The Office, is an American Television show that is thought to be a pillar of its kind. The show paved the way for so many other television series just like it; this type of show is called a mockumentary. The show is based on a paper company in Scranton, PA, where there is roughly an even mix of men and women. One of the main characters, the one who is following sex roles, and is able to get away with more because of who he is, is named Michael Scott. We see in the first couple of minutes of the show, when calling a fellow employee into his office, Jim Halpert, to talk about how a specific sale went. After learning how Jim does not close the sale, Michael is eager to call the company. Upon doing so, he closes the sale, but at the end of the phone call he says “thank you very much, sir! You are a gentleman and a scholar!” We then hear Michael say “I’m sorry. My mistake, I’m sorry.” He says this because the person on the other end of the phone was a female. This is in the first episode of the series and we are already starting to see Michael’s character is going to develop. The other example of how Michael is starting to be more sexist is when he goes up to Pam Beesley, the receptionist, and introduces her to the camera. He says “if you think she’s cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago.” This is also within the first couple minutes of the show. It is so early into the show in fact, that they are still showing the credits.
When talking about gender and media, both the class as well as actually talking about gender and media, sex role is a prominent theme which is why I decided to use it for my topic. We talked in class about how men are able to get away with more because of them being men. Men are looked at as more powerful and looked at as leaders. In Michael Scott’s case, he is able to get away with so much because he is a white male in a powerful position. We see this exemplified through the first couple examples aforementioned.
Shared by: Ian Chomeau
Image Credit: https://www.looper.com/226819/things-you-never-noticed-in-the-pilot-episode-of-the-office/