My girlfriend recently got into the Office, so vicariously I ended up watching most of it again a second time through, and I was quite taken back at how much punching down and thinly veiled racism there was behind the humour, and how little it was called out with others whoâve more recently rewatched it.
To me, there was so much of it which was a hark back to the times where âItâs funny because obviously we donât think these thingsâ was used to excuse pretty much any abhorrent humour. Some characters, particularly Michael and Dwight are just vessels for misogyny, racism, bullying, privilege. If they were also characters who weâre supposed to hate it wouldnât feel so off, but thatâs not the case. Weâre supposed to love them as flawed individuals who may be absolutely horrendous, but hey, for 30 seconds an episode they do something thatâs not terrible, so itâs all OK again now.
Thereâs less of it as the show goes on, but for the first couple of seasons in particular, the hangover of Ricky Gervaisâs âDoes It Offend You, Yeah?â style is all over it.
