Salvatore Romano A Straight Shooter
Robert Glenn Smith Columbia College Chicago (2017)
Within the first ten minutes of Mad Men’s pilot, Salvatore Romano manages to simultaneously light up the screen with a forced personality and illuminate the reality of 1960’s homophobic America. The character of Sal works as an agent to introduce the overarching Mad Men motif of false fronts, but in a comedic way where the audience is immediately in on the joke. As Sal continues on in the series, his defining characteristics evolve beyond simply his sexuality, as is the case with his ultimate fate: brought on by a rejected suitor, but sealed due to his rare-for-Mad Men morality clause. Salvatore’s suppression of his internal dialogue is played out in stark contrast to the forceful language of the younger Sterling Cooper ad-men. When Pete, Ken and Paul strut into the office after sizing up Peggy in the elevator, the office dynamics are immediately in play. The men are expected to subject the women to flirtatious and often chauvinistic comments. This is simply not who Sal is on a sexual or moral level. Straight, male characters like Don, Pete, and Roger are the main focal points for thematic ideas of masculine façades, but Sal’s is the first fabricated identity clearly depicted on the Watercooler Journal
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show. While he is illustrated as a closeted gay man in somewhat stereotypical ways, such as frequent calls to his mother and firm knowledge on whether women in the office are “Jackies” or “Marilyns,” Sal is humanized more deeply as his story progresses. In season two, Ken Cosgrove publishes his story “The Gold Violin.” Sal, out of genuine interest in not only Ken, but in his work, invites Ken for dinner. Throughout the evening, Sal is seen talking over his wife in order to converse with Ken about his work. When Kitty approaches him, the sincere friendship, yet overall platonic relationship between the couple becomes heartbreakingly evident. Salvatore’s façade not only highlights a social issue still alive today, but also drives home a thematic idea in Mad Men that shows itself in most of the characters’ lives.
“At what point are you willing to sacrifice your dignity for your professional reputation?” The cause of Sal’s termination exemplifies a frequent question asked on Mad Men: what are you willing to do for the job? Lucky Strike’s Lee Garner Jr. drunkenly attempts to seduce Sal in the editing room of Sterling Cooper, but Sal quickly rejects his advance. Don is surprised that Sal would not take one for the team because it is clear, after Garner complains to Harry, that Sal would have to be fired. This situation is reminiscent of Joan’s one-night-hell with the Jaguar client later in the series. At what point are you willing to sacrifice your dignity for your professional reputation? It is refreshing to see a man of value walking among the scoundrels of Madison Avenue, but one is left to wonder if this was truly an act of morality or an act of fear. In three seasons, Salvatore Romano becomes a character defined by more than his sexuality, but ultimately his moments of vulnerability are what set him back in the cutthroat world of 1960’s white-collar New York.
image credits © AMC Watercooler Journal
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