Cultural Conundrums: The Many Faces of Michael Scott

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[This is the first in a series of weekly columns written for Always Watching by Myles McNutt. You can find Myles at his award-winning blog, Cultural Learnings]

Watching “Did I Stutter?,” last week’s rather great episode of The Office, I realized that one of the reasons I liked it so much was that Michael Scott was just right: he was naïve yet reasonable, stupid yet trying not to be, and genuine to the point of eventually being able to settle the issue through just talking to someone. Sure, it took him twenty minutes of comedy to get there, but the end result is a resolved issue and a character who is not an absolute imbecile.

The central protagonist of NBC’s The Office is not even close to being a static character: he is interchangeably neurotic, naïve, innocent, sweet, idiotic, insensitive, a little insane, and a romantic. But this leads to the important question:  Does this chamelon-like personality actually make the show more funny, more interesting, or more complex? As we will see throughout the course of this article, the answer is a resounding "Yes" on all counts. Here are just a few of the many faces of Michael Scott:

Idiotic Michael Scott
Traits: Total disconnect from reality, fundamental lack of logic in his decisions, no sense of understanding from his mistakes.
Examples: "Basketball, " "The Carpet," "Diwali," "Safety Training," “Dunder Mifflin Infinity”

Admitedly, this is my least favourite characterization: it ignores any of Michael’s success in his job, in his abilities as a salesperson, and in the fact that he is still alive without having made mistakes beyond grilling his own foot. This is the Michael Scott that, earlier this season, followed a GPS into a lake, and his only epiphany from that moment was to be an even larger idiot to the client he had tried to speak to earlier.

Cringeworthy Michael Scott
Traits: Lack of awareness of surroundings, attempts to be funny that totally miss their mark, awkward silences.
Examples: "Diversity Day," "Booze Cruise," "Gay Witch Hunt," “The Convict,” “The Chairmodel”

While similar to the idiotic Michael Scott, this one is sincerely trying to be funny or helpful, but is just so far off the mark that you cringe just thinking about it. This is something like “Prison Mike,” where he tries to teach people about prison through an awful stereotypical impression, or even during recent episode “The Chairmodel” where he is searching for a blind date and awkwardly prompts Phyllis to reveal that her friend is fat. It’s a moment where he’s not necessarily trying to be cruel, but his behavioral choices are certainly questionable (Or, perhaps, funny).

Unlikable Michael Scott
Traits: Selfishness, lack of understanding for others, general frustration.
Examples: "Christmas Party," "Michael's Birthday," “The Injury,” "Phyillis' Wedding," “The Chairmodel”

Although he can make you cringe or perhaps prove idiotic, unlikable Michael Scott is for the most part not trying to be funny, and in many cases is actually being an outright jerk. While burning his foot on a George Foreman grill is funny, his petty whining after the fact becomes unlikable quickly (And likely cost him a much-deserved Emmy). Similarly, as "The Chairmodel" progressed, his date with Pam’s landlady shows a Michael Scott who is just plain mean, as opposed to being out of touch.

Sweet Michael Scott
Traits: Caring about others, self-awareness, appreciation for family
Examples: "The Client," "The Return," "Women's Appreciation," “Business School,” “Local Ad”

This is the side of Michael Scott we rarely see, a character who cares about the people, and a person who is actually a person. While only occasionally coming out of its shell, the sweet side shows a person who is in some ways nicer than anyone else in the Office. When he is the only person to attend Pam’s art show at the end of “Business School,” he cares about his office and about the future of his company in a way that is endearing and, ultimately, important to his character. His appreciation of his employees also came out in “Local Ad,” where his rejected commercial was actually a nice tribute to his staff.

But, here’s the conundrum…these are the extremes, but can any episode manage on only a single one of these traits? These examples, depending on how we feel about them, can make or break an episode, but are the best episodes the ones where we get to see multiple sides?

In the show’s fourth season, the best example has been “The Deposition,” an episode where Michael is petty, awkward, hilarious, endearing and perhaps a bit of an idiot. However, he never became just one of these traits – he left his experience being deposed for Jan’s lawsuit with his dignity and humanity intact, and the result was likely the season’s best episode to date.

In the end, we see that the show is somehow able to strike that crucial balance between heartfelt believability and outlandish fantasy. While it took a few seasons to really get into its groove, these last episodes of the fourth season show the writer's have found who Michael Scott truly is, in spite (or perhaps because of) his many faces.

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You can also hear Dave, Adam, Devindra review IRON MAN on the latest episode of The Watchers Podcast.