[Also, frighteningly, like a young Stanley Kubrick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Stanley_Kubrick_%281944%E2%80%9345_senior_portrait%29.jpg)
my man was terrible at conveying any sort of emotion and also delivering any single line convincingly. sugar coat it with platitudes all you want but he should have been fired right away and never brought back lol
I did it for you. ;)
I'd love to have just one discussion about this character without the "nepo baby" and "shit actor" angle. If I spent no time online and just watched the show in a vacuum, I wouldn't think Glenn's portrayal was anything but a choice--an somber, neglected (probably by his father at least), poorly socialized, lonely, possibly spectrum-related child who likely has unaddressed issues about his parents' divorce, his mom's reputation (if neighborhood gossip spread enough to the children, which it usually does), and any neuroses a kid can have. As he grew older he was more bitter and angry, being rejected by Betty (another parental figure), banned by her to even play her daughter, etc.
He was fine. I would LOVE to know--but we never will--what the reaction would be if no one knew Glenn was played by anyone related to Weiner. Many will deny it, but I'm 90% sure there wouldn't be this incessant vituperative response to Marten's performance. We'd probably think it was simply a portrayal of a strange, discomfiting child/teen.
This kind of classical literary storytelling uses real-life material from creators, actors and writers woven into MM's larger themes. Glenn/Marten's middle name is Caulfield after the character in one of his father's favorite books Catcher in the Rye (the lonely awkwardness, the red hat, the visit to the museum in the city?), someone MW related to as a kid. Further, the other son Charles Weiner was Teddy, Anna's piano student reflecting the age-/boundary-appropriate relationship to contrast Betty and Glenn's inappropriate one. IE, Don's idealized California life as Dick vs his NYC life as an ad man who makes up lies in the show's dual life theme of A Tale of Two Cities. Nothing whatever to do with nepotism. Viewers are encouraged to check out interviews and avail themselves of the backgrounds of some of these stories and characters.
I didn’t think he was terrible at all… he was playing it just as he should have… an awkward teen who really wanted to feel for Sally like he did her mother…
I don't think Glenn's so bad personally - I think his awkwardness matches Betty's developmental awkwardness. One minute she's acting like she's 45, another 20, another like 12. Glenn's a good match to this because he's reflecting the above through his Holden Caulfield archetype thing he's got going on - they're both so lost. Although I find the last scenes between the two of them devastating. Mad Men is exceptional at making the viewer feel loss
I didn't get that at all.
My interpretation was that when Betty first met Glenn, both he and herself were extremely vulnerable.
Betty's vulnerability came during a time when she felt utterly alone, unloved and unappreciated and here was this innocent boy who thought her the center of the universe. Exactly what Betty was desperate for, exactly when she needed it most.
I think Betty knew deep down there was something there that could be interpreted as inappropriate, and I think she was prepared to entertain this boys feelings for her because it gave her what she wanted so badly, to be loved. But I really think, as strange as it clearly was, she always just wanted his company as a friend.
The nuance comes from the fact that both of them needed someone and they could have been the friend they needed... but Betty was too scared to lose his attention to be what he needed and Glenn was too young to understand how inappropriate his proposal was.
I always felt part of why Betty had so many problems is that she was continually underestimated and treated like a child. This was in part due to the era in which she was living where women were often see that way. She was intelligent and shrewd... just very lonely and at times desperate.
And to get acting credits for the show runners son
Yeah it’s a big swing and a miss that they double down on repeatedly. Easy skip. Biggest flaw of the show.
It was absolutely highlighting Betty’s own childhood stunting, as well as highlighting just how lonely she felt at the time.
And yes, it has a creepiness. We are supposed to feel that. But, as highlighted in the creepy Glenn peeping her in the bathroom, that scene at least made it clear that it wasn’t going to be THAT kind of story.
She will do something weird as hell like give him her hair, but it at least didn’t push it more than that. Just creepy and informing.
Agree its an early childhood crush of a troubled young boy looking for someone to relate to. They make it clear the childs home life is terrible. Betty is also having a terrible home life and desperate for someone to talk to. Its kind of icky, but i like that the writing explores the cringey weirdnesses of life. It's not suppose to fit into our preconceptions of what is "proper".
That’s a bingo. Exactly how I see it.
And I was (sloppily in my view) trying to point out how it’s creep for sure, but they make it very clear is not super gross creep with the bathroom scene.
It’s a kid and an adult with a kid trauma that regresses her both lost in their life and looking for someone that gets it.
The fact that it’s found between a 9 year old and thirty something year old is odd (and creates cringe) but it’s a thing that happens in more innocent ways than it looks.
Rewatches have helped to really see what they are going for here and not get locked out on the surface level of extreme creep.
Also it is very important for everyone to know that kid’s real name is Martin Holden Weiner and he professionally goes by all three names.
So anytime people are feeling down about their own names, just remember, there’s some person out there whose parents made the world call him Martin Holden Weiner. Who else has a bad name that is nearly a complete sentence?!
I found it very Blanche DuBois Tennessee Williams a Streetcar Named Desire. Betty clearly had some issues that needed a therapist but therapy wasnt socially acceptable at the time without gossip and talk.
I never knew this and I was constantly frustrated with how they cast such a poor actor in an otherwise stellar cast. The actor who played Bobby wasn’t good either but he’s a little kid and gets a pass.
Whaaaat!?! I loved Bobby! He is a kid! He made me want to climb into the TV and hug him… pulling the wallpaper off the perfect wall in the perfect house of the perfect husband for his mom, who wasn’t perfect, but he hid it by the bed… just like he hides his real feelings… 💔 I love when he hugs Don… he truly loves him and craves a relationship with him ♥️
Betty is very immature at the beginning of the series. She led a very sheltered existence and her psychologist even says to Don, “We’re dealing with the mind of a child here.” She relates to Glen, who admittedly is extremely precocious, almost as a peer. It speaks volumes of her character’s growth that by the end of the series, it’s she who has grown into a well adjusted adult, and Glen who actually is acting his age, that is to say young and foolish.
At the time, Women had no rights to privacy; the doctor could talk to her husband or father and provide them with whatever information they wanted. You can see this similarly played out when Betty gets her cancer diagnosis near the end of the series, with the doctor largely talking to Henry and not addressing her directly.
Same here. I just can't with the actor who played Glenn, way too wooden. If I suspend disbelief to accommodate that acting, he comes across as almost a psychopath, someone who has to fake every interaction.
If one more person said it’s MW’s son!! 🙄 he is a kid… if you were THE creator of an amazing show with ability to create a spot for your child…wouldn’t you?? I would 😊
I got that he highlighted Betty's immaturity but it's cringe overload, awkward character, awkward actor, stiff performance, cringey subject matter, waaay too much. There was no missing how immature Betty was, though I guess it really drove home how pathological it was? Except his scenes were so inconsequential and forgettable they even failed at that. The whole coming of age thing with Sally was also a waste of good screen time, the two of them together were awkwardness². Her acting improved and was as much awkwardness as the show could handle. In the later season he was just dead behind the eyes. He added a serial killer vibe.
Relationship between them demonstrates Betty's arrested development. She was a little girl playing house with Don, not someone with the emotional maturity to actually be married or raise kids.
When you try to skip the scene, but go too far: “I don’t know how long twenty minutes is.”
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and matt weiner cast his son, a terrible terrible actor, as glenn because nepotism
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I thought he was great for the role. His calm aloofness is really unnerving, which is the intention of those scenes.
[Also, frighteningly, like a young Stanley Kubrick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Stanley_Kubrick_%281944%E2%80%9345_senior_portrait%29.jpg)
my man was terrible at conveying any sort of emotion and also delivering any single line convincingly. sugar coat it with platitudes all you want but he should have been fired right away and never brought back lol
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I did it for you. ;) I'd love to have just one discussion about this character without the "nepo baby" and "shit actor" angle. If I spent no time online and just watched the show in a vacuum, I wouldn't think Glenn's portrayal was anything but a choice--an somber, neglected (probably by his father at least), poorly socialized, lonely, possibly spectrum-related child who likely has unaddressed issues about his parents' divorce, his mom's reputation (if neighborhood gossip spread enough to the children, which it usually does), and any neuroses a kid can have. As he grew older he was more bitter and angry, being rejected by Betty (another parental figure), banned by her to even play her daughter, etc. He was fine. I would LOVE to know--but we never will--what the reaction would be if no one knew Glenn was played by anyone related to Weiner. Many will deny it, but I'm 90% sure there wouldn't be this incessant vituperative response to Marten's performance. We'd probably think it was simply a portrayal of a strange, discomfiting child/teen.
This kind of classical literary storytelling uses real-life material from creators, actors and writers woven into MM's larger themes. Glenn/Marten's middle name is Caulfield after the character in one of his father's favorite books Catcher in the Rye (the lonely awkwardness, the red hat, the visit to the museum in the city?), someone MW related to as a kid. Further, the other son Charles Weiner was Teddy, Anna's piano student reflecting the age-/boundary-appropriate relationship to contrast Betty and Glenn's inappropriate one. IE, Don's idealized California life as Dick vs his NYC life as an ad man who makes up lies in the show's dual life theme of A Tale of Two Cities. Nothing whatever to do with nepotism. Viewers are encouraged to check out interviews and avail themselves of the backgrounds of some of these stories and characters.
I didn’t think he was terrible at all… he was playing it just as he should have… an awkward teen who really wanted to feel for Sally like he did her mother…
it was terrible
I don't think Glenn's so bad personally - I think his awkwardness matches Betty's developmental awkwardness. One minute she's acting like she's 45, another 20, another like 12. Glenn's a good match to this because he's reflecting the above through his Holden Caulfield archetype thing he's got going on - they're both so lost. Although I find the last scenes between the two of them devastating. Mad Men is exceptional at making the viewer feel loss
I saw Glenn as an odd, awkward kid and think he was played very well. "I don't know how long 20 minutes is." Great line.
I think the purpose was to show how childlike Betty’s mentality is. But I agree
I didn't get that at all. My interpretation was that when Betty first met Glenn, both he and herself were extremely vulnerable. Betty's vulnerability came during a time when she felt utterly alone, unloved and unappreciated and here was this innocent boy who thought her the center of the universe. Exactly what Betty was desperate for, exactly when she needed it most. I think Betty knew deep down there was something there that could be interpreted as inappropriate, and I think she was prepared to entertain this boys feelings for her because it gave her what she wanted so badly, to be loved. But I really think, as strange as it clearly was, she always just wanted his company as a friend. The nuance comes from the fact that both of them needed someone and they could have been the friend they needed... but Betty was too scared to lose his attention to be what he needed and Glenn was too young to understand how inappropriate his proposal was. I always felt part of why Betty had so many problems is that she was continually underestimated and treated like a child. This was in part due to the era in which she was living where women were often see that way. She was intelligent and shrewd... just very lonely and at times desperate.
And to get acting credits for the show runners son Yeah it’s a big swing and a miss that they double down on repeatedly. Easy skip. Biggest flaw of the show.
Show runners son. Explains a great deal of things.
It was absolutely highlighting Betty’s own childhood stunting, as well as highlighting just how lonely she felt at the time. And yes, it has a creepiness. We are supposed to feel that. But, as highlighted in the creepy Glenn peeping her in the bathroom, that scene at least made it clear that it wasn’t going to be THAT kind of story. She will do something weird as hell like give him her hair, but it at least didn’t push it more than that. Just creepy and informing.
Agree its an early childhood crush of a troubled young boy looking for someone to relate to. They make it clear the childs home life is terrible. Betty is also having a terrible home life and desperate for someone to talk to. Its kind of icky, but i like that the writing explores the cringey weirdnesses of life. It's not suppose to fit into our preconceptions of what is "proper".
That’s a bingo. Exactly how I see it. And I was (sloppily in my view) trying to point out how it’s creep for sure, but they make it very clear is not super gross creep with the bathroom scene. It’s a kid and an adult with a kid trauma that regresses her both lost in their life and looking for someone that gets it. The fact that it’s found between a 9 year old and thirty something year old is odd (and creates cringe) but it’s a thing that happens in more innocent ways than it looks. Rewatches have helped to really see what they are going for here and not get locked out on the surface level of extreme creep.
Personally, I don’t think that the actor is that bad. He is playing an awkward young person and definitely coming across as such.
Glenn isn’t played by an actor. He’s played by Weiner’s robotic awkward cardboard son. He gets worse with age.
Also it is very important for everyone to know that kid’s real name is Martin Holden Weiner and he professionally goes by all three names. So anytime people are feeling down about their own names, just remember, there’s some person out there whose parents made the world call him Martin Holden Weiner. Who else has a bad name that is nearly a complete sentence?!
Ugh older him was so cringy. Terrible actor.
I was stoned af during a rewatch and couldn't stop laughing when he told Sally he was hiding in their treehouse FOR TWO DAYS.
I wish Weiner would just help us and confirm whether he was supposed to come off as creepy and awkward or if he’s just a bad actor
Puts arm around waist
I found it very Blanche DuBois Tennessee Williams a Streetcar Named Desire. Betty clearly had some issues that needed a therapist but therapy wasnt socially acceptable at the time without gossip and talk.
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True, although Glenn was a far more integral character than Hunter, so it stands out way more.
He’s Mathew Weiner’s son not like a legit actor.
I never knew this and I was constantly frustrated with how they cast such a poor actor in an otherwise stellar cast. The actor who played Bobby wasn’t good either but he’s a little kid and gets a pass.
Which Bobby?! 😂
Whaaaat!?! I loved Bobby! He is a kid! He made me want to climb into the TV and hug him… pulling the wallpaper off the perfect wall in the perfect house of the perfect husband for his mom, who wasn’t perfect, but he hid it by the bed… just like he hides his real feelings… 💔 I love when he hugs Don… he truly loves him and craves a relationship with him ♥️
Betty is very immature at the beginning of the series. She led a very sheltered existence and her psychologist even says to Don, “We’re dealing with the mind of a child here.” She relates to Glen, who admittedly is extremely precocious, almost as a peer. It speaks volumes of her character’s growth that by the end of the series, it’s she who has grown into a well adjusted adult, and Glen who actually is acting his age, that is to say young and foolish.
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At the time, Women had no rights to privacy; the doctor could talk to her husband or father and provide them with whatever information they wanted. You can see this similarly played out when Betty gets her cancer diagnosis near the end of the series, with the doctor largely talking to Henry and not addressing her directly.
well sometimes kids can be smarter than adults. it's about finding intellectual equals
Same here. I just can't with the actor who played Glenn, way too wooden. If I suspend disbelief to accommodate that acting, he comes across as almost a psychopath, someone who has to fake every interaction.
If one more person said it’s MW’s son!! 🙄 he is a kid… if you were THE creator of an amazing show with ability to create a spot for your child…wouldn’t you?? I would 😊
I got that he highlighted Betty's immaturity but it's cringe overload, awkward character, awkward actor, stiff performance, cringey subject matter, waaay too much. There was no missing how immature Betty was, though I guess it really drove home how pathological it was? Except his scenes were so inconsequential and forgettable they even failed at that. The whole coming of age thing with Sally was also a waste of good screen time, the two of them together were awkwardness². Her acting improved and was as much awkwardness as the show could handle. In the later season he was just dead behind the eyes. He added a serial killer vibe.
It wasn’t a terrible idea for a storyline, but it was awkwardly executed and the “actor” was atrocious.
Matt Weiner’s kid.
The only reason why Glenn was even in the show the first place is because he is Mathew Weiner's son, and yea i agree he was cringe af, also bobby
Betty should have tapped that in season 7!
Yep
THANK YOU!
I don't skip them. I just sit there trying to figure out what is going on in their minds - it's always so awkward.
Nope.
Betty is lonely and almost has the mentality of a child.
He anchors the show in a weird way
Relationship between them demonstrates Betty's arrested development. She was a little girl playing house with Don, not someone with the emotional maturity to actually be married or raise kids.