White Man’s Blunder

image via Wikipedia

So, I watched The Office last night with my brother as his arm was getting re-aligned (it’s a long story) and I realized something about Michael Scott. Well, first, I have lost a lot of the sympathy I had for him in past seasons. And second, he has privilege oozing out of his face.

I’ve watched the Office since season three, having seen the first two via the Internet and getting them as presents (TV on DVD is the best thing ever). It’s been on for six seasons, and it’s definitely changed a lot since then–but the one thing that hasn’t is that Michael Scott is still really clueless, totally awkward, and very offensive. It’s the last one that interests me the most, actually.

The Office is mainly a show about awkwardness. Or at least it started that way–the original source material, the UK series with Ricky Gervais is much more awkward than the US series, which is likely because, well, it’s Ricky Gervais (his other series and work contain a similar amount of discomfort) and because in Britain the class dynamics are very different than the US. I won’t go into them here, but suffice to say that one of the main reason David Brent (the Michael Scott boss in the UK series) is so awkward is because he wants to be superior to his subordinates. He has power, and that power comes with a privilege that he feels should transfer over to other skills, like his dancing ability, his trivia knowledge, etc.

Michael Scott’s awkwardness comes from a similar place, but in a different, more American vein: instead of wanting and “knowing” that he’s better, he believes himself to be infallible thanks to his post and he desperately, desperately, wants everyone to like him. What he doesn’t realize is how unbearably loud that desperation is and how his perceived infallibility isn’t confidence–it’s privilege.

In fact, a lot of Michael’s “mistakes” stem from privilege, sometimes his and sometimes his lack thereof. His racist comments like his mocking of Kelly Kapoor (“Diversity Day,” 1×02) and his cringe inducing kiss with Oscar after finding out he was gay (“Gay Witch Hunt,” 3×01) and his continual sexual harassment of Pam (example: “Miss Beesley if you’re nasty!”) stem from his ignorance and his disregard for (a) the structural bigotry that his assumptions and bullying come from, and (b) the personal offenses he is committing against these individuals, because he doesn’t relate to them. The thing is, he doesn’t see the offense—and there is where his privilege stands.

But the thing with Michael is that he cared—he cared a lot. Even if he didn’t get it, he didn’t get a lot. And in the end, he would have flashes of real caring, like when he hugged Pam at her art show (“Business School,” 3×17).

But one thing I realized when I was watching last night was: man, he doesn’t care anymore. He’s no longer a anxious bumbling idiot who doesn’t understand (which kind of makes me think of a less murderous version of Lenny from Of Mice and Men), but a selfish blundering jerk who doesn’t care about understanding (like, I don’t know…Draco Malfoy pre-book six of Harry Potter). Because you know what? He also hasn’t learned much either. He still doesn’t understand how horribly offensive and inappropriate he is, and that just makes me sick and tired of his shtick.

In a recent episode (“Secretary’s Day,” 6×22), Michael takes Erin out for lunch (at the request of Andy), and his demeanor is quite appalling: he seems disgusted by Erin’s adoration. It seems to be a trend with Michael to hate people who love him, as he does with Dwight—but he at least respects what he does, and sees him as an ally. He is uncomfortable around Dwight’s “weirdness” (living on a farm, love of weapons, hunting habits, etc), but ultimately he relies on him. But with Erin he’s just uncaring, and when she breaks down when he tells her about Andy’s broken engagement with Angela, he is uncomfortable and unsympathetic. He doesn’t even seem to care much about her feelings, just about how to leave the situation.

It’s likely that this uncomfortable disregard for her feelings comes from the fact that she’s no Pam. Michael doesn’t tease her like Pam because she isn’t “cool” like Pam: Pam has a significant other that he likes, Pam has bigger breasts, Pam always seemed to be equivocal and sometimes even judgmental about his problems. Meanwhile, Erin is with Andy (who Michael seems to only tolerate), she’s tiny and girlish (and much too young for him), and she goes along with Michael’s schemes, so he doesn’t have to try and impress her or need her advice. Finally, she seems to be too “weird” for him: her foster care childhood and her defense mechanisms and socialization seems to him not normal and not something he wants to be associated with.

He doesn’t do much to prevent Andy and Erin’s brief falling out, and in fact has none of the ally kind of nature he does with Dwight. But Erin has a value to Michael similar to Dwight—she’s shown as good at her job, particularly in regards to catering to Michael’s odd requests; she is eager to please, and a sweetheart. And yet, Michael believes because he doesn’t have to impress her and she doesn’t seem to have any skills and he sees her as sexually undesirable, she has no value to him. This could also be because of her insecurity, which he may see as similar to his own. Here, he shows his privilege and power in his disregard for her, but unlike previous incidents, he makes no effort to reach out to Erin like he does to Oscar and Pam and Kelly. Plus! No one calls him out for it.

And that’s actually an interesting point with Erin: while she is similar to Michael in her insecurity and eagerness to please, people in the Office don’t seem to care about her pain. It definitely ties into her job–she’s reception as opposed to Michael’s management–but also the fact that she’s a young woman.

That’s another thing with this show: while Michael Scott is deplorable in his actions, he sometimes serves as the extreme in the show, with other characters toeing the line of offensiveness. While he has a certain amount of privilege, so do the other characters. And, unfortunately, it is following his path to indifference.