This week I watched "The Office" 's much anticipated showing of the newest episode: "The Banker". I always find "The Office" to be a very enjoyable show, a satire poking fun at not just one type of person, but a wide array of personalities and characters. Basically the show is about the boss, Michael, and other people who work in the office of Dunder Miflin Paper Company. The documentary-style filming shows what goes on in a "typical" office space. This week's episode was a bit disappointing, simply being a banker who questions human resources (a.k.a. Toby) about productivity, tensions, happiness levels, etc. of the office. Toby has flashbacks with each point of issue to parts of previous shows. Even though it was an overview and I had seen each clip before, I still laughed. Why? Michael and Dwight are some of the strangest people you could ever meet. We laugh at the stupidity and ignorance of their words and actions. With the other employees, we either relate to them or know someone who is similar to them. The office is certainly a direct reflection on our American culture, but is this good or bad? What does "The Office" teach us? To ignore people who we think are of lower status or intelligence and to laugh at individual's faults? "The Office" shows the nature of our evil in human interaction and relationships. People get tossed around and chastised for not being "like us" and friendships are just thrown out the window at a moment's notice. Once in a while, you could say, God's kingdom is shown when employees forgive each other, show kindness, and laugh WITH instead of AT one another. I suppose this isn't as funny to see as their mess-ups and awkward moments, but why should there be a "limit" to the Kingdom on television?
Discussion Questions:
1. How is "The Office" a reflection of the way you live?
2. In what ways can you change your life to reflect more of the Kingdom?
Commenting on, "The Office is certainly a direct reflection on our American culture, but is this good or bad?", I would have to say that this is definitely a negative reflection on our culture. It proves to us that the definition of "humor" has completely changed, and it is shown by the jokes and comments that are made throughout the show. The type of humor used in The Office is typically the employees making crude comments and poking fun of each other, which is what Aemelia said.
ReplyDeleteI also completely agree to the statement, "The Office shows the nature of our evil in human interaction and relationships." Although we laugh at how the employees treat each other, we need to realize that we are similar to them...Maybe not to the extent of what they are like, but we all have times when we find crude jokes and comments humorous, which is the evil working in our lives.
The Office is definitely my favorite tv show (and I agree, last week's episode was slightly disappointing.) Nevertheless, I too did find myself laughing throughout the entire episode.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have to disagree with the above comment. I do not think The Office has a negative reflection on American culture, and I don't think our humor has changed at all. It's like the 3 stooges, except with more people, and more sarcastic.
I think why I would say The Office is more positive than negative because, like Aemelia said, there are characters in the show that we can relate to. Poking fun of and laughing at these characters is like laughing at ourselves. Everyone is dysfunctional and a little weird, and laughing at each other together is building relationships (in my opinion). Possibly my favorite quote comes from the movie Garden State: "If you can’t laugh at yourself, life’s going to seem a whole lot longer than you’d like." I'm not saying that what the characters say/do to each other is necessarily positive, but I really think we can learn from it. It always makes me cringe (and laugh, I'll admit) when Michael Scott says something stereotypical. Mostly because he is so oblivious to what he is saying and he can't even see how offensive his comments are. Maybe The Office is trying to convey something to our society. Michael is so messed up, so it's comical when he is the one making fun of someone else, since he has the most issues. Maybe Michael is a reflection of us. We are so quick to judge, make a rude comment without even thinking or stepping back and realizing just how fallen we are.
If there's anything I've ever taken from watching The Office, it's been happiness, fellowship with friends, and learning more about myself. I have never felt negative or had a desire to laugh at someone for their differences. Instead, I laugh at myself (and America as a whole) because of all the dysfunctional flaws and stupidity. It's important that we laugh at ourselves and also find our faults and fix them. It's important to recognize that yes, making fun of people is evil and not always out of love. However, instead of dwelling on that, we really need to see the bigger picture and apply the brokenness of pop culture (in this case The Office) and apply it to our own lives. I really think Michael needs to wake up and smell the coffee (though The Office would be a lot less funny), but maybe America should instead.
Good conversation. I've heard people come down on both sides about what The Office is doing. Maybe one way to approach it is to ask the same question of The Office as of The Simpsons and Family Guy--is there love in The Office or is it just for the sport of making fun of strange people? ...And not just the love between Jim and Pam, but the love the writers and director and actors have for the characters and for the audience. Is the show hopeful or cynical?
ReplyDelete