Michael Scott From ‘The Office’; Is he Someone to Laugh at, or is His Idiocracy and Ignorance the Point of Satire?
Michael Scott’s character has always been eccentric, ridiculous and uncanny, however, this is what makes ‘The Office’ so entertaining and contemporary, setting the standards for comedy and completely inspiring the comedy landscape we all know today. If you don’t know who Michael Scott is, or have never heard of the Office, it’s okay; I’ll wonder where you have been for the 21st century but the fact of the matter is: ‘The Office’ has circulated our comedy landscape and has influenced all our favourite TV shows and comedies since its release, with it’s funniest moments encapsulated and shared liberally online. The Office in my own single phrase is: “That sitcom that: puts a bunch of diverse ultra-stereotypical Americans in an average office with a zany boss.” While personally, “The Office” makes me laugh through its comedic satire and obscene stupidity of Michael Scott, after watching some of the more serious episodes of the series, I am starting to believe that there is more meaning beneath the throwaway satirical jokes of each episode.
The two episodes of “The Office” that are the epitome of comedic contemporary satire are “Diversity Day” and “The Injury”, however, they seem to have a more salient, underlying meaning. During both these episodes, Michael acts as a boss who is trying to reverse the perspectives surrounding race and disabilities, however, he does it in a very interesting way; by reinforcing the semi-prevalent stereotypes with his own take. Michael ironically only makes the non-existent “issues’’ in the office worse by exposing them.
“Diversity Day” of ‘The Office’ is one of the earliest episodes of the series, which uses the cast’s diverse and almost stereotypical characters to create a satire that you wouldn’t dare to repeat. The episode features a long meeting where Michael and a representative attempt to teach the office about issues surrounding race. Michael, to teach the office, comes up with a game that involves sticking cards on the worker's foreheads. Every member in the office gets a card with a race written on it but they do not know which race they have. They have to guess their race based on people’s stereotypical statements given to them, heavily encouraged by Michael. Dwight, the office’s most fastidious and literal character, gets a card with “Asian” written on it. Pam tries to get him to guess correctly by starting off with non-stereotypical comments such as “I like your food.” But Michael encourages Pam to say stereotypical remarks by saying “come on. Get nasty with it. Push the envelope.” Then Pam states uncomfortably “you are a bad driver.” Dwight finally culminates to “I am a woman!” This blurb of ideologies from Pam, Dwight and Michael, whilst being funny to most people this also translates to American society where these stereotypes are actually heavily endorsed and conceived. Personally, I believe The Office, because of its immense popularity has had a large social commentary on America’s crude beliefs.
Michael’s views are analogous to society’s;
His casually discriminative nature, actions out of self-interest and for self-esteem and crude teaching style creates a satire of the majority of American’s views on race. However, personally, I believe, instead of blatantly offending America’s society, Michael Scott’s ironic character and stupendous views, open people’s eyes, by challenging and ridiculing these ideas with satire, which is suitably relatable to America as it is in such a commonplace environment like an office; The Office.
What makes this crude satire even more hilarious is that Michael Scott twists these totally unrelated issues towards himself, in a bid to gain his colleague's sympathy and to raise his self-esteem. Season 2, Episode 12’s “The Injury” starts with Michael blundering into the office with a burnt foot by stepping on a George Foreman grill, which he places on his bedroom floor because he likes to wake up to the smell of bacon. Because of his dramatic injury, he calls in the disabled building owner to help the office understand what disabilities really mean. Michael says to him: “You are so brave” and asks him how long it takes for him to brush his teeth. The building owner replies: “30 seconds”. As if proving a point Michael says: “that’s three times as long as it takes me.” This joke whilst being hilarious, is also “problematic” according to The Prindle Post. In referring to the man’s wheelchair, Michael said “You noticed it, it’s the first thing you saw when he rolled in” making it seem like his colleagues were judgemental of his disability. Sandra Laserna Cowal from Prindle Post in a summary of their article brings the point out that: Whilst the show’s writers use irony and exaggeration of Michaels misinformed and ignorant self, to shock viewers into acknowledging how hurtful these common assumptions are, some audiences might laugh at Michael’s racially insensitive jokes and not consider them hurtful and disgusting. This article makes the argument that the use of sophisticated satire could be unethical as not everyone will get it, and the stereotypes and societal norms from the Office will only be reinforced, instead of making a social commentary. The article could have backed the claim with relevant data surrounding disabilities like how in 2015, there were nearly 40 million Americans with a disability, representing 12.6% of the population but this supposedly large proportion actually signifies why we should raise awareness about how people react pessimistically to dealing with disabilities, ridiculing bad approaches rather than leaving it in the dark,
As an avid viewer of the Office, over 8 seasons, I feel that the Office and the Office’s Characters have always represented a certain group in American Society, and their zany, stereotypical characteristics, act as the audience’s own definition of who they represent, highlighting society’s perceptions and societal norms. With every satirical episode of ‘The Office,’ there is a clear mirror of societal views and issues that are present in America, carrying over into the commonplace work environment. The Office is gaining an ever-growing prevalence to America today, and I am begging to see some unrelenting similarities between the logic of Trump, and the logic of our very own Michael Scott.
I would like to conclude with a question; What have you thought of the Office’s satire? Was it easy to understand? Or was the social commentary locked away under understanding the context, characters and culture of the early 2000s.
