Ah, yes. The Office. A delightful slice of life comedy that nearly everyone is familiar with, to some extent or another. Centering around the presumed-mundane lives of the workers in a failing paper company, The Office presents such unique yet realistic scenarios and characters that is is nearly impossible not to fall in love with it. Each episode remains so timeless, and given the amount of times that I have viewed the series in its entirety, I do not believe I could get tired of reading about it, as Logsdon claims I may. So let us address his reasoning as to why exactly The Office, as awkward and niche as it would seem to be, manages to appeal to such a widespread audience.
Citing the scene in “Stress Relief” in which Dwight sets fire to the workplace was definitely a great choice, in terms of both getting the point of the blog post across as well as simply being a personal favorite of mine. Highlighting the dynamic of the main and supporting characters in the office is definitely an effective method of introducing the usages of superiority and incongruity theories within the series. I particularly agree with the statements concerning characters such as Stanley who, rather than contribute many key plot points or drive along the overarching idea of the series, tend to stay within their responsibilities of reacting. By reacting like an actual person would in the ridiculous scenarios produced by the series, Stanley and the other supporting characters provide insight into not only the awkwardness of these situations, but that extra dosage of realism needed for the audience to successfully inject themselves into the story. Characters that exist to react add a second layer to the superiority comedy for in which the audience can actively participate.
Ultimately, I agree with the points brought up in the writing. The Office is just wonderful.
That's a great analysis of Stanley and I had never thought of it that way. The straight man, or the person who is largely annoyed and aloof, can help us feel that sort of distance or condescension to the situation.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your analysis of the characters' reactions to the chaos going on around them as I agree that they reacted like real people would. Also The Office is just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you agree about the roles that Stanley takes on in The Office. The idea maybe far fetched but definitley something that shouln't be ignored!
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis of Stanley and I love the tone of your blogpost!
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