Food, Glorious Food!
One of the major motifs used in The Gypsy and the Hobo is food.
It’s introduced by former (and potential) Sterling Cooper client Annabelle Mathis of Caldecott Farms. Her company manufactures dog food out of horse meat. Caldecott Farms is trying to overcome negative public opinion after news of their product’s main ingredient becomes widely known. Mathis is mystified by that reaction because, as she points out, everyone eats something.
In Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency, Don compared his business philosophy to a snake that can only eat “one meal at a time.” Similarly, from an emotional standpoint, Don’s approach to relationships is like that of a hobo who moves from place to place (meal to meal) without leaving any permanent roots. These last few episodes have depicted his struggle between the concept of freedom represented by Suzanne versus the satisfaction inherent in the more firmly grounded relationships Betty and the kids provide. The Gypsy and the Hobo further establishes a symbolic connection between eating and the search for personal fulfillment through countless references to meals.
Suzanne describes the spaghetti dish she has planned for Don (meatless, of course). Roger and Annabelle reminisce over dinner in a French restaurant. When Joan returns home after Greg has bombed his interview, their refrigerator is placed at the center of the shot. Also, the voice of famous chef Julia Child can be distinctly heard on the television set Greg is watching (moments before Joan smashes a vase on his head). Later, Annabelle and Roger have a tense conversation in the Sterling Cooper lunchroom. Again, an open refrigerator can be seen in the background. When Greg announces that he’s enlisted in the service, Joan is setting the dinner table.
Don and Betty’s dramatic final confrontation very much incorporates a food motif. Don initially tells Betty that he only came home to “feed the dog.” He tries to leave by making up imaginary “dinner” plans with a client. More pointedly, the picture of Don’s deceased half-brother shows Adam sitting on a horse. In effect, an emotional Don recoils at the realization that he sacrificed Adam to maintain a manufactured life in the same way that the protestors of Caldecott Farms recoil at their use of horse meat to manufacture dog food. Ultimately, it is Betty’s offer of food, not Suzanne’s, which Don is shown accepting. Don surprises his secretary Allison by showing up at Sterling Cooper the next day. She asks about rescheduling a meeting with “United Fruit” just before he calls Suzanne to break off their relationship.
This choice does not seem a completely satisfying one. While trick-or-treating with the kids, Don is jokingly asked by Carlton who he’s “supposed to be.” In a way, Betty and Don are themselves disguised as a happy couple. Don’s reaction indicates that the remark hit too close to home while the song “Where is Love” from Oliver!, a musical about another hungry orphan, plays in the background.
Note: The location Suzanne had selected for their ill-fated trip was Norwich. I chalk this up to serendipity more than design, but feel compelled to point out that Norwich Pharmaceuticals is the company that introduced Pepto Bismol to the world in 1919.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
How could I have missed Julia Child’s voice in the Joan/Greg scene? Still have vivid memories of my Mom faithfully watching Julia, and the Galloping Gourmet.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I thought that Betty offering Don her sandwich before they went out trick-or-treating was a very touching moment. It seemed so normal and married after the upheaval of the previous evening.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Don initially tells Betty that he only came home to “feed the dog.”
This theme aside (and this is awesome, btw), that is just brilliant writing–a plausible excuse but also, of course Don has dogfood on his mind.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Food shows up in Pete’s apt too, but I did not think beyond the fact that Joan and Pete have apt’s where the dining room is often visible. But interesting, as I can only recall bedroom scenes in Peggy’s apt.
I thought the Julia Child veiwing was significant because she’s a woman with a large, authoritative, and often fun personality. Also as another way to connect to the present time (the recently released movie).
Thanks for pointing out that Don actively accepts Betty offer of food and not Suzzane’s.
Kenny has most of the food accounts. Does anyone see this as significant?
October 30th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
We’ve seen Peggy in the kitchen, in The New Girl. She has an open structure; at one point, Peggy stood in the kitchen and talked to Bobbie in the living room.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Maybe Don, having earlier sampled her date nut bread, doesn’t like Suzanne’s cooking.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Ah, the famous image of Julia Child wielding a mallet! Or perhaps a tenderizer. Either of those implements would have done more damage than the breakaway vase Joan used….
Deborah: We saw Peggy’s second Brooklyn apartment last season–the one without a roommate. Has she moved in to Manhattan yet? How is the roommate working out? Is she spending nights away with Duck?
…Just hoping for some more non-Ossining scenes in the next 2 shows.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Also, when Kinsey has his brilliant idea, he was in the break room and it came just after he raised the SC fridge.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
#8 – I hate to nit pick but . . .
when Kinsey had his brilliant idea, he was in the break room and HE came just BEFORE he raided the SC fridge.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
The food scene that sticks in my memory was when Kenny was at Sal’s and Kitty’s for dinner.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
in the Color Blue, in the first scene Betty and Carla are making a grocery list, Betty tells Carla to buy some apples at a farm because the ones at the store are not good quality. When Paul raids the SC fridge he takes an apple out of somenone’s lunch bag. When Betty calls Henry to ask if he made a hang-up call to her there is an apple sitting on his desk.
My take is that an apple represents forbidden fruit – maybe???
October 30th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Gene bought peaches. And then he died.
.
.
.
.
And then Betty ate the peach.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Betty and her Melba Toast, which is sort of an anti-food.
Betty made grilled cheese for the kids on the Sunday night when they were collapsed en famille on the bed.
Of course, her around the world dinner for Duck, Crab and the others.
The Sara Lee cake that had to substitute for Sally’s actual cake.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Betty ate a salad while Roger ate her steak.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
And then there was the lasagna, which apparently no one ate.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
This brings to mind the scene in Babylon where Roger orders all that food from room service (“Left alone, it would take over Europe,” or something to that effect) and Joan comments how she doesn’t like eating “in here,” she doesn’t like food that close to the bed. I always wondered about that comment.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
This is really deep analysis, and as a first time reader to this site, do you really think the writers sit around and plan all this out. It seems almost impossible to pull off, but the “food angle” makes sense after reading this post.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
We saw Peggy’s second Brooklyn apartment last season–the one without a roommate. Has she moved in to Manhattan yet? How is the roommate working out? Is she spending nights away with Duck?
All very good questions.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
# 8 & # 9
In ‘The Color Blue,’ it looked like Paul grabbed a lunch sack with Sal’s name on it.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Betty feeding Don is like the alpha female wolf feeding her puppies. Taking food from someone is an act of submission. She’s dishing it out and he’s swallowing it.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
A horse, of course, is also rampant with symbolism. Betty is the character most associated with horses. Don is the dog.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
we could have been live-blogging Young Frankensteen.
It’s not that far OT, it’s on AMC and there are horses.
“Frau Blucher” (insert whinneying sounds here)
October 30th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
“Wait. Where are you going? I was going to make espresso.”
October 30th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Is this a copy of you assignment for Composition 101? Sheesh.
Other possible scenes to use for this ridiculous attempt at symbolism:
-Don is the one who prepares Connie’s drink in their first encounter, thus setting up the nature of their professional relationship: Don as Connie’s servant.
-Much of “Souvenir” involved Don and Betty being in places where food is served (at the restaurant, up in their hotel room [Don gets out of breakfast with Hilton by making up an excuse about room service] ), yet we never see them getting any food, which alludes to their depleted marriage.
Sheesh…
October 30th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
And I wouldn’t refer to Don’s life as “manufactured.” Advertising is a business with a creative facet to it – and Don is in charge of that facet. He has to rely on certain artistic skills every time he’s at the office.
October 31st, 2009 at 1:36 am
Sheesh, Dirk Funk, we come here to have fun.
October 31st, 2009 at 6:34 am
Dirk Funk gets hit in the face with a pie for peeing in everyone’s Wheaties.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:17 am
Phil: I got a Baby Ruth
Brenda: I got some candy corn
Jules_Atl: I got a Hershey bar
Dirk Funk: I got a rock
October 31st, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Well, I like this thread snd being a foodie, have noticed many food moments.
Oysters and cheesecake.
Don actually eats alone several times. S11, he is alone when he asks the waiter about the brand of cigareets he smokes.
S21 he is dining at a bar when the man next to him reads Meditations.
While that happens, the SC staff waits for Don so they can eat. The secretaries later on must wait for the staff to eat so they can.
In The Jet Set, the vagabonds dine on Mexican food.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:37 am
Other food/kitchen scenes this season (all of which we’ve discussed before): Don making warm milk for Betty; Don making hash and eggs for himself, which he ends up sharing with Sally. Plus the whole exchange about Sally not knowing Don cooks…Don’s reply that Mommy is much better at it. Also, Betty and her father are in the kitchen when he wants to discuss his arrangements. And let’s not forget the ice cream and the smell of oranges. And lots and lots of Carla-related scenes in the kitchen: listening to the funeral, Bobby sassing her, Carla putting Gene in his place.
As an auntie of mine says: “Didn’t you get the memo? Food is love.” Or in this case, connection…and the kitchen is the heart of any home. There’s also been a lot of activity centered around that phone in the Draper kitchen this season: the drunk-dial, the hang-up, Connie’s calls, calls to Henry.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:30 am
Marina_Joan @30, “the kitchen is the heart of any home” makes me think of the decorator and Betty this season, and Betty putting her fainting couch in front of the hearth. Of course, back in Ye Olden Tymes the hearth would’ve been where the cooking got done. But Betty put the fainting couch in the way of the fireplace. What has she been doing in the kitchen this season? Eating melba toast, and Sally’s peaches.
November 1st, 2009 at 7:39 am
Food is such an essential part of life it would seem odd if a naturalist drama like Mad Men didn’t incorporate food…so calling this a theme seems a bit forced, entertaining as it is to tally the food references. That food would play a prominent role seems especially apt for the 1960s, the heyday of expense account lunches and dinners with clients, when families didn’t eat out as much and when housewives and maids spent more time grocery shopping and cooking from scratch, and doing the dishes. (I haven’t noticed — do the Drapers have a dishwasher? They probably do, but I bet Suzanne doesn’t.)
In contrast, take a movie like “The Bourne Identity” — when I saw that film, all I could think was, “How come Jason Bourne never stops to eat?”
Next frontier: TV shows that acknowledge people use the bathroom for more than applying lipstick (Betty) or shaving (Don)…see last week’s episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Jerry Seinfeld’s quip to Larry: “What, do you have Seabiscuit in there?” had me ROTFL.