Referenced very sloppily in 'Mad Men'

Exactly. Joan projected herself into the movie and her own life. That was the whole point. You'll notice Roger also misinterpreted the movie because of his own world view. That's actually the point of a lot of Mad Men. Things are happening culturally that are jarring and people are so locked into their way of thinking that they don't "get" what is going on.

Um. . . how do I know? I know, because that mistake is really egregious. It is not a easy one to make, not even close. She had to actually mistake what was going on in the office, that Fran was IN LOVE if Sheldrake; she had to not hear the line, "Lot's of guys have tried to approach her and, no dice!" Followed by, "Well, maybe she's just a nice, decent, girl."

How is all that possible?

Please don't insult me by saying Joan or Sterling were watching the film from their world view, or some ridiculous thing like that.

They screwed up.

Um. . . how do I know? I know, because that mistake is really egregious. It is not a easy one to make, not even close. She had to actually mistake what was going on in the office, that Fran was IN LOVE if Sheldrake; she had to not hear the line, "Lot's of guys have tried to approach her and, no dice!" Followed by, "Well, maybe she's just a nice, decent, girl."

How is all that possible?

Please don't insult me by saying Joan or Sterling were watching the film from their world view, or some ridiculous thing like that.

They screwed up.

Exactly. If Weiner and the other writers had never seen it, how the hell was Roger Sterling aware that all the elevator operators were white?

in this film. Particularly Sheldrake's White Plains home was somewhat like Don Draper's home near Ossining.


The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. Samuel Beckett

Interesting thread.

With less vehemance, I have to go with the OP that Weiner and Company were sloppy on this one --probably wanting to "make a point" and forcing The Apartment to take on a meaning(with re Fran) it didn't have -- nor did Joan.

Much later in the same episode, however, Joan does play "elevator operator" for Bert Cooper. Idea being that for all her airs, Joan is as powerless as Fran was with "the big guys."

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I'm always more amused by Roger's response to Joan about recent summer 1960 movies. After she references The Apartment, Roger poo-poohs it as overdone and says:

Roger: I mean, have you seen that ridiculous "Psycho"? Movies today all have to be extreme.

Funny that a middle-aged ad exec would simply find "Psycho" ridiculous -- but certainly in character.

But wait, there's more:

John Slattery in real life is married to Talia Balsam, who, on "Mad Men" plays his once-wife, now-first-ex-wife Mona.

And Talia Balsam is the daughter of the late Oscar-winning(Supporting) actor Martin Balsam(he won for 1965's A Thousand Clowns), whose most famous movie was...Psycho(he's the detective stabbed on the stairs.)

So Roger was insulting his late father-in-law's most famous movie.

Oh, and before she was married to John Slattery, Talia was married to George Clooney, his only wife to date.

Not bad, eh?