Mad Men Takes a Look at Gay Life in the '60s

Gay character Bob Benson has a couple of important scenes in the season's sixth episode, bailing a friend out of jail and proposing a marriage of convenience to Joan.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

May 19 2014 2:00 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Mad Men last night provided a well-executed glimpse into the lives of gay men in the late 1960s, looking at the criminalization of sexual activity and the incentives for entering into a marriage of convenience.

In the episode, gay adman Bob Benson (James Wolk), Sterling Cooper & Partners' man in Detroit, is visiting the New York office along with Bill Hartley (Matthew Glave) of General Motors, an SC&P client. Hartley gets arrested for trying to "fellate an undercover officer," and Bob has to bail him out of jail, in a scene that shows them getting verbally abused by a homophobic cop.

During the cab ride back to their hotels, Hartley tells Bob that GM is dropping SC&P to take the account in-house and that the company's Buick division wants to hire Bob. That sets a plan in motion for Bob: He decides to propose marriage to agency partner Joan Holloway Harris (Christina Hendricks), with whom he's long had a friendly relationship.

She turns him down, telling him, "You don't want this. You shouldn't be with a woman." He keeps trying to persuade her, revealing his motivation by saying, "GM expects a certain kind of executive." But he also claims he's doing it for her: "Is this what you want? To be near 40 in a two-bedroom apartment with a mother and a little boy?" And he says he's offering her more than anyone else ever will. Joan is adamant, though. "I want love," she says, "and I'd rather die hoping that happens than make some arrangement."