In The Color Blue, Roger Sterling quotes his ex-wife Mona comparing Don and Betty to the figures on top of a traditional wedding cake. It’s perfectly consistent with Roger and Mona’s dry, cynical, and often spot-on sense of humor. But the observation also pointedly highlights the false premise upon which Don and Betty’s marriage has been built. From that standpoint, the lack of a wedding cake at Margaret’s reception in The Grown-Ups is notable.
In the context of the episode, this event is depicted as part of the turmoil resulting from the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination. However, that there is no cake for this wedding would seem consistent with how the last few episodes have significantly eroded the foundation of the Draper marriage. Because of Don’s lies coming to the surface and the strong emotions evoked in Betty over JFK’s death, the balustrade of their relationship no longer exists and they aren’t the same “couple” anymore.
28 Responses to “You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat it Too”
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The missing cake at Margaret's wedding reminded me of an earlier party with a missing cake — in season 1, when we were first getting to know these characters. Remember what a surprise it was when Don left to get a cake, and just wandered off, returning late that night with someone else's dog? How little we knew about Don then.
And then of course there was Joan's "Titanic" cake in "Guy"
As for Margaret's MIA wedding cake, Roger should have asked Betty to call Helen Bishop — she's always got a spare Sara Lee in the fridge.
Bravo, Matty.
I love this. Sometimes I think your interpretations are overwrought (not on board with the whole green/blue thing) but this is spot on.
Ummm….no. I would like to see you bring this kind of analysis to a film course, though. It would be great to see the professor's reaction.
@4 deb…
Sometimes I think your interpretations are overwrought
LOL… I can't argue with that. I often look back at my archive episode re-caps and find that time has changed my original "read."
In fact, that would be a good disclaimer for my write-ups:
Warning: This commentary is my visceral to the latest episode and, as such, is possibly overwrought.
not on board with the whole green/blue thing) but this is spot on.
I promise not to bring it up again (honest). But I've been toying with the idea of doing a 13 part analysis focusing strictly on the use of green and blue in Season 3. It may be a fun exercise for the hiatus – (if you'd allow it)
#2, I think the ship on Joan's cake was the Queen Mary, not the Titanic.
But if it symbolizes Joan's marriage, it may as well be the Titanic. Another marriage with a poor foundation.
Matt, we'll allow pretty much anything in terms of interesting essays. We (Lipps) don't have to agree with them. We have a lot of interesting writers with interesting viewpoints. I find that exciting.
So what you're saying is that… the cake (topper couple) is a lie?
Sorry, sorry.
It is an interesting observation, though.
I don't know Margaret's marriage is going to be like. I haven't seen enough of her with her husband to get a good idea of it. However, they are going to have quite a story. Perhaps his first anniversary present to her will be a giant cake.
I really liked seeing Roger and Mona interact in this episode. You saw what they once had. They were the couple who would mock all the guests on the drive back from a party. In their early years, before he became so cynical about marriage and Mona, they must have been so much fun to be around.
MM characters get their cake and then many of them find out it tastes very bad.
What a great analogy about the cake. I had never thought of that but it fits. As for the wedding, is anyone else suprised that they didn't cancel? of course it did a lot to move the plot and show the cross roads everyone is at but despite how hard it is to schedule a venue and plan a wedding, I doubt the church or the ballroom where they had the reception would be too put out if they had switched it to a later date.
I agree with you, Retrogirl! One of the most satisfying things I took from this episode is, "Wow, Mona is awesome," a Lioness, as Roger says.
You could _definitely_ see what they once had. It almost felt like it was still there.
#13.
I can see why they didn't cancel the wedding. Margaret hadn't wanted a big society affair, but her parents insisted. She got caught up in the planning, Jane kept wanting to be "her friend" & she may have been nervous about such a big step. Her first reaction to the assassination was "it's all been ruined"–the last gasp of spoiled Margaret. But then she sorted things out, probably with help from Magnificent Mona.
Margaret did want to marry the guy. If The Perfect Society Wedding was ruined, she didn't really care. Some relatives & good friends showed up to see her married; maybe some of her father's business cronies stayed home. Her parents got along OK & Jane, in her Black Dress,* made herself scarce. Now Margaret will have a story to tell her kids.
* That Black Dress was a serious insult at a wedding, back in the day. A cocktail dress, at that; the other ladies dressed more sedately for a day that did begin in a church. Poor Jane–nobody paid enough attention to her to be truly scandalized. Except to think "drunk again." (I wonder how long it took for the Derby Day guests to give Mona a full account of that fiasco.)
#15 not_Bridget, absolutely right on the dress. My mom always told me "no black or white at weddings" and I remember the first time I wore an LBD to a 90s wedding. I asked the bride if it was okay, and she laughed and said it was. Soon after that, I went to a wedding where the entire bridal party was in LBDs, so the custom now seems long gone.
The only possibility is that Jane had another dress for the church and changed at the hotel.
As for the cake, if it was not made at the hotel, it most likely would have been delivered Friday afternoon or Saturday morning at the latest, meaning after news of the assassination broke. The baker probably closed up shop and had no answering machine, and maybe even assumed that the Sterlings' wedding would be canceled.
I'm so in awe of Mona. I have no idea how she put up with Roger. I do however see Roger becoming an actual man (not really a fully decent one) but hes not on cloud nine anymore. Instead of cheating on Jane with Anabelle (his lost love), he slowly turned her down. Anabelle hurt Roger many years ago, the Roger on a high horse would have threw wine at her (alright, I'm exaggerating) or threw some male-chauvinistic term at her and walked off.
Mona is the 'lioness', a woman who hasn't caused much trouble. Mona and Roger are on the same team when it comes to disciplining, guiding their cub (Margaret). Mona is able to keep cool.
Joan is also sorta of a cool, motherly figure to anyone that comes into contact with her. She assured Roger that the world is still moving after the assassination.
Jane…oh boy…Roger is paying a price for going after, and marrying a young woman…younger than Margaret perhaps. I see no connection between Jane and Roger.
I love these threads of finding symbols and motifs and liken these threads to a word I just recently learned "Anvilicious" as defined by a new speak dictionary as below:
"Anvilicious describes a writer's and/or director's use of an artistic element, be it line of dialogue, visual motif, or plot point, to so obviously or unsubtly convey a particular message that they may as well etch it onto an anvil and drop it on your head. Frequently, the element becomes anvilicious through unnecessary repetition, but true masters can achieve anviliciousness with a single stroke.
The phrase originates in classic cartoons, in which characters might be subject to danger from falling anvils. This led to the description of a moral message being "dropped like an anvil" into a story."
I wish I could be so complimentary about Mona. But I cannot forget that she was the one who had bullied Margaret into holding a formal wedding in the first place. I think she should have allowed Margaret to have her own kind of wedding.
Mona is ferocious and Jane's lucky she fared as well as she did. Have to laugh at Mona "bullying" Margaret into the wedding as I know many a bride who's wedding was her Mother's dream wedding!
I'd imagine the primary reason they didn't cancel the wedding was that Roger had already paid for everything. Cancelling the day before and he would have had to pay the full bill, not just his deposits.
Actually you can have your cake and eat it too all you want – you just can't *eat* your cake and *have* it too.
This reminds me of a fortune cookie I had which said "What good is the frosting if the cake is bad?"
Interesting.
I am wondering if this is why we didn't have a cake, at our wedding (we had a tower of creampuffs with chocolate sauce, instead).
No little statues, no issue. Yes?
Gingere: love "anvilicious". Thank you!
Just a note on Jane's dress. It probably was a faux pas on her part but from what I understand it was not uncommon for the principals in a wedding, if not all the guests, to change from church attire to reception attire. I have a girls' series book that was wildly popular in the 50s/60s and one of the plot points hinges on a black-and-white tulle strapless tulle formal that the sister of the groom planned to wear to her brother's reception (not ceremony) until another girl in sewing class copied the "original" designer dress.
Just a little note there. The author of the book was quite authentic as to social customs so maybe ditzy Jane had a more sedate ensemble for the church ceremony.
#24 thanks – that is interesting and I am sure you are correct. Jane is probably getting advice from some savvy boutiques – those earrings she gave Margaret were to die for. They looked like diamonds and sapphires.
I think Mona said the earrings came from Van Cleef & Arpels (and that Margaret could parlay them into a nice silver tea service which reminded me of Pete returning the chip and dip set. Did he buy the rifle with that money?).
@21 KL: Actually you can have your cake and eat it too all you want – you just can’t *eat* your cake and *have* it too.
I debated which version to use (figuring that someone would notice). It seems that both versions have become equally accepted (just like using the word "data" as a singular and "methodologies" instead of "methods"). So, I opted to go with the more popular one.
I think Mona said the earrings came from Van Cleef & Arpels (and that Margaret could parlay them into a nice silver tea service which reminded me of Pete returning the chip and dip set. Did he buy the rifle with that money?).
BornIn50 – Yes, he was teased buy the guys at the office about the chip/dip set, and then he stood in line behind a bunch of women and traded the chip/dip set for a gun.