“The Office” Is A Show
Tues-Reviews: A widely popular favorite that’s nothing outstanding for me
I would very much like to clarify that this review is based on a viewing of the first season only, which is in a large consensus the worst of the seasons. And below is an edited version of the earlier article, of the same topic, because my ideal point was not made clearly.
With roommates, come new interests, and recently one of the shows we casually watch is the U.S. version of “The Office.” While I heard from many a people that it gets better over the several seasons, here are the reasons why it didn’t hit me in the heart as something I dedicatingly want to continue.
The characters first are crudest exaggeration of people you’ll ever see. Even “Parks and Recreation,” that share the same style, have wholesome smiles that keep the show light, and more to my personal tastes in comedy. Michael is one of the worse people, and stereotypical bosses, you’ll ever see. The character relies on his white male privledge, selfishness, and petty plays as comedy. It’s all quite cringy to me after a while, and while he’s humorous and definietly speaks with satire, his character eventually makes me more angry than I can really enjoy. Dwight is probably the most wholesome guy, working the hardest in the office, but cannot finish tasks or lets the power of the tasks go to his head. I’ve more recently seen, and enjoyed, Rainn Wilson in “Backstrom,” a detective drama-comedy short series. And maybe I’m comparing the depth of the Backstrom character too much to the eccentric work-a-holic Dwight, but he’s just not as comedic in the show as I see him in the gifs.
Jim generally flies under the radar, does his job, and tries to make the environment better, he’s equally as childish as Michael sometimes. He purposely causes a lot of trouble for his co-workers, inconsiderately flirts with Pam. How does he not realize that? Yes, she likes it because her fiancé is bad, and they eventually get married. But how can he not see? Those themes in general, all comedies or romances, kill me. Speaking of Pam, she is the quiet receptionist that constantly looks sad, and has reason to be because of her personal life. Just looking at her gives me anxiety, which is the point, yet I don’t have the cliff jumping urge of sympathy on her side. Even when the sexist satircal comedy comes in, I don’t feel remorse for her. But shouldn’t I?
I find such a flawed connection, as least from what the first season established, between the satrical comedy of each character and the actual character that either don’t connect at all or just are not strong enough to bring something out for me. “The Office” is a show that is very character driven, which is my favorite kind of writing, but it simply doesn’t resonate with me.
The mockumentary style becomes unoriginal too once you think over other shows of that time, including “Parks and Recreation,” “Community,” and “Modern Family.” However, it’s definietly a good choice of direction; the in your face camera shots amplifies the awkwardness and dysfunctional qualities that racism, sexism, and poor work ethic can bring into the office. But, I can only take that style for so long. The show looses my attention with the constantly same “look at this background character’s reaction to something Michael said” for so long. The selective tumblr gifs are gold, but for an entire half hour, they are tiresome and really painful to view. I think what contributes to this boredome is that I’ve watched “Parks and Recration” and “Modern Family” before this, which came after this series in 2009. The filming may have been semi-revolutionary to the US back then, but by the time I’m watching it now, it’s old and not visually entertaining.
My final thoughts on “The Office,” by first season impressions only, are very mixed. It’s a show for everyone, because of the typical office setting, satrical comedy (which is usually a winning writing style), but also really terrible too. The societal commentary the show has to offer is very there, in your face, but in ways that make me more irritated than “oh what a laugh.” The characters are pretty horrible people, as they should be, but it’s not entertaining when there’s hardly consquences and those consquences affect a whole office of people. It a show that needs to grow on you, or you grow with the show as I’ve noticed with fans. It’s typical yet untypical comedy and easy to watch mockumentary style were probably revolutionary when it came out, but for me, it’s simply not my cup of coffee.
