The Injury

In the episode The Injury, in the show The Office, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) burns his foot on a George Foreman grill and demands attention from everyone in the Dunder Mifflin Scranton office.

This would be considered a comedy in Aristotle's definitions. Michael Scott is an "average to below average" in terms of moral character which helps him fill the role of the comic hero. He is not worthless to the plot nor the story line, he is also the manager of the Scranton branch. The ordinary people in this episode are the rest of the employees of Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch. Dwight who rushes to Michael's aid, Pam who answers the phone as she is the receptionist in this episode. She tends to be a plain and everyday figure in this setting. Unlike Michael's high position in power, the rest of the employee's are under Michael's management. The Office is farce and satirical comedy. The characters are overly ridiculous, more expressive and dramatic than actual day to day people. Some characters, like Michael in The Injury, are hypocritical as Michael only cares about his injured foot and not Dwight's well being after getting a concussion due to the crash into the pole while picking up Michael. Due to these reasons, The Injury would be considered a comedy in Aristotle's definitions.

Diversity Day

In the hit show The Office all of the episodes are funny but most also have satirical value.  In most episodes, gender stereotypes are brought up, racism is prevalent and some office not so friendly jokes are being played usually on the coworkers that are part of a minority.  In The Office episode called Diversity Day, Micheal Scott (the boss) tries to bring everyone in the office together by defacing and making light of common stereotypes faced by minorities.  He wants everyone to put a different ethnicity, race or culture on their forehead and then have a partner talk to the person as if they were talking to the person of that ethnicity, race or culture.  Of course, the point of the exercise was to show that no matter the ethnicity, everyone in the office is themselves and can be talked to with equality.  However, things go aerie and the exercise turns into a racist fiasco. 

This episode is definitely one of the most funny ones in my book but also holds many racist stereotypes that we can actually learn from.  The clip does a fantastic job of highlighting every ethnicity's and cultures untrue assumptions that people make but while doing it in a funny manner.  This satire is very basic and we can see the absurdity of the employees and how they are acting but many of these assumptions can be seen in real life.  While Michael is talking to Kelly (the Indian lady) he is being extremely racist and then gets slapped for what he said.  While Dwight (the "Asian" guy) brings up how Pam is a bad driver because hes a woman and she is also "Jewish" so he says shalom and asks for a loan.  These are all common stereotypes and the office does a perfect job of making us feel surprised, aware and maybe even uncomfortable.  In the clip we can see examples of hyperbole and situational irony.  This clip is an example of a hyperbole because everything is blown out of proportion and Micheal has sort of a twisted and absurd way of bringing his co workers together regardless of their differences. It is ironic that Micheal would be a hero like Martin Luther King Junior and Stanley would "randomly" get the black card.  Overall this episode was funny based on making fun of people but it brought awareness to common stereotypes that are heard in our society and how they can be damaging or absurd.

More Than a Sitcom?

The romantic qualities of The Office go beyond Jim and Pam’s office flirtation and eventually love. When the traits of romantic works were taught to us from Mr. Heidkamp’s powerpoint, The Office was on my mind, from watching an episode the night before. But, when I thought about it more, I think The Office can qualify as a romantic work, because it is in line with quite a few of the characteristics of such work.

The whole premise of the series is to show a “microcosm of American life” through the daily filming of a seemingly mundane paper supply company. The employee of Dunder Mifflin are filmed candidly throughout their workdays, as well as interviewed one on one. And while this show is of course fiction, the focus on everyday life and the experience of an average person is a romantic aspect of the show. The Office also provides an emphasis on the individual’s experience. By, say, interviewing Pam after an exchange with Jim or interviewing Andy to get his opinion on something Dwight did, they are emphasizing the importance of individualism. I understand that they include these bits because whatever Stanley has to say about something totally ridiculous that Michael did is always funny. But, the fact that viewers know that Stanley would have his funny, fed up take on something, Dwight would have his too literal take on something, and Andy would have his annoying take on something, and the viewer could be able to clearly know all of them, highlights the emphasis The Office places on the individual. The Office is a televised example of the appreciation of individuals and of everyday life and language, which is something that I think would’ve made Walt Whitman or William Wordsworth a fan of it.

The Office also, to an extent, gives the reader an experience of freedom from tradition and social conventions, largely through Michael Scott. Michael has a very non-traditional way of running the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. Michael’s imagination often also takes full control over empirical reasoning. Examples of this can be seen during episodes like the beach day, where he made the employees compete in camp games to see who would be the be candidate for his possible replacement. Michael’s unconventional office structure could be seen as a tribute to romanticism through the freedom from tradition and heavy reliance on the imagination that takes place. I understand The Office was made, and then remade, to be a light, funny sitcom, but if you take a step back, I think a lot of romantic qualities are hiding in the show.

"The Office" Satire: Diversity Day

The entire basis of the show The Office is satirically criticizing the everyday experiences of the American workplace. A particularly keen example of the show's use of satire is apparent in one of the first episodes aired, titled "Diversity Day", in which a company enforces a day in which the office celebrates and learns about diversity and the different cultures of minorities in the office. Despite having hired a group leader to educate the employees, the racially ignorant and offensive manager of the office takes over the training and flips a would be helpful day into a place to insult and offend minorities in any way he could think of. The satire of this episode is apparent because it communicates that when we try to discuss the racial and ethnic stigmas and issues prevalent in our society, the conversation is often taken over by white people and makes the problem worse. Additionally, he "diversity day" the company enforced brought attention to people's tensions and prejudices without actually solving any of the problems, consequently only making people uncomfortable and reinforcing a somewhat volatile work environment. The audience of the show is therefore unconsciously educated about the problems we have with racial discussions today and given an example of what not to do.