Despite its aim to offend, many call “Office” a favorite
November 17, 2005
“The Office”
TV article
NBC’s Tuesday night show “The Office” is filled…
“The Office”
TV article
NBC’s Tuesday night show “The Office” is filled with humor that can be offensive to some. The second episode of season two, titled “Sexual Harassment,” showed one of the female office workers being asked to make out with an inflatable woman. If the joke seems inappropriate to some, others might disagree.
Janna Alsnauer, a communications major, loves watching the show with her roommate.
“I like the offbeat humor,” Alsnauer said. “It’s very real.”
The Columbus, Ohio, native finds Steve Carell is a perfect fit to her sense of humor. In regards to the show’s sense of humor, Alsnauer acknowledges the fact that it certainly isn’t for everyone.
“You either hate it or you love it,” Alsnauer said.
Alsnauer isn’t alone in her thinking. The humor seems to either turn people off or make them laugh. There doesn’t seem to be an in-between.
One of last season’s episodes, “Diversity Day,” uses more than its fair share of politically incorrect comments, and this season’s “Sexual Harassment” continues that trend.
“Sexual Harassment” is not afraid to mock every sexual orientation and discriminate against both women and men. The saddest and funniest moment of the episode is when one of the characters asks about the female anatomy. The character that has the unfortunate job of answering the question comments, “I’m just sad that the public school system failed him so badly.”
A moment like this may be seen as crossing the line, but, once again, all that matters is the viewer’s personal sense of humor.
“I enjoyed the inappropriate humor,” first-year pharmacy school student Margaret Brown said. “It’s that humor you have to think about.”
Brown commented on the wit of the show’s jokes as well. She said that it was something that stuck out the first time she watched the show.
One episode of the show can either make a fan or lose a viewer. It just depends on the sort of jokes the viewer appreciates. Overall, “The Office” has an attitude that can’t touch other shows of its caliber.