The Office: Genre Analysis

When it comes to genre, the conventional belief is that a piece of

work is limited to one genre. While a movie, book, website, or video

may predominantly fall under one genre, there is always more to the

genre than what is perceived. For example a scene taken out of

context to be perceived as a suspenseful one, can ultimately be both

suspenseful and comedic when put back in context. As odd as it

sounds to have suspense and comedy mixed together in one scene, it

is completely possible, and thats what makes genre so versatile. In the

hit TV show The Office, several scenes depict a successful

representation of what genre is all about. Genre is not about limiting

the boundaries of a certain idea, but rather to present broad guidelines

for ideas. The Office is classified as a mockumentary, or a parody

documentary. By using this genre, the show encapsulates the style of a

documentary of an everyday paper company, and with that using

several genres throughout the show including action, romance,

comedy, and suspense. As we can see in this clip from The Office,

genre is something that can be created and redefined through putting

together different forms of genre to make something new.

In the fourteenth episode of the fifth season, The Office airs one

of its most genre diverse scenes. The Office has a unique style of

using several genres to develop an overall idea to the viewer. It is

unique in the way that it has recreated the genre of comedy by mixing
other genres to form this sort of backdrop of comedy; meaning no

matter what genre a scene is portraying, the genre of comedy is

always looming. The scene begins with Dwight Schrute being

triggered by his peers lack of attention to his recent fire safety

seminar. In a spiteful reaction, Dwight aims to expose their lack of

knowledge of the fire procedures by starting a small fire in the back of

the office. To simulate a large-scale fire, he goes around heating

doorknobs, locking doors, and cutting phone lines. This is what brings

about the suspense in the scene. Upon seeing the growing smoke, the

office outbursts into sheer chaos. Employees fear for their lives

making any attempt to escape, while Dwight rhetorically asks them all

what the fire procedure is. As the fire grows bigger, Jim acts selflessly

in doing what he can to make sure Pam will make it out alive. His

small efforts to put Pam first now incorporate a romantic twist to the

scene, while still keeping the suspense. Employees go as far to break

windows, climb through the ceilings, and knock down doors in an

attempt to escape. Just as it seems there is no escape for the

employees, Dwight pulls the fire alarm and notifies his peers that

there is no fire and it was merely a training exercise. Immediately

Stanley falls over and has a heart attack. Michaels attempt to save

Stanley is what brings the overall comedy to the show. Stanley you

will not die here Stanley, Barack is President, Michael exclaims,

which adds to the comedy in the scene. Also, as bad as Stanley having
a heart attack is, the viewer cannot help but laugh from the sense of

dark humor the situation gives off. Following his heart attack, Stanley

is informed he is over stressed and is given a beeper to monitor his

stress levels. With the use of subtle comedy, Michael and Stanley both

learn the root of his stress. As Michael moves closer to Stanley, the

beeper beeps faster and faster, and as he moves away the beeping

slowly fades. The implicit use of the beeping shows that Michael is the

root of Stanleys stress. This scene embodies the meaning of genre by

using multiple genres to form an idea.

The genre of the Office that includes all the other genres is what

is called a mockumentary. A mockumentary is a television program

that takes the form of a serious documentary in order to satirize its

subject. This concept of the mockumentary is what allows the show to

be diverse in genre. As a mockumentary satirizes its subject, there is

always a background sense of comedy no matter what other genres

are brought into a scene. This is essential to the viewers

understanding of the show. The clip exemplifies genre diversity with

the use of several genres, but has an overcasting sense of comedy

behind it. Without understanding of the shows concept of comedy, in

artifacts like this one, one might just assume there is nothing funny to

it and solely embraces a suspense genre. The satire is the basis of the

comedy genre in the show. This is what makes genre more complex

then it seems. As the fire drill scene can be normally thought of as a

terrible and suspenseful event, the actions carried out in the scene are

first seen as comedic. What is the procedure everybody, what is the

procedure, Dwight says. Everybody stay calm, everybody stay

fucking calm! Michael yells in response. Even thought Michael is in

distress, the tone in which he says it himself is angry, but is perceived

as funny to the audience. A mockumentarys rhetorical situation is to

provide the audience with the interesting storyline of a documentary

while usually keeping a background essence of comedy. The different

personalities of the characters also contribute to the satiric and subtle

comedy throughout the show. What makes The Office unique is the

wide varieties of characters, which all offer different genre

contributions to the show. For example, Michael is extremely nave,

which usually leads to his uneducated rhetorical statements. Stanley

has his quick sarcastic remarks, and Kevin is just flat out stupid.

Instead of finding ways to escape the fire, Kevin finds it a suitable time

to break the glass to the vending machine and steal all the snacks he

could. Jim is the most sarcastic character but also brings the element

of romance to the show. His longtime desire for Pam is put on display in

the clip as he acts selflessly in attempting to save and protect her

during the fire. With all of the characters separate traits, comedy can

strike at any time during the show, which makes this genre so

appealing. That is what makes this artifact important. For viewers of

the office, it is important to understand the shows use of genres to

express ideas, which are comedic most of the time. The shows basis of

comedy can be mixed with any other genre, constructing the

mockumentary genre. This formation of the mockumentary is what

exemplifies genres ability to mix the ideas of all sorts of different

genres into one.

The Office has an interesting way of tying in several ideas of

genre including comedy, romance, action, and suspense. The fire drill

clip uses dark, dry, subtle humor in a situation of serious suspense,

which forms such a unique form of mockumentary. By doing this, it

shows how fluid genre is in letting an author compile several genres to

display a desired idea. Genre does not restrict an idea to a set of

conventional beliefs, but rather acts as a guide to how to form ideas

together.

Rhetorical Rationale

The definition of genre was an interesting topic to explore, and in

my opinion, The Office was a great show to use in aid of my definition.

The mockumentary concept of the show makes it unique in its own

ways, and I believed I could really explore and analyze it with this

essay. Starting the essay was a little bit stalled, but mainly because

there were so many different ways to express all of my ideas. My first

draft mainly consisted of just writing all of the ideas that came to me.

Organizing and touching up on those ideas came after my first draft

was complete. I am a big fan of the show, so ideas continuously came

to me while I watched. Physically noting points and ideas from my

particular artifact as I watched the show helped me develop enough to

write about for the essay. From start to finish, not a lot had changed

except the addition of one important factor; the so-what factor. In

other words, what makes this important or worth knowing to anyone

who watches the show? What makes this clip important is its use of

multiple genres to craft the shows main idea, in a comedic

mockumentary. When the audience understands the rhetoric of the

show, the can also understand that the fire drill scene is supposed to

be viewed as comedic, even though it incorporates a deal of suspense.

This addition was brought to my attention during my one on one

meeting. Also, the description of the scene itself was lessened as the

final essay is digital and the viewer will be watching the scene. Overall,

the process of writing the paper was not too difficult due to the fact

that The Office is truly something that interests me.