Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Office... addictive with consequence

So I've really enjoyed watching The Office with my roommates. I at first didn't understand why people enjoyed it so much, a mock-umentary is not really my thing. Then I discovered that it was really the first of its kind - well at least for here in America, the British one came out several years before and the producers designed the one for the good ol' USA.
Anyway, fun show, not too dirty. I really got into it though after finishing How I Met Your Mother; in the end I realized I had watched a show that had a lot of sexual things in it. Not simply sexual jokes or content, but a demanding plot of episodes showcasing stripper bars and pornography. Seriously, even the women in the show have no hesitation or question toward their men on how inappropriate or at least abnormal a behavior/request it is that these men go to such things, much less invite their ladies to accompany them for kicks... I'm still surprised that I let this content slide off my back and into my eyeballs, then brain, just so I could finish the linear story-line.
Getting back to The Office though. This show offers a little more integrity, displaying at times people with lazy attitudes upon moral issues like infidelity or love triangles, and surprisingly shares consequences. Jim, one of the main characters, chooses to make marriage and having children with Pam (a main female character) a priority in his life; now he's not Mormon, so he doesn't stand strong against sex before marriage. Nevertheless, he offers a more positive side on the matter, at least in this natural/common/worldly context.
Could the show be better, yes; could it be cleaner and less preachy, thanks to some other promiscuous characters, yes; but does it at least try to show realistic consequences of people's actions when messing up in intimate relations? Yes... and it makes me happy enough to enjoy the laughs once and awhile
Here's the posters - mind you The Office (UK) is very British humor, and less appropriate:

The Office (2005) Poster    The Office (2001) Poster

2 comments:

  1. I love The Office. Like you said, it could be cleaner. But I do appreciate that, for the most part, it is more clean than most of the garbage out there. Plus, most of the humor is clean, fun, and different. And you can't help but get attached to the characters. It's good for a laugh during all the crazy stresses that come from school!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You nailed it--- I love "The Office" and although our media culture shows a lot of unrealistic images, situations, and other choices with no consequences...I think some T.V. shows (like The Office) are trying to bring a little bit more reality to their viewers. I appreciate the fact that they are trying to convey situation complexity and emotions that come with different problems.
    Thanks for posting!

    ReplyDelete