the rest of the episode for a number of reasons. Firstly, the men
leering at Peggy is an indication of the time period in which Mad Men is set. As it is set in the late
1950’s/early 1960’s, this was a time in which women were repressed and,
typically, were not the income earners for the household. During this time, women
were limited to certain types of jobs in the workforce, such as reception work.
This is later revealed to be the kind of work that Peggy does. In this shot,
Paul, Ken and Harry are all wearing suits, indicating both their job and class
status. This is also a sign of the time period in which Mad Men is set, as men in those times would only have done certain
types of jobs i.e. not those which are “typically female”.
As the men are all taller than Peggy, this is
another indication of their power and status in relation to her. It could be
presumed that because they appear to be towering over her that they are of higher
status and power than her. This has obvious parallels with the era Mad Men is set in. Not only does it appear
that the men are towering over her due to their height difference and possible
camera angle to create this illusion, the three men’s gazes appear to be
looking down on Peggy. This further emphasises the idea of them being above her
both literally and figuratively.
Even though Peggy can clearly hear them as she
is standing in close quarters with them (as is the case when people are in
elevators together), they make suggestive comments about and towards her. One
of the men states “I’m enjoying the view”, in which Peggy reacts by almost
rolling her eyes to the other side of the elevator, as far from the men as
possible. This is another explicit indication of the setting of Mad Men and the cultural and social indicators
of the late 1950’s/early 1960’s.
Not only is this image important in creating a
sense of the setting of Mad Men, including
how men treated women at this time and the inequalities between men and women,
it also allows for some initial character development. Peggy, despite looking
away from the men, also appears somewhat pleased with this attention as she
does not tell them to stop or openly appear disgusted. This foreshadows the
fact that later in the episode Peggy goes to the doctors for the contraceptive
pill. At the end of the episode she allows Pete Campbell (who is drunk and
clearly wants sex) into her house. By introducing this aspect of Peggy’s
character early on in the elevator, this allows the audience to make
assumptions about her and how she may develop throughout the show.
As well as this shot indicating parts of Peggy’s
character, it also highlights aspects of Paul, Harry and Ken’s characters. They
appear to act as a unit and the audience may get the sense that they are a bit
of a “boys club”. In other scenes in the pilot of Mad Men, these three men rarely appear alone, always together and
acting typically “manly”. By leering at Peggy in this way, they are fulfilling
what they believe men should do. Because the three men do this as a unit, this
indicates their togetherness and, perhaps, that they are influencing one
another.
The image of Peggy in the elevator with these
three men standing behind her, talking about and leering at her, clearly
highlights the time period of Mad Men.
It also begins to foreshadow the character’s identities and relationships with
one another, thus, I think it is an important shot to include in the pilot.
References:
Smoke
Gets in Your Eyes, Mad Men 2007, television episode, AMC, United States of America, 19
July.
