Mad Men Analysis: Joan and Peggy
Apr. 6th, 2015 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_nightSpoilers for Mad Men 7.8: Severance.
So because I like to see relationships between female characters unfold, I enjoy watching Joan and Peggy on Mad Men.
They tend to be two characters who either click or clash, even if they're actively trying to help one another - perhaps especially when they are. They had an opportunity to unite in last night's episode, and they were heading that way - but little by little, the wrong words left them both upset. (Fans appear to be split on who wronged whom - I'd say it was 50/50, and in Peggy's defense, assuming she doesn't know Joan slept with the Jaguar creep, she wouldn't have known her comment about Joan "never doing anything you don't want to" probably stung Joan to the core. OTOH, it probably stung Joan to the core, and since she couldn't outright tell Peggy why, she lashed out instead.) Part of me wishes they would just unite already, as someone who is tired of the lack of strong female relationships on TV and in films. However, I think there's a few reasons why they really can't.
First, they faced many situations similarly, but handled them different ways - which neither of them knows. Peggy sees Joan as someone who got where she is through her looks, and may even think Joan had it easier on that front. We know that's not true, as the audience, but Peggy just knows Joan walked into the office one day and had a promotion. Joan, meanwhile, sees Peggy as someone who inexplicably became a copywriter, even after just disappearing from the office for several months - of course, again, we know why. It's not as though Peggy and Joan have ever been confidantes. So it's easy for Peggy to see Joan as a bit of a prima donna, and for Joan to see Peggy as the teacher's pet who has no idea how easy she always had it. If this were a different show, they might see each other's sides and reconcile, but Mad Men's not really that type of show.
Second, you can actually look at Peggy and Joan as actually being sisters - in an extremely dysfunctional household where mom's always smoking, dad's always drunk, grandpa's always racist and big brother's always in trouble. They've learned that if they want to survive, they have to fight for the last piece of food, and while sometimes this means we get warm moments, often they're torn and divided, both trying to prove themselves, to gain approval from parents who just aren't paying attention, or at least not the right kind of attention. They quibble because they aren't being nurtured as partners - they're being nurtured as two sides of a fight for respect and attention, and even when they try seeing each other's sides, they never really get it right.
What's interesting is that I feel like in Peggy's way, she actually has tried to befriend and/or support Joan, and/or receive support from her. The problem is, as I said above, she misses the mark so often. Had Peggy just left it at "those men were sexist pigs", for instance, I think the scene would have ended very differently. I would like to see them working together even more harmoniously, and hopefully they will see the value in truly supporting one another. I don't think they'll ever have a sisterhood the way Roger and Don have a bromance, but I'll take civility, at the very least.
Although I do wish more shows would have women actually being closer, as opposed to adversaries - because this really isn't an outdated trope. It seems like women on TV and in movies almost have to either hate one another or barely tolerate one another. But maybe that's also the point Matthew Weiner is trying to make here. I think one of the shocking things about this show is how some things really haven't changed, and I think this is one example.
*Hollywood Homely, but it takes very little to be Hollywood Homely. After all, Rachael Leigh Cook once played a "homely" high schooler. Of course, who knows how much plastic surgery she's had since playing the character, but even so.
So because I like to see relationships between female characters unfold, I enjoy watching Joan and Peggy on Mad Men.
They tend to be two characters who either click or clash, even if they're actively trying to help one another - perhaps especially when they are. They had an opportunity to unite in last night's episode, and they were heading that way - but little by little, the wrong words left them both upset. (Fans appear to be split on who wronged whom - I'd say it was 50/50, and in Peggy's defense, assuming she doesn't know Joan slept with the Jaguar creep, she wouldn't have known her comment about Joan "never doing anything you don't want to" probably stung Joan to the core. OTOH, it probably stung Joan to the core, and since she couldn't outright tell Peggy why, she lashed out instead.) Part of me wishes they would just unite already, as someone who is tired of the lack of strong female relationships on TV and in films. However, I think there's a few reasons why they really can't.
First, they faced many situations similarly, but handled them different ways - which neither of them knows. Peggy sees Joan as someone who got where she is through her looks, and may even think Joan had it easier on that front. We know that's not true, as the audience, but Peggy just knows Joan walked into the office one day and had a promotion. Joan, meanwhile, sees Peggy as someone who inexplicably became a copywriter, even after just disappearing from the office for several months - of course, again, we know why. It's not as though Peggy and Joan have ever been confidantes. So it's easy for Peggy to see Joan as a bit of a prima donna, and for Joan to see Peggy as the teacher's pet who has no idea how easy she always had it. If this were a different show, they might see each other's sides and reconcile, but Mad Men's not really that type of show.
Second, you can actually look at Peggy and Joan as actually being sisters - in an extremely dysfunctional household where mom's always smoking, dad's always drunk, grandpa's always racist and big brother's always in trouble. They've learned that if they want to survive, they have to fight for the last piece of food, and while sometimes this means we get warm moments, often they're torn and divided, both trying to prove themselves, to gain approval from parents who just aren't paying attention, or at least not the right kind of attention. They quibble because they aren't being nurtured as partners - they're being nurtured as two sides of a fight for respect and attention, and even when they try seeing each other's sides, they never really get it right.
What's interesting is that I feel like in Peggy's way, she actually has tried to befriend and/or support Joan, and/or receive support from her. The problem is, as I said above, she misses the mark so often. Had Peggy just left it at "those men were sexist pigs", for instance, I think the scene would have ended very differently. I would like to see them working together even more harmoniously, and hopefully they will see the value in truly supporting one another. I don't think they'll ever have a sisterhood the way Roger and Don have a bromance, but I'll take civility, at the very least.
Although I do wish more shows would have women actually being closer, as opposed to adversaries - because this really isn't an outdated trope. It seems like women on TV and in movies almost have to either hate one another or barely tolerate one another. But maybe that's also the point Matthew Weiner is trying to make here. I think one of the shocking things about this show is how some things really haven't changed, and I think this is one example.
*Hollywood Homely, but it takes very little to be Hollywood Homely. After all, Rachael Leigh Cook once played a "homely" high schooler. Of course, who knows how much plastic surgery she's had since playing the character, but even so.
