So I’ve finally finished watching the Office US, and it is now my favorite television show of all time. In this sitcom the concept is that a documentary is being filmed over the course of nine years following the lives of your average American office worker. But the show also has a lot of useful things to teach us about life. OK so I’m someone who always tries to find meaning and messages in the things that I watch anyway, but in The Office I am not imagining it. In case you don’t believe me, I have listed some of the lessons it has to offer its viewers below.
If you don’t know the show, you can get a summary of who each character here.
- It’s ok to look stupid and to embarrass yourself
My plan with this piece was to find a different clip to illustrate each different point. But for my first point you might as well say “the whole show”. In fact you could argue that point one is the premise of the whole series. The Office is full to the brim with awkward silences and masterfully timed close up shots of those expressions through which we understand the pain caused by the uncomfortable situations that the main characters – Michael, Dwight, Jim, Andy, Ryan, Pam, Toby, Jim – find themselves in.
In the clip below Daryl is being interviewed for a job at a startup company. At first he feels out of place and gets up to leave; but after some reassurance he loosens up and gets in his element. Inevitably however, he loosens up a bit too much and quickly finds himself in a different element altogether: H20.
That it is OK to embarrass yourself is borne out by the fact that Daryl gets the job anyway – though he does have to pay for the fish. It might not always play out exactly like that in reality, but you get the idea.
- At those times when you embarrass yourself, those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind
Two of the characters who find themselves embarassed more than most are company manager Michael Scott and salesman Andy Bernard.
Michael’s embarrassments include a memorable scene in which he has to go back on a promise he made to fund some disadvantaged kids back at a time when he thought he would be successful enough to pay for it!
It’s one of those scenes that reminds us that these embarassments hardly ever come from a place of malice – in fact the opposite.
As for Andy, well he originally comes into the show as a kiss ass of Michael Scott, but soon finds himself punching a hole in the wall and getthing sent to anger management after being pranked by Jim. But his biggest embarrassment is when a film of him crying after he is told he can’t perform in a talent show goes viral.
The well-meaning failures of Andy and Michael remind us that we are all flawed and that we all f*** up occasionally; and also that we deserve the forgiveness that comes from being part of a community.
The Office demonstrates the idea that friendship makes all things a little easier no matter how badly you mess up. In fact to my mind this show illustrates the importance of friendship more effectively than that show about friends called, well you know… “Friends”.
In the below clips Andy sings a song for the office that he is choosing to leave.
- Own your differences
Aah, Dwight Schrute! Although to many of us he is our favourite, we would also probably struggle to make friends with him – not that he’d want to be our friend anyway! He’s too odd to be merely quirky. He’s intelligent and works hard, but often he’s also needlessly rude. He also has an obsession with farming and lacks self awareness. Finally, he tends to take everything too seriously, which also means he usually doesn’t understand jokes, even when he is the butt of them. And when he does know he is the butt of them, he is likely to still react anyway!
The thing about Dwight is he knows he’s different. He knows he acts eccentric and hangs around eccentric people. He knows he doesn’t care for the things that other people care for, but he also knows that in the eyes of the audience (and indeed in his own eyes) that is what makes him so brilliant. The clip below illustrates perfectly how Dwight owns his differences and isn’t afraid to be who he is.
- Make the most of your life and find joy in the small things
Jim Halpert knows that working in a paper company is not living the dream. Early in the series, before we get to know the other characters, we know that Jim finds this a soul sucking job. But that doesn’t destroy Jim’s spirit or his willingness to throw himself into small pleasures such as putting staples in jellos; sending someone to anger management; and committing identity theft.
OK we can’t all risk getting fired for performing pranks, but what we can learn from Jim is to loosen up a little. The clip below shows you what makes Jim the most relatable character in the show. He is also many people’s favourite character – because of the way that he manages to stop work from sucking all the fun out of life.
- Life is hard, and complicated, but it would suck if it wasn’t
At one point or another everyone in this show does something that makes us wince and put our head in our hands. But surely we all remember moments like that from our own lives. And that’s what makes the show so enjoyable and easy to relate to. Because despite messing up, almost every character on the show demonstrates growth. I emphasise the “almost”, because in fact not everyone learns from their mistakes. Much as in real life, there can’t be a happy ending in every instance. But watching most of these characters grow – and improve; and become a little less unpleasant and immature everyday – gives us the permission to do the same.
Thanks for reading, and may you have the courage to be like Dwight.