Season 2: Episode 7: “The Gold Violin”
The obvious becomes obvious
Season 2: Episode 7
“The Gold Violin”
Written by Jane Anderson, Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton
Directed by Andrew Bernstein
Setting: June-July 1962
Season 2 is known as Mad Men’s “forgotten” season due to how much fans dislike the primary plotlines of the Barretts and Father Gill. On this rewatch, I realized that what is memorable about the season is not the primary focus. You are not meant to take away fond memories of Bobbie Barrett and Father Gill. You’re meant to forget them with time, Don and Peggy certainly do. Life has become so dull and uncomfortable for these characters that we remember the smaller stories more than the main ones.
The previous episode “Maidenform” is infamously referred to as the Chauncey episode despite its main focus featuring the Jackie or Marilyn pitch.
This episode “The Gold Violin” finally has Betty realize the truth of Don and Bobbie’s affair, but it also features one of the most shocking moments of the season. We’ve come to expect lying, cheating, and I guess even dog abandonment… but not this.
At a family picnic after purchasing a new car, the Drapers litter.
This isn’t just a beer missing the trash can, they leave everything! There is no guilt or remorse in the action. Littering is normal for them. It hits on the core theme of the show that you can save yourself a lot of trouble just by caring about what your actions do to other people.
“If it does not affect me, why should I care?”
The ending reveal of Don’s affair almost feels like direct karma, though he’s done a lot more than litter to deserve that retribution.
Most people who litter or refuse to put away a shopping cart do not even think about it. There is no sly, devilish smile that they just saved 7 seconds of their life.
This is something that happens because, while it is obvious what should be done, that does not matter when you put yourself above all else. The obvious has always been ignored by the Drapers in preference of living a dream.
In “The Gold Violin,” the obvious becomes obvious.
Betty has known deep down since 1960 that her husband is a lying adulterer. She knows this but refuses to face it because that would complicate her life. It will help her to wake up to it, but that doesn’t make the truth any less painful. The episode ends with Betty vomiting on their car ride home as Don stares in confusion as if she is the problem.
Sal’s wife Kitty must wake up to a different obvious truth as her husband is more interested in a dinner with Ken Cosgrove than any interaction with her. Each character is living with an impending doom that secrets will be revealed. They do not realize their true unhappiness comes from living a lie.
The opening scene of the episode introduces us to Anna Draper who confronts Don a decade prior by telling him that he is not Don Draper. We initially believe this is a tragic flashback for him but it actually represents one of the few truly happy moments of his life. Don gets to be himself around Anna Draper.
Harry is taught a brief lesson on living a lie, which he will not learn from, when he breaks into Mr. Cooper’s office with Jane and Ken to view a Rothko painting that he assumes Cooper will ask him about during a meeting. Cooper later reveals that he cares nothing for what Harry thinks of art and that he hangs onto the painting because of its rising monetary value. What should have been a frank lesson in honesty only causes Harry to grovel more at the feet of his superiors and act entitled for everything to go his way.
The only one being true to herself here is the instigator of the office break-in, Jane. She suggests breaking into the office with the confidence of someone who has never once faced consequences for her actions. When Jane uses her good looks and charm to get her way, she isn’t being fake. This is who Jane is.
After being fired by Joan, Jane goes to the one man who she knows can save her position.
As Roger comforts her, she also plants the seeds of their own relationship. Marrying a powerful and wealthy man is exactly what Jane wants and she accomplishes this by being honest about it. There are no small fish like Ken Cosgrove to distract her. Years later when the marriage eventually ends, she and Roger accept it with love as an inevitability that was always coming.
Happiness comes from prioritizing others as well as yourself which is why Jane and Roger eventually end their marriage on good terms. They are not role models but you have to hand it to them on a show full of messy divorces.
There doesn’t need to be an ulterior motive to do good. Sal truthfully only reads Ken’s story because he is attracted to him and enjoys having a man in his home. If he valued the story or his wife, he’d let Kitty read it as well.
The plea of “The Gold Violin” is not only to be yourself but to do good in little ways. You aren’t the only person in this world, you share it with others who may not care for you but perhaps they have more lessons to learn themselves.
Just because another does bad doesn't mean that you give up. For every littered cigarette or beer can in the woods, you don’t have to be part of the problem.
If the whole world is selfish and uncaring, you do not have to be too. The option is always there to do the most good.
While we do not read Ken Cosgrove’s short story “The Gold Violin” along with Sal, we take away its strongest lesson. Ken is happy to share it with others and happiest if his story makes them happy. He is eager for Sal’s wife Kitty to read it not only because he wants to know if she likes it but because it makes her day just a little brighter to have something shared with her.
Be honest, do the little things, and share happiness. Not a bad lesson to take away from the show about cheating on your wife.
Excellent but I think one minor element is perhaps missing. I'm old enough to remember that littering was quite common in the early 60s. I recall the government commercials from the late 60s and early 70s trying to change that behavior. So while I love how you connected the dots between Don's littering and his personal behavior, it was a societal problem too. Perhaps society as a whole didn't think about the long term consequences of small actions in the same way. Just a suggestion and thank you for the great work.