The Office is certainly an entertaining and equally hilarious television show. The series, which at point revolved around a seemingly insecure and timid boss, Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell), is known to persistently drop in on racy themes of gender, race, and sexuality. Based on the messages displayed by the respective series’ episodes, points taken can be either perceived as merely satirical (as intended) or directly relative to some sort of sociological mainstay, in that the points made by ‘Office’ characters (mainly Michael Scott) both minoritizes and scrutinizes groups and individuals. There is no better Office text to touch upon regarding this than of the now-iconic episode “Gay Witch Hunt”, an episode which evidently deploys notions of blatant and absolutely hilarious homophobia and gay hysteria. The episode is surely a gem in regards to the comedy series, but may not be seen equally so by all audience types.
“Gay Witch Hunt”, the season three premiere episode, is focused mainly on character Oscar Hernandez, an accountant within the office. Not openly gay within the workplace, the episode opens to boss Michael Scott calling out a derogatory homophobic epithet aloud within the office, though not directed to anyone in particular. Taken aback by Michael’s language, Oscar reports the incident to “corporate”, the office’s managing firm. Soon enough, Michael finds out Oscar is gay himself. Michael then calls on an office meeting to address homophobia in the workplace, all to end up declaring Oscar’s homosexuality in front of all coworkers, etc. It is with this that Michael brings to light to dozens of exaggerated homophobic slurs and name-calling, all to make point against homophobia within the workplace, a trait that it is evidently backdoor within Michael. The nonsense continues, and the episode concludes with Michael, in attempt to right his wrongs noted by corporate, kissing Oscar right on the lips. Stated by character Oscar, in proclamation and in response to Michael’s actions, "this is the worst, most backwards day of my life.”.
So, there is a good several things inherently wrong/ very right about this episode- and by that is meant that both extremes of “wrongly” absurd humor and political correctness are equally displayed, and respectively. The original conflict in the episode is based on boss Michael’s use of term “faggy” within the office space. This word is really unacceptable for several reasons, but most evidently in that it is simply a derogatory term and one that scrutinizes homosexuality. With saying “faggy”, Michael, though not necessarily a homophobe, shows a good display in discourse for gay persons and immaturity through a juvenile diction. It is probably even worse in Michael’s making up for it, for example, making mention of the following and encouraging others to follow in suit, among others:
- Michael asks himself whether the gay Oscar and presumably gay Angela (fellow office accountant) are having a gay affair
- Michael assembles an office meeting to address homophobia in the workplace (alwhile it is just Michael who have displayed homophobic actions, and in cue with Micahel’s character traits, he exhibits his own anxieties upon others, making it seem as if it is them, not him, whom is the problem. This is a recurring idiosyncrasy of Michael’s, and it is hilarious… he can never put himself at blame for anything.)
- Character Dwight, salesman and loud nerd-type character, calls out for all gay office workers to identify themselves.
- Dwight fashions a gay-detector wand to classify persons by “HOMO”, “BI”, and “HETERO”
- Michael kisses Oscar on the lips to fend ideas by employees that he is a homophobe
Again, though that mentioned above undeniably holds large comedic value to audiences due its simple absurdities, many could find that just as notably offensive. If taken in literal stride, “The Office” is emulating the modern-day workplace as a lair of homophobia and assuming to ideals which do not take up with standard American morals, such as homosexuality. The episode does a good job in displaying the obvious minority status of homosexuality in the workplace and how everyday happenings in such setting chronically minoritizes persons of different sexual tastes (vs. hetero) and etc. The consistent scare of homosexuality in close quarters (such as workplace) indeed encourages an exclusion complex or reinforcement of such (as noted by Dwight’s HOMO-wand, among others), as well as the creation of an official noting of seeming “deviancy” in the workplace and how it should be methodically treated (Michael’s office meeting on homophobia).
Being that “The Office” is written and produced in a documentive, reality-esque setting (IMDb), the weekly show repertoire is designed to reflect the ins and outs the daily work place, not overly exaggerated, but just enough for effect. In this comes the character of Oscar, a homosexual, yet not one that matches the television and cinematic make of how a homosexual should act or behave. As noted by Battles and Hilton-Morrow in text, “Gay Characters in Conventional Spaces…”, on the televisual representation of gays and the effect of it on the cultural perception of all gays,
…the camera comes to a rest on Will and Grace, her sitting on his lap. He tells her, “I am so into those earrings.” Immediately, Will is defined as being different from (more feminine than) his masculine heterosexual college buddies. Will and his roommate eventually meet up at the keg and the audience is again exposed to Will’s more feminine concerns, asking his roommate if his “butt look[s] big in these jeans.” His roommate replies, “Dude, I’m a guy. I don’t know. Just get some pants that fit and leave me alone,” insinuating that Will is not a real “guy.” (Battles, Hilton-Morrow)
The given excerpt notes how television has created a seeming ideology, a guideline which all gay men must adhere to; in the case which a gay man does not follow such protocol, hysteria ensues- and such is noted within this episode.
The Office is certainly an entertaining and equally hilarious television show. Led by Michael Scott, insecure and hesitant ringleader of the office, the series is known to often touch on racy themes of gender, race, and sexuality. Such is made apparent in “Gay Witch Hunt”, making notice of “gay hysteria” in the American workplace and public spaces. Though there is little lesson learned, the episode makes great mockery on how people perceive gay persons, all when to prior knowledge the other was seemingly heterosexual. The episode critically minoritizes character Oscar for his homosexuality, but not to crude avail, simply to display how it really, or probably is (exaggeratedly so), in most American workplaces. As noted in the series’ tagline, “A comedy for anyone whose boss is an idiot.” (IMDb). Such rings true.
Works Cited
Battles, Kathleen, and Wendy Hilton-Morrow. "Gay Characters in Conventional Spaces: Will and Grace and the Situation Comedy Genre." Web. 8 Apr. 2012. .
"The Office." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 08 Apr. 2012. .
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