Mad Men Meme

[sunclouds33]

I did this meme for Mad Men for 12_12_12. I had too many characters in my answer to be contained in a less than four comments. I'm just writing a separate entry- which I generally like doing on these memes anyway. Feel free to ask more fandoms. So far I've done the Buffyverse, Harry Potter, The Good Wife, and Mad Men

Comments

[sunclouds33]

I think Joan is fascinating too. I do think a lot of her choices get tied up with her past and its failed marriage, multiple abortions. Joan is out to regain "respectability" in a decade where the definition of "respectability" changes and when she ironically, gets these opportunities for future respectability by not being respectable (the Jaguar deal as a classic example but also her affair with Roger or the temptations of marrying known rapist Greg and then, known homosexual Bob Benson in a fake marriage).

However while this exists, I can't even come up with a grand unified theory that this just drives Joan entirely, even though it constantly comes up because she has a host of these other motives. Like, I think it's fascinatingly contradictory that Joan apparently wanted Jaguar/Herb to hang around as a humiliating, sexually harassing reminder of her sacrifice even more than getting Chevy ("So, what? I did that for nothing?") but she was also furious at Don for not consulting with her as a partner to Don in the business, regardless of how she won her seat on the board. And even though she (naturally) didn't want her night with Herb discussed in eps prior, she made a loud, public scene about it to confront Don publicly. There's this elusive sweet spot between victim and establishment power-player that lends someone the most soft and hard power, reasons to be comfort/be sympathetic *and* fear/obey. I think Joan (like the other MM characters) are on the hunt for it. However, that's a rare exception.

Generally, Joan has a finesse in how she lurches but also shies away and then, lurches again to the various titles that she wants- Power Player, Victim, Seductress, Ace Businesswoman, Wife, Mother, Loyal Daughter, Mistress, Mentor to Young Women- ultimately seeming to really settle on Mom and Ace Businesswoman as the cornerstones of her identity. And it's strange- because you can see the brushstrokes of "finesse" even though Joan yo-yos between the oppositional roles that she wants to play.

[wildcard_47]

Yeah, agreed: I think Joan's not so much tied to her past as....punishing herself for her choices? Even when those choices work out? It's kind of a sunk cost effect -- she realizes it's a bad deal, but instead of pulling out at the last minute and looking flighty, naive, or both, she pushes the throttle down and owns that bad choice 1000%. Like you said, she snipes at Herb Rennet for being a dick, but simultaneously doesn't resent the power that comes with being a full partner. And yes, it's a learned finesse -- not perfect, but definitely broad stroke in some cases. And she's always ready to yo-yo back to something else if one title or approach isn't successful. I think that's why she's so adaptable and able to turn her failures into successes.

[sunclouds33]

Yes, it's part of why Joan is complicated. Because I agree that Joan really commits herself to the consequences of her choices, but I also agree (and proposed) that she's adaptable and occupies a lot of different and varying roles. Even though it's painful and really not necessary, Joan commits to holding her nose and marrying Dr. Rapist, being a shopgirl instead of asking for her old job back at SC even as Roger calls to chat a lot, refusing Roger's child support money, wanting Herb/Jaguar to remain clients and thus, constant reminders of her humiliations, sticking with Cutler even though she was isolated in that position and Cutler didn't give a shit about her anti-Harry Crane as partner vote. I don't know that she's punishing herself in these actions- but she trying to fulfill A Code that a respectable woman accepts the consequences of her actions and never flip-flops on a stated position, even when there's an exit point or even when there's little value or goodness in what she's doing other than commitment and bearing the consequences of her choices. In this, she's the opposite of Don who constantly tries to exit and run away from anything ranging from a genuinely awful situation to anything that's so much as mildly irritating/boring him, with little regard to the consequences of that.

But yeah, at the same time, Joan's a Committer but she's also a woman who tries to play a number of roles. To some extent, her final storyline bore that pattern out but showed growth. Joan committed to the unfair reality of her situation in just taking McCann's gambit to welsh out of the purchase price of her shares because they harassed her enough on the job. She did not lead a feminist charge or sue for her money. However, she also went to evolve into another role- from Company Gal/Vice President to CEO of Her Own Business.