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Saturday, April 02, 2005
Office Diversity
I didn't get a chance to see the second episode of The Office - American Style - when it first aired Tuesday. That said, I caught it on Thursday on Bravo (what it's doing there, I don't know) and loved it so much that I downloaded a copy for posterity.
This is the episode where a diversity workshop due to Steve Carrell's character;s insensitive statements only lead to more insensitive incidents as Carrell tries to prove he isn't racist. The preview clips were hilarious and - surprisingly - they weren't the only funny parts. One example: citing retaliation for a past offense, the psychotic assistant to the manager quips, "Tit for tit." When told that's not how the saying goes, he responds, "It should be." Second example: when Carrell does his own diversity workshop and has employees wear index cards of different ethnicites on their foreheads, the employees must interact with each other and guess what they are by stereotypical statements. So the psychotic assistant has "ASIAN" on his head and when Pam the receptionist is forced to make stereotyped statements, she eventually says, "You would maybe not be a very good driver." Psychotic assistant looks disappointed and guesses, "Oh man! Am I a woman?"
This show, this episode in particular, is an example of a truism I love: Humor is cruelty plus distance.
Of course, that equation doesn't always make sense, but as I first watched this episode I kept covering my face in sympathetic embarassment for the characters. I knew they weren't real people, of course, but the situations managed to be both outrageous enough and true to life that I felt that involved.
It's also worth considering the different modes of humor involved. If not quite a workshop on great comedic writing, it's pretty damn close.
Humor through inevitability: once I found out that the diversity workshop was brought about by Carrell doing a Chris Rock routine and that the scene was to be re-enacted in the workshop with a positive outcome, I knew Carrell would do the exact same routine all over again. The beeps added to censor the obscenities he used only punctuated the situation, as did the horrified looks on the employees who had to hear the same offensive material twice.
Humor through magnification: making a bad situation even worse is comedic magnificence. This whole episode is devoted to that. And when Carrell encourages his employees to make racist statements - to "stir the melting pot," a wonderful line in itself - it was incredible. And appalling. Incredibly appalling.
Humor through unexpected twists: the two examples I cited above work in that way, bringing in jokes from out of nowhere but which fit the situation perfectly. The "quote" from Abraham Lincoln.
Humor through sheer cluelessness: Carrell's character makes one racist statement after another and doesn't realize it. In the context of this episode, it becomes especially painful.
Humor through repetition: the "want a cookie" line that Carrell apparently lifted off Chris Rock was repeated several times, hitting its apex with the Indian version. The "Mister Brown" joke was also repeated to good effect.
A related point is Humor through flogging dead horses: an accountant continues to play the stereotype game well after it was over. Carrell brings up another Chris Rock bit even after he knows that what started the whole deal.
Humor through strong characterization: all the jokes made - primarily by Carrell and psychotic assistant guy - spring from who the characters are, what they believe, how they act day-to-day. As outrageous as the humor is, none of it is absurdist in the strict sense of the word. They may look ridiculous, but that's an outside view - they're perfectly okay with how they behave and only feel strange when others point out otherwise.
Humor through poignancy: the budding romance in the series was a nice counterpoint to the outsized humor of the episode. It also provided a happy ending that rang true. If drama needs some humor to help give it rhythm, then the gentler humor of this running subplot had a similar effect to the broader comedy throughout.
Like I said, this one's a keeper. I can see myself watching it over and over again. This belongs with the Seinfeld "Masters of the Universe" episode and The Simpsons "A Fish Called Selma" episode. Hopefully, the same can be said for other episodes in the future.
This is the episode where a diversity workshop due to Steve Carrell's character;s insensitive statements only lead to more insensitive incidents as Carrell tries to prove he isn't racist. The preview clips were hilarious and - surprisingly - they weren't the only funny parts. One example: citing retaliation for a past offense, the psychotic assistant to the manager quips, "Tit for tit." When told that's not how the saying goes, he responds, "It should be." Second example: when Carrell does his own diversity workshop and has employees wear index cards of different ethnicites on their foreheads, the employees must interact with each other and guess what they are by stereotypical statements. So the psychotic assistant has "ASIAN" on his head and when Pam the receptionist is forced to make stereotyped statements, she eventually says, "You would maybe not be a very good driver." Psychotic assistant looks disappointed and guesses, "Oh man! Am I a woman?"
This show, this episode in particular, is an example of a truism I love: Humor is cruelty plus distance.
Of course, that equation doesn't always make sense, but as I first watched this episode I kept covering my face in sympathetic embarassment for the characters. I knew they weren't real people, of course, but the situations managed to be both outrageous enough and true to life that I felt that involved.
It's also worth considering the different modes of humor involved. If not quite a workshop on great comedic writing, it's pretty damn close.
Humor through inevitability: once I found out that the diversity workshop was brought about by Carrell doing a Chris Rock routine and that the scene was to be re-enacted in the workshop with a positive outcome, I knew Carrell would do the exact same routine all over again. The beeps added to censor the obscenities he used only punctuated the situation, as did the horrified looks on the employees who had to hear the same offensive material twice.
Humor through magnification: making a bad situation even worse is comedic magnificence. This whole episode is devoted to that. And when Carrell encourages his employees to make racist statements - to "stir the melting pot," a wonderful line in itself - it was incredible. And appalling. Incredibly appalling.
Humor through unexpected twists: the two examples I cited above work in that way, bringing in jokes from out of nowhere but which fit the situation perfectly. The "quote" from Abraham Lincoln.
Humor through sheer cluelessness: Carrell's character makes one racist statement after another and doesn't realize it. In the context of this episode, it becomes especially painful.
Humor through repetition: the "want a cookie" line that Carrell apparently lifted off Chris Rock was repeated several times, hitting its apex with the Indian version. The "Mister Brown" joke was also repeated to good effect.
A related point is Humor through flogging dead horses: an accountant continues to play the stereotype game well after it was over. Carrell brings up another Chris Rock bit even after he knows that what started the whole deal.
Humor through strong characterization: all the jokes made - primarily by Carrell and psychotic assistant guy - spring from who the characters are, what they believe, how they act day-to-day. As outrageous as the humor is, none of it is absurdist in the strict sense of the word. They may look ridiculous, but that's an outside view - they're perfectly okay with how they behave and only feel strange when others point out otherwise.
Humor through poignancy: the budding romance in the series was a nice counterpoint to the outsized humor of the episode. It also provided a happy ending that rang true. If drama needs some humor to help give it rhythm, then the gentler humor of this running subplot had a similar effect to the broader comedy throughout.
Like I said, this one's a keeper. I can see myself watching it over and over again. This belongs with the Seinfeld "Masters of the Universe" episode and The Simpsons "A Fish Called Selma" episode. Hopefully, the same can be said for other episodes in the future.
