Essay on Employees' Everyday Lives: Why the Film Deserves a Spot in Top 100

Introduction

The film is an American television sitcom that started airing in March 2005 and ended in May 2013. In total, it consists of nine seasons. The film can be classified as a mockumentary, a sitcom that is shot like a documentary. I agree that the film deserves a spot at the top 100 because by adopting a mockumentary style, the film brought a new and exciting style to the genre of comedy.

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The film portrays an ordinary day in the lives of the employees of a branch of a paper company. The workers are caught by a camera crew for a documentary. Some of the workers include the boss, Michael Scott who is neither funny nor bright, the receptionist, Pam Beesly, who is attracted to one of her coworkers but is engaged, and Jim Halpert who is the branch's salesman and also the prankster and the "cool" guy in the office. As they do their part to keep the company alive, these workers are humorous and bizarre.

What made this film unique is the way that it simulates an actual documentary, therefore bringing the film almost in direct contact with the audience. This style makes the humor come fully across. By occasionally looking directly at the camera during awkward situations, the viewers are prompted to a humorous situation instead of being prompted by a studio audience.

Moreover, as the characters speak one on one with the camera crew, the viewers get the sense that they are getting the raw substance from the mouths of the hosts. What made this show especially popular among the fans is the combination of drama and the humor. In talking about this film, I think the film "Parks and Recreation", a political satire, should be mentioned in the same breath.

Impact on Culture

Amongst the humor, the film has an important impact on the American culture- it highlights that the workplace and the workforce is a complex and lively sub-culture of its own with unique people, atmosphere and written and unwritten rules. The film handles the economic recession that started in 2008 with a bit of humor. With rumors cycling that the parent company is planning to do away with the entire branch, the boss downplays this reality and office anxiety with humorous tactics to maintain morale.

However, the film still reinforces some gender stereotypes. For example, Pam Beesly, arguably the only major female character occupies the job at the reception where her beauty seems to be the only qualification while the men in the office keep the important jobs deep inside the complex. Even when she is transferred, she goes to the marketing department where again, beauty matters in selling the product.

Sex plays an important role in the office because there are a lot of romantic relations, most of the secret, taking place in the office. Some of them involve characters who are already engaged with other partners. One of the issues that are portrayed in the film is that of social class. There is the feeling that romantic relations between the employees and the management are tense because such people belong to different social classes. For example, the romantic relationship between Michael and Jan Levinson is depicted as tense even though the two do not have sex simply because Levinson is the boss.

Theories

The social learning theory seems to be at work in this film. According to the theory, new behavior can be acquired through imitation and observation of others. Besides, learning occurs through the observation of punishments and rewards. Throughout the first three seasons, almost all the employees learn to cope with the anxiety of losing their jobs that keeps looming over their heads with humor. Even the boss who is initially uptight slowly learns from the jokers in the office to mask his fears and anxieties with witty comments and sarcasm among other humorous gimmicks.

This show is likely to have left its audience with the lesson that life is ever evolving and it is good to be flexible and let the current rumble along. For instance, while the show starts with Pam engaged to Roy, she ends up getting married to Jim Halpert in the end. Hence, rather than fight life with rigidity, one of the things that viewers of the show might have picked is that one should be flexible and take life by the chin and see where they end up and enjoy the journey as well.

The target audience for this show is young adults, mostly those who are in the working population demographic. These working individuals are likely to relate to politics, humor and the ups and downs of the workplace. For instance, they can relate to the subculture of the workplace which has its peculiar characteristics and rules that are different from those at home. For example, there seems to be the rule that dating coworkers is not allowed. There also seems to be the unwritten rule that if romantic relationships occur, they should be carried out in utmost secrecy.

Interviews

My interview reveals that the fans liked the show because they could relate with characters. In particular, the interviewers were attracted to the ability of the characters to emasculate their career anxieties, evolve into new roles and thrive financially and socially.

One of my correspondents was keen to highlight that the economic recession during 2008 to 2010 was so bad that he was not sure that the company he worked for would stay in business and this brought anxiety to him. Therefore, it brought him a relief to see the characters fight their anxieties and find new ways of surviving the conditions in the office.

The other viewer was quick to point out that she liked the show because it was very personal. She explained that the stories were often personal, involving the characters. By making the story so personal, the film was able to have a deeper personal touch than any other film she had viewed before. Also, as she explains, the style of filming brought the story closer to her because by acknowledging the camera, the characters can reveal their characters at a much deeper level through confessions.

She credits cinematographer Randall Einhorn, who has also directed "Survivor" with this feeling. As a result, she criticized the later seasons of the show for loosening the rules and moving away from the documentary feel. My last fan of the show explained that he was simply attracted to the humor in everyday ordinary conversations. As he explained, the show was able to make ordinary conversations by ordinary people exciting, eventful and refreshing. He was quick to explain that it is not easy to make an ordinary day in the office come out as exciting as the show managed in its entire nine seasons.