Abstract
This article considers the significance of suburban commuter imagery in a selection of screen visions of mid-century modernity. A number of examples, including Mad Men, and the screen adaptations of The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1956) and Revolutionary Road (2008), will be shown to echo key themes, symbols and scenes in their depictions of suburbia and the cultural impact of the corporation. Taken together, these narratives indicate the resilience of the “Organization Man” (Whyte 1956) as a figure marking the tension between individualism and conformity. It is this tension that the archetypal businessman’s uniform continues to symbolise in popular culture, even if, as this paper will argue, it is no longer the most fitting expression available.
Highlights
In a world changing so fast, in a world in which he must forever be on the move, the individual desperately needs roots, and The Organisation is a logical place to develop them
In the context of the series as a whole, the scene is significant for the ISSN 1837-8692 way that it foregrounds the intertextual homage Mad Men pays to some of the great US postwar commuter narratives
Viewed with the insights of other suburban narratives emerging after World War II, the combined effect of these screen visions is to Melissa Gregg—The Return of Organisation Man reinforce a wider ‘structure of feeling’ regarding the American project, including the increasingly unsustainable dream of the suburban domestic lifestyle.[8]
Summary
In a world changing so fast, in a world in which he must forever be on the move, the individual desperately needs roots, and The Organisation is a logical place to develop them.
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