Humor
Born to Business with David Business, LinkedIn Warrior (№8)
Why “The Office” Stinks
As someone who’s dedicated their life to corporate America, I am offended beyond comprehension. For years I avoided watching The Office, assuming it was a respectful salute to the temples of commerce and was saving it for a special occasion. So when a sea of memes and watch-along podcasts cropped up over the past two years, I figured, what the heck, let’s give it a watch. And so I did. I watched… all of it.
What a load of garbage.
First off, I had no idea it was a comedy, and that’s because the premise doesn’t lend itself to jokes. Explain to me what’s funny about a small market B2B office supply company! If anything, the proliferation of digital technology during the early 2000s, savagely cutting their competitive advantage at the legs, is downright tragic. Eventually, that plot point is dealt with, but it is played for humor. These writers clearly aren’t aware heads roll when an operation’s core competency turns to mud. But that’s what Hollywood jackals do. For them, tragedy plus time equals money. If I were to write this show, we’d be spending far more time on how exactly the org is structured and far less time on two townies’ sexual chemistry.
But let’s talk about Michael Scott.
People love Michael cause he’s “so funny.” Oh really? What’s the joke? That he’s bad at his job and an idiot? They flaunt his incompetence with reckless abandon as if to say, “no one gives a shit in an office!” Well, as someone who has been mercilessly reprimanded for their own attempts at humor in the workplace, this show is setting up young minds to fail. Succeeding in the land of the fortunate five hundred requires crushing your soul into tiny little pellets, so they made be gingerly fed to the investing community by hand. Instead, after seven seasons, his demeanor is rewarded with a soul mate. Wow. I know some fifty-year-old men still living in studio apartments who might take umbrage with the reality of that plotline.
However, I didn’t hate everything about the show. There was one redeeming piece. One single glimmer of light in an otherwise dark hellscape of nonsensically cruel satire.
Dwight K. Schrute.
A hardworking stallion gaslit into oblivion. Dwight wants is to climb the corporate ladder with swashbuckling courage but is instead sidelined and pranked like some sort of clown. I feel for Dwight. I know what it’s like to be the only one willing to literally bleed for the C-Suite in a room full of posers. He is constantly the butt of the joke, but in a real office, Dwight would thrive. The only thing people would laugh at is how absurdly wealthy he would become. Mark my words, when the dust settles and these Harvard Lampoon buffoons fall from grace, the show will finally be seen as it is. The tale of a hero named Dwight trapped in a seething hoard of fools.
Knowing this show made millions of dollars and is a cultural touchstone shook me to my core. So let me say this. If you like The Office, I plead to you, please, please, please… for every episode you binge-watch, also watch Alec Baldwin’s monologue from Glengarry Glen Ross to sober up. Fiction is supposed to be fun, but when it viciously weaves libel about the single most important thing in America (the office), we must be vigilant in preserving the fabric of truth.
Also, the theme song is pretty catchy.
David Business is an aspiring CEO, self-accredited LinkedIn expert, and personal associate of writer Kenny Gray. You can connect with David on LinkedIn for even more innovative content.
