“The man in the $1000 suit sells $5 potato peelers!”
Stumbling across this video of Joe Ades, a millionaire who spent his days as a potato
peeler salesman on the corner of Park Avenue, New York, I found him to be a
perfect representation of Goffman’s dramaturgy, or the theory that the whole
world is a stage and people are just actors within it (Gronbeck, 1980). The
idea that the individual puts on a show for the benefit of other people, that they
project an image, a front stage persona, is clearly evident here in Jon’s
performance.
He presents himself on the street corner as a
bubbly, intriguing and unbelievably passionate person, that isn’t to say that
he doesn’t have these qualities “backstage” however, he emphasises and puts on
an incredible show front-stage, joking with his customers and being so agreeable.
In the interview, although the situation is still very much frontstage (being
on national TV) it is backstage in comparison to him working as a salesman on
the corner.
In this backstage setting he appears much more relaxed, and less
energetic and over the top. It can be assumed also, through an understanding of
dramaturgy and extrapolation of the difference in his demeanour between working
and being interviewed,(that is front and back stage) when at home – in his
amazing mansion – or in a backstage position, his demeanour and behaviour would
change and become less of a performance (Gronbeck, 1980). This change in his
demeanour reflects Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy and the show in which individuals,
Jon Ades included, will put on for the benefit of other people, that is, the
projection they want to be seen by others. As Jon said, "Life is a vacation", or maybe, more than anything, a performance.
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