The Fantasy of the Office in "The Office"

[@ninjablack4347]

I haven't seen the UK office but it certainly feels more like a satire of office work than the US version which slowly turned into "LOL it would fun to work here"

[@josephde-haan1074]

It is very cringey and if you have worked in an office sometimes it is to familiar.

[@pauldrummond755]

It was made to be a parody on all the workplace documentaries made in the UK, thats why it has a more realistic feel

[@skipperiffic]

The UK version is awesome. Perfect story arc and it ends. Brilliant.

[@jacobmorales323]

I’m high and this comment blew my mind cause it made soo much sense 🤯

[@Harrysatt]

US Office: the workplace you want UK office: the workplace you probably have.

[@ethanstump]

@@AzathothsAlarmClock the one in which he escapes, at least mentally, from the inanity and actually gives a fuck about his life, and does what he want's to do in the office. granted, he would've been fired as soon as he did that, but it's more about the message that you can escape, rather than how you do it.

[@Goodbrew84]

The real fantasy is a workplace having such little turnover.

[@Leemasterflex]

I think a lot of mid-sized companies (mine included) operate under the assumption that as long as no one makes the executives lives' too difficult or using physical violence - they're largely safe to remain employed.

[@Cucumber-ej1pm]

Leemasterflex I worked at a company like that

[@willsabol8391]

​ @Josh Turner I'm pretty sure this is a topic highlighted in the US Office itself. Ryan schools Michael on client turnover saying acquiring new client is 10x more expensive than keeping existing clients. The same could be said for employees - all other things being equal.

[@Viqtor]

@@willsabol8391 wait how is acquiring new clients expensive

[@khkjhism]

@@Viqtor money spent on advertising, onboarding and teaching them how things are run instead of a client who already knows how to orde or use the product

[@ahorrell]

I used to work at a place just like Dunder Mufflin, and the drama got exhausting. Never a dull moment tho. Lots of celebrations and odd people having pointless arguments, and not a lot of work. I look back fondly on it, mostly.

[@MRCKify]

So the lack of drama today means boredom?

[@manicpepsicola3431]

@@MRCKify yes

[@user-uq4gr5nl5o]

So essentially, in the US Office people are more positive and happy, and in the UK Office people are British.

[@tldr5614]

Just replying to say nice pfp

[@BengaliMartyMcfly]

British confirmation here!

[@Imover1864]

The US office is the lie your bosses tell you so you’ll keep coming to work. The U.K. office is the realistic take that makes you reevaluate your life

[@Milarecs]

@@Imover1864 I see a lot of cultural points in both shows and makes me wonder why are Europeans so miserable in the first place

[@dsmith3112]

​@@Imover1864The cake is a lie 😅

[@alexanderdelarge9946]

The UK version: Work blows, why lie. The US version: hey, that boss you call a bigot and misogynist can be a father figure sometimes.

[@donsancho6690]

That's not what the US version is trying to say at all

[@dietyadjacent3200]

@@donsancho6690 Ikr tf this Jesus looking nigga saying

[@aidans4588]

Kinda random but that’s my boss

[@losisd3ad]

@@donsancho6690 I love the office, but yes, that's exactly what it's saying

[@LeBellmont]

US Office: Activision-Blizzard

[@Goodbrew84]

I recommend the sitcom called "Episodes" for people who want to better understand the difference between American and British TV counterparts. "Episodes" was made by a team of British and Americans, and it uses the differences between the two as a major driving point of the narrative.

[@natalyamartirosyan]

And it’s amazing! Episodes is very good. Le Blanc is absolutely hilarious, as well as the whole cast, of course. But he certainly captured that Hollywood celebrity nonsense.

[@benhoff901]

The ending of the office reminds me of the ending of Parks and Rec. Everyone (that we care about) gets a perfect ending. I'm sure everyone wants to live in a Michael Schur fantasy.

[@setofreakinkaiba8553]

I am pretty sure most people hate unhappy endings. So they tried to make the fans happy.

[@MelodicQuest]

Also, those were comedies. Pretty rare to see a comedy end on a downer.

[@LordSathar]

Parks and Rec was basically conceived as a replacement for the Office as it was on it's last legs though.

[@HassanKhan0987]

"Whenever the characters do go out it's in depressing, drab places-" no shit sherlock it's set in UK we're miserable, cynical bastards everything is gloomy, drab and depressing.

[@beyond-journeys-end]

Would you say that the Us is the same way, in that regard?

[@meingaht6265]

@@beyond-journeys-end in the U.S we have one place like that, its called New Jersey.

[@ninjablack4347]

at least you have healthcare

[@beyond-journeys-end]

@@meingaht6265 it seems to be it's reputation, thanks though cause i forgoten it was a thing.

[@beyond-journeys-end]

@@ninjablack4347So, where do you live?

[@CorbCorbin]

They are in Purgatory, and eventually each find a way into the Elysian Fields of former paper paper pushers.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

They were all in the Bad Place the entire time!

[@CorbCorbin]

@@bbrbbr-on2gd 😄

[@phil381100]

UK The Office: Laugh at the characters US The Office: Laugh with the characters

[@TheDSasterX]

More lik: UK: Catharsis US: Fantasy

[@GJohnson1981]

Every workplace is just a high-school where you just happen to get a paycheck instead of a report card, all the archetypes are present no matter what type of job it is...

[@gh0s1wav]

Nah, from my experience those are the worst places to work. The drama's are completely unnecessary and waste people's time. Like I'm here to work and gtfo, I don't wanna hear about anyone's personal BS or waste time because someone(people) wants so desperately to be in a position of power :P

[@MRCKify]

Well, the nerds are becoming the boss of the jocks, so there's that little curveball...

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

I think I'd rather have a job than go to school. A job makes you money. Although, on the other hand, the hours are worse.

[@olis87]

I'm part way through my first watch of the US Office and I think a lot of the characters actions have been hugely crueller than anything done in the original. It's just the traditional sitcom presentation makes it seem jovial and light hearted. I recently finished the Scott's Totts episode where everything he does is kinda hand waved after he reluctantly offers to pay for one kid's books. A promise that is kind of empty considering the original premise of the entire episode. The Jim/Dwight relationship is weird too. I've not gotten to the best man part but that seems really weird considering how many times Dwight has earnestly tried to get Jim fired so far. Tim and Gareth clashed but the more realistic tone stops it from being too outrageous.

[@SaddenedSoul]

"Scott's Tots" must be one of the most awkward, cringe-inducing episodes of television ever produced.

[@iansteelmatheson]

@@SaddenedSoul personally, I find large sections of the UK version to be just as bad, but just on a smaller scale

[@melissad4976]

Maybe that's why it's so well loved? It reminds us just enough of our own workplaces, but gives us the best case scenario at the end of it? Or maybe it's just because we all like paper companies.

[@LuisSierra42]

I loved the office because i could relate to it and in some way i could make fun of the worst aspects of my job while at the same time, believe it will be better in the future

[@Flailkerrin]

Hope and escapism. Most of us are pretty damn aware how miserable our work lives can be, so when we go home, it can be nice to tune it out and watch a happier version of it.

[@alaskaoalaska]

@@Flailkerrin Makes me think about Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in that people just hope things will work out in the end (both in and after life). It seems like we're currently seeing the negative consequences of this (through the American Dream as a delusion that keeps people poor).

[@ultra1000]

But Brent doesn't have a complete lack of talent. As showcased on the show, he can sing and dance reasonably well, it's just the situations he does them in and his obliviousness makes it awkward and takes away from his actual talent. Therein lies the humor, and this was well documented in interviews with the writers and producers.

[@olis87]

Freelove Freeway remains a tune

[@David-rq9en]

Flat out: the US needs to do away with the 40 hour work week being a necessity for full time work. It is a huge waste of time for many clerical and sales jobs and we shouldn't be beholden to it, just so we can survive and have health insurance.

[@TheDSasterX]

Let's not forget that relatively few people are actually given those 40 hours consistently enough to qualify as full time workers and thus ever get benefits >_>

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

Taylor Skaalrud This made me feel so seen, working at the Home Depot is alienating and humiliating enough, but on top of that, I’m only given the hours I need to feel comfortable every other week. Can’t even aboard a car and I’m almost 30 lmao!

[@stevenscott2136]

Our economy doesn't actually need 40 man-hours per week from each adult. With automation and software getting more productive almost daily, and 1st-world people becoming so costly that ever-more jobs are shifted to the cheaper 3rd-world workers, we are already at the point where most of us in US and Europe could quit working. However, that would require a line be drawn between "essential" and "nonessential" jobs, and many of us openly being a sort of "leisure class" who live off the work of an ever-shrinking "productive" class, at least until robots take over ALL jobs. This would be political suicide for anyone who seriously proposed it, as we barely tolerate the amount of support we already provide for those who allegedly cannot work for various reasons. At core, nobody WANTS to be "essential" because it feels like (and is) like being host to a parasite. As a result of this, and other factors, any serious discussion about cutting back on the "busywork" jobs is virtually impossible, and we all go on pretending that we all need to work and that somebody needs to hire us all. Look how many "jobs" were declared nonessential during the recent disease scare. And yet, with all those people staying home, we all kept eating and using electricity and generally maintaining a non-apocalyptic socio-economic order. And that was a slapdash, hurried, politically-f***ed-with shutdown riddled with obvious mistakes -- imagine how many jobs could be eliminated without significant societal harm if the shutdowns were arranged thoughtfully and responsibly over a course of years (yeah, that would require a SkyNet takeover, but speaking theoretically..)

[@FupaDoncic]

Studies in Nordic countries show workers are more productive and happy in 4 day work weeks.

[@TheDSasterX]

@@xXRickTrolledXx I've been there and I see you. I'm just past 30, it took me 14 years in and out of PT Joe jobs to finally just graduate university, and I haven't had wheels for a decade. Most of us are just scraping by one way or another. Don't forget that as much as that 1% or that 0.01% dominates media and what our eyeballs enviously gaze upon, that the 99% -- all of us -- are in the shitty real world together!

[@genequist3859]

I've always agreed with the ideas presented here. That's why I became a professional social worker. My work has real meaning to me while providing me with a living. It is a soul building job, rather than a soul crushing one.

[@Ray_D_Tutto]

As someone who has been through foster homes and mental health clinics let me just say fuck social workers. They're not as helpful as they think they are. Clueless psychobabbling white saviors the lot of them.

[@Dan-ud8hz]

“The white slave had taken from him by indirection what the black slave had taken from him directly and without ceremony. Both were plundered, and by the same plunderers. The slave was robbed by his master of all his earnings, above what was required for his bare physical necessities, and the white laboring man was robbed by the slave system, of the just results of his labor, because he was flung into competition with a class of laborers who worked without wages. The slaveholders blinded them to this competition by keeping alive their prejudice against the slaves as men--not against them as slaves.” ― Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom

[@MRCKify]

I tend to think of another Douglass quote when I hear about "labor alienation:" "The fifth day after my arrival I put on the clothes of a common laborer, and went upon the wharves in search of work. On my way down Union street I saw a large pile of coal in front of the house of Rev. Ephraim Peabody, the Unitarian minister. I went to the kitchen-door and asked the privilege of bringing in and putting away this coal. " What will you charge ? " said the lady. " I will leave that to you, madam." " You may put it away," she said. I was not long in accomplishing the job, when the dear lady put into my hand two silver half-dollars. To understand the emotion which swelled my heart as I clasped this money, realizing that I had no master who could take it from me - that it was mine- that my hands were my own, and could earn more of the precious coin --- one must have been in some sense himself a slave." -Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, from the Internet Archive, pg. 259 archive.org/details/lifeandtimesoffr00dougiala/page/259/mode/1up

[@bigsnacks913]

Haven't been this early since 'Nam.

[@itslordjoshua]

😂

[@easygreasy3989]

Namibia

[@itslordjoshua]

@@easygreasy3989 that's my neighbouring country. I'm in South Africa

[@Anthonyfpm20]

Oh Vietnam. I hear it’s lovely

[@shrivatsakaranam6877]

“Ooh Vietnam, I hear it’s lovely”

[@SystemZ3RO]

To be fair, a shitty job can be made all the better if you have co-workers that you don't want to fire out of a canon and into the sun.

[@loiracitr]

True, true. But most of us aren't that lucky, as we can't chose our co-workers

[@alaric_]

TL;DR It's all about the co-workers. Job is a job but a-hole co-workers ruin just about anything. Flipside, i worked at nice job that i liked but i had a total a-hole as a co-worker. Then i changed to another firm with better pay and less employees. And one of us three was even more a-hole than the last one in my last job. As an added bonus, he befriended our closest boss (barely an actual position) and that boss gave him leeway to do pretty much anything he liked. His nickname used by pretty much anyone at the firm was "Lazy". And the 'boss' was ok with that. Those years killed my interest in that profession.

[@MRCKify]

@@alaric_ In a broader context, a little inconvenience can ruin your day, but protesting that you've been inconvenienced is not a sympathetic message to the masses. Only (some) friends and (some) co-workers and (some) people who share your media diet will take complaint of "that was 5 minutes I'll never get back" at face value. One of the legendary 2nd-Wave Punk albums has a name that's an example of my point: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Me_Convenience_or_Give_Me_Death

[@edwardbrennan3963]

There’s that old expression, “you don’t quite jobs you quite managers.” Which after working for a few very large companies I can say is true. I finally got a job and a medium size company with the whole cut throat atmosphere doesn’t exist. The meaning and quality of life just depends on the environment. Any job is great if those working there genuinely try to make it that way.

[@SaddenedSoul]

The leader sets the tone. No job has to be awful, but there must be compassion and care steering the ship.

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

LOL. My father has quit his job in real estate for another job in real estate five times at this point, every boss has been just as bad as the last. I think it's the system that's the problem, the system and the culture. Capitalists don't give a fuck about workers.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

People don't generally care what sort of work they do. They care who they do it for, the environment they do it in, and the way they're treated for doing it.

[@Vivi_9]

I'm English... and I love the US Office, and find the first 2 episodes of the UK Office so cringe I get why nobody outside of our island prefers our version, but if you stick with it... you will be rewarded. The 2nd part of the Xmas special warms my heart just thinking about it, whereas the US Office goes off the rails after Michael Scott leaves.

[@satnav9699]

It's basically the difference between the UK and the US as cultures.

[@FilmBuffBros]

During that period for sure - but now UK is just as PC and ridiculous as USA.

[@Werelight]

@@FilmBuffBros No, pc culture is quite different between the two cultures, in quality as well as quantity of influence. And pc culture is very much off topic

[@cevcena6692]

@@FilmBuffBros PC culture has no boarders, it's online bby

[@DrumWild]

@@FilmBuffBros You can say it. Go ahead. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWXThKNpgNJpg9k Just remember that everything we say has consequences. That's not "PC," that's just life. So stop crying that you can't say it.

[@gh0s1wav]

@@FilmBuffBros I wouldn't say it's just as ridiculous. The US is still largely super optimistic...like Britain doesn't have anything equivalent to the "American Dream". I'd say due to the downward trajectory of the economic system that the American Dream is waning in some people's eyes but for alot of people...they still think they can be millionaires/billionaires if they work hard enough. Believe it or not.

[@xandertheblue]

Thank you!!! I always found the US Office justification of "yeah, but at least we got each other" portrayal of the US office place to be nefarious & dishonest.

[@CitizenKen01]

Exactly because in The Office show, the turnover rate for employees is never that low…

[@FilmBuffBros]

@3:36 it was actually Trailer Park Boys that pioneered the mocumentary TV series - predating The Office UK by several months.

[@FilmBuffBros]

Also the original TPB movie was released years before The Office UK.

[@josephde-haan1074]

There is Brass Eye 1997 and The Day today 1994. They are current affair based and news based but both were fake. Also in 1992 There was Ghostwatch. These are all UK series.

[@josephde-haan1074]

Thinking about it maybe Orson Welles 1938 radio show of War of the worlds could be seen as the proto mockumentary.

[@ColossalM]

i mean if you really wanted to dig into it, Cannibal Holocaust is what really kicked off the mockumentary style

[@FilmBuffBros]

@@ColossalM Found footage though, not a TV series

[@JaredBauer]

Great job guys!

[@sunilprajapati6377]

Miss you, Jared

[@guerrillagorilla6537]

Awww it's Jared. Hope you're doing well, bro!

[@vishalvenkat6]

The US office makes the mistake of slowly turning into an actual tv show instead of a mockumentary.

[@geekyvors2837]

So true, the flanderization (apology for misspelling) of kevin especially sticks out like a sore thumb for me

[@RanwulfMaxwell]

Mistake? It only got better after it.

[@debrachambers1304]

Yeah, I feel like it slowly lost its tone and became closer to the average sitcom than having the strong dry cringe comedy feel it started with.

[@wynonasbigbrowndragon6121]

You say, "Mistake" but one show is clearly more popular than the other

[@andrewscott7728]

You mean after season 5? Well let's compare it to the UK's season 5, oh wait.

[@Drewhink]

Wisecrack? The Office? I’mma need to take a quick break from work!

[@meregaming1770]

I worked in an office that was actually fairly similar to the show. We had birthday parties all the time, and made a big deal of decorating for holidays. We had a duct tape art making contest.

[@user-hv3fs2rh6j]

Office UK : You are doomed by Capitalism, office is enemy Office US : Capitalism is doomed by you , office is family

[@ThePageTurnerPT]

I would argue that animals do work under Marx's definition (as presented here). Specifically animals that build nests, dig burrows, and build dens. All of this is work in the sense that it's producing a tangible thing that can be used to survive, a home. Likewise, animals work by finding their next meals. This is especially true for predators that have to actively seek, hide from, and kill their prey in order to feed.

[@lainiwakura1776]

What do you expect from a lazy spoiled rich kid who hated working and mooched off his friends?

[@DeadDinosaur]

Ah that's a good point, but all of it is for the purpose of reproduction and survival in the end. They build nests to raise their young (reproduce), dig burrows to escape predators (survive), etc. Humans are able to find higher purposes, such as building a thing you will simply enjoy without it being relevant to your survival or reproduction, like a musical instrument or a decoration or dedicate life to science and mathematics so that your work will someday benefit unknowable-to-you future others in the form of some engineering marvel. So Imo, the definition works.

[@RahulSrivastav844]

Reminder : .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. *Ryan started the fire*

[@generaljellyroll8737]

I wish the workplace was as whimsical as this fictional comedy but the reality is companies only care about their bottom line. They will harm you to get it.

[@jamesrempel3093]

I just watched an 18 minute video about a show I have not watched either version of and I enjoyed all of it. Well done.

[@JavaSchoolBlues]

As far as the US office goes over the top, I can't deny that I love that feeling the show gives you. It feels like you're in the room with those great characters, and life is nice and happy. In this shitty world, I'll take that escapism.

[@magvad6472]

Yeah, I think my biggest disconnect with the UK office was how so absolutely miserable it was so much to the point it wasn't enjoyable. It was misery porn. Basically every situation devolved into a base form of total and absolute misery. Meanwhile, The Office US is out here making capitalism into a "temporarily don't like your coworkers and just need to put that extra work in for that dream job" fantasy land that seems like a total fuckin spit in the face to reality. It not only belittles the audience into nice moments and fun times...it completely removes the entire premise from the context and makes it fully just a joke without ever addressing any of the problems that creates. I just don't think "find your family in the middle of a dystopia" is a reasonable premise...when the Office in the US version would be shut down early on and none of it would have happened...let alone would the characters go on to live a fantasy life. They'd be back into poverty, attempting to find another middle America pencil pushing job, and continuing to suffer. So as a person who lives in America...it just felt like propaganda, which made the fun moments only more sinister. So people that sit here and binge it, and love it...sure it's a funny show...but the problem is they can't actually really distinguish the message from the basic feel good tropes that define the show and its comedy...and I feel it's only going to be FRIENDS 2.0 where it glorifies bad decisions but it's ok because it was just "for fun"...so in the end, I just find the show dumb and basic. I want to like it more because the comedy writing is genuinely good but nobody had a single ounce of balls on the writing team or the show got nudered by corporate. The entire point of the show SHOULD have been that family and caring about our fellow humans is important...but corporate culture gets in the way of that...but they didn't...if anything they simply excelled despite corporate by accident and were allowed to exist in a fantasy to make the audience feel good, being friends with your coworkers doesn't make you more productive, it won't increase sales, and corporate will punish you and do not care about you...and more profit for less pay is ALL that corporate wants from you...when in reality you'd be seeing characters cut from the show, Micheal would get replaced by some dude with better connections and let go, and the whole team would have been micromanaged by the company to the point of quitting. Instead they are superstars who sacrifice nothing to get there and in so doing it makes it seem like our current labor situations is totally valid you just need to be nicer, and that's fuckin moronic.

[@undetestable1]

Convenient that they excluded Stanley from thier analysis since he genuinely does hate his job and the only time we really see him happy is pretzel day and when he is on vacation. The theory doesn't hold up as well if you include him.

[@salvadorHombre]

Stanley is also arguably the least important character in the show with the most time spent with Michael/Jim/Pam/Dwight.

[@ColossalM]

lol and how much screen time did Stanley get vs Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, or literally any other character. If I had to guess, he probably has the least amount of lines of any named character throughout the series except for like, Hide the warehouse guy

[@undetestable1]

@@salvadorHombre He was just as important as the other side characters like Meredith, Philis, Creed, ect. Its an ensemble show. Of course there are the main characters but its the entire cast that makes the show work. It matters that there was someone in the office who didn't enjoy the antics or befriend his co-workers; he just wanted to get his work done and get out of there.

[@salvadorHombre]

@@undetestable1 I don't know what point you're trying to make here? Every character but Stanley had a tonne of fun at the office. And Stanley had like 1% of the runtime dedicated to him. So there's no "convenience" in this video. The US version of the Office is significantly more upbeat than the UK version. There's no 2 ways about it.

[@ashesmandalay1762]

If his character's point is that he's the only one who hates his job then it just reinforces the idea that he's the weird one for not enjoying work when everyone else does.

[@clkerouac]

Been waiting for this one from one of the hundred video essay channels for ages and knew exactly what you would get into when I saw the title…

[@enk621]

Maybe British people are more cynical then Americans. They tried to make season one of the American office exactly like its British counter part, and it failed miserably, so they wisely changed it.

[@iansteelmatheson]

maybe? it's definitely clear that Ricky Gervais is more cynical than the people who made the US one.

[@FerGalicia]

Well, Dunder Mifflin became the dream cartoon world as the good writers where leaving and everyone went Flanders to the max.

[@hurryingman9071]

The office US is a funny sitcom, and The Office UK is a great mockumentary. As someone who's lived in both the US and the UK, I think the US is a funnier show but the UK is a piece of art.

[@EWH815]

Is the British actor who plays Dwight the Wooden eyed pirate guy from Pirates of the Caribbean? If so his acting really improved.

[@DanielChannel89]

The U.S. office is extremely relationship based. Michael's observation that it's more like a high school is pretty astute. In school, you are forced to go somewhere you may not want to go to do things you probably don't want to do at least half of the time, just like most jobs. However, school is also seen as a place of growth. Not only in the obvious terms of learning, but also in terms of finding friends and maybe even love. This is how most people view school. I don't think that's how most people view work though. Some people do, and I woud actually contend that those people probably have a better time. They may or may not ever like what they do, but I can tell you from personal experience that even a job you don't like is notably more bareable with people you do like. Or at least get along with. If you go to work, do your job, ad keep to yourself, you don't create any connections to anything and so yes, you feel alienated. This is also true in high school. I remember the kids in high school that didn't like school at all were also the ones who weren't involved in much of anything. The kids who were a part of a team, organization, or club had reason to want to be there. Not just because the thing they got to do was interesting, but also because of the relationships they built. Now, it's true that you don't get to choose who you work with. You may not like all of the people you work with. But the American Office doesn't act like that isn't the case. At the beginning of the series, many of them do not like each other at all. But they build relationships because they don't isolate themselves. In fact, Michael is one of the main uniting forces. As ignorant and lacking in empathy as he can be at times, he continues to force them together and serves as a uniting force, even if only by being the cause of mutual annoyance. The characters, for their part, als have an openness to growth that we often don't see in life. If they didn't, being forced together might not achieve much. My point is, I don't feel like it's quite fair to say the U.K. Office is the real world and the U.S. office is fantasy. Generally, that's not untrue. But I think we probably have more control over our job experience than most people think. We can choose whether we want to engage or not. We can choose whether we want to be open to growth. If we do, who knows what might happen? Will it all end in a fairytale? No. But are we all doomed to hate our jobs to the point of depression? I don't think so. I certainly know folks who don't.

[@jacobdriscoll8276]

I wonder what a version of the UK office that changed settings to a more service-industry-style job would be like? Might it recapture that feeling of work destroying you?

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Service industry jobs don't have the level of downtime required. The reason office jobs work for the premise is because there's too much labor and not enough work to be done. That's how every office is, by design. It's the point. It's the reward that the middle class are given in exchange for assisting the upper class in subjugating the lower class, literally easier and less work to be done, usually accompanied with higher pay as well.

[@__-cd9ug]

That was interesting, although you didn't talk much about the nature of humor in both versions of the show: there is a rather clear distinction between US and UK comedies when in comes to the exact role humor plays. American sitcoms (Seinfeld, How I Met, Community, Brooklyn 99 - to list a couple) have 'winners' as protagonists, whereas British sitcoms (Peep Show, Mr Bean, The Thick of It, The IT Crowd) depict 'losers'. So essentially, in traditional american sitcoms, protagonists deliver one-liners and 'make' jokes. The audience is invited to laugh at the absurdity of what surrounds them but in the end these characters get some form of closure. British shows on the other hand enjoy pathetic storylines where the main character continually chases his/her goal without ever getting there. They don't make jokes, they 'are' the joke. The audience is invited to laugh at their unending failure. That approach is what defines most popular comedies from the US and UK ("laugh with someone / laugh at someone"). The Office is a perfect example of that. There are no 'winners' in the UK version, while the 'losers' in the US version always end up finding some form of closure (Creed is homeless, he doesn't have a bed, but he still has his medal from the Office Olympics organised by Pam earlier - Dwight is constantly being pranked and ridiculed, but he's pretty rich and ends up marrying someone he loves - Kevin is fired from his job but finds happiness as a bar owner, and so on). Culturally, the US is the land of opportunity, where you don't see the negative side of anything because you must power through and achieve your goal. The UK, on the other hand, has a much older culture and I suppose its population has learned to take things not too seriously (Monty Python anyone?). Now obviously these things get more and more blurry as we keep mixing cultures and experimenting. Many US shows today depict losers in the 'British' way and the opposite is also true; plus, that kind of observation is not true for a hundred percent of tv shows and movies but I think it's still valuable. Look up what Stephen Fry said about that, it's on KZbin. He used a scene from The Breakfast Club to illustrate this observation.

[@__-cd9ug]

When you really boil down Seinfeld and Mr Bean, they're basically two shows where a guy lives in an absurd world. But the difference is that Jerry Seinfeld is a guy who makes fun of this backwards world while Mr Bean is a victim of it. In Seinfeld you laugh with the guy who notices how nonsensical his world is and tells you about it; in Mr Bean you laugh at the loser who can barely survive in this world and is completely oblivious to most things. (if you argue that Mr Bean is more of a cartoon than it is a sitcom, which is not entirely unreasonable given how cartoonish everything about the show is, just compare Pink Panther (US) to Mr Bean and you'll see the same distinction: a funny character who ends up on top vs a victim)

[@juanmanuelespinoza20]

gosh, thank you! I tried to watch some episodes of The office, but could not bear the feeling that they were really hard trying to convince me that working life was great, that fullfilment was to be found in the office with my coworkers and that boss is some kind of goofy father figure whom I must respect because he/she loves me and truly cares for me

[@NekoiNemo]

I actually saw multiple people point that out about UK vs US media in general. UK ones are more biting, more mean, far more eager to show you the truth about the world and especially people, while US ones are... gentrified. They are too chickenshit to actually show anything bad - everything needs to be infantilized adult-friendly to not, god forbid, give the viewers some material to reflect on and have an independent thought.

[@mikemorro140]

I don't know about that hell if anything I've seen plenty of arguments about how TV has become too cynical and mean

[@lainiwakura1776]

The first season of the US version was like the first season of the UK version. Ratings were bad so things were changed.

[@NekoiNemo]

@@mikemorro140 There have been quite a few shows in the last 3-4 years that tried to go for the edgy "mean" angle for the shock value and to show how "mature" they are. That's a bit different

[@mikemorro140]

@@NekoiNemo eh not really as for one it's not something recent as stuff like It's Always Sunny has been on over a decade as well as stuff like South Park

[@NekoiNemo]

@@mikemorro140 South Park is completely different as it's entire point is satire and grossout humour. Always Sunny is the "baby mode mean", just like the US Office.

[@minervaloves]

I always thought that Pam and Jim, especially Jim were bullies toward Dwight.

[@lezimo5407]

No i think they just made jokes because dwight was annoying

[@David-rq9en]

it's a combination of things. Jim had too much time on his hands, because he knew he could get to his numbers easily. since he is forced to be there for a certain amount of time, he used it to flirt with Pam and pull pranks on Dwight. these pranks stem because Dwight took his job so seriously that he was condescending towards Jim, Pam and the rest of the office. ever notice how nobody in the office told Jim to back off Dwight? everyone was annoyed by him, including Michael. i'm not saying Jim was right to do it. i just get why he started doing it in the first place.

[@supermax64]

Jim and Dwight both do equally bad stuff but Jim is much more aware of what he's doing. In my opinion he comes off as a bad person overall which kinda clashes with the writers' intent for you to see him as perhaps the main protagonist.

[@aMoodyHipster]

@@lezimo5407 In the second season, Jim realizes how unfunny his "pranks" are when Michael reads off all of Dwight's complaints. Even after this, he still continues to make jokes at Dwight's expense and then wonders why Dwight is so standoffish toward him. The part that irked me the most is when Jim's "prank" for the episode is just him chucking a snowball directly at Dwight's face and then getting incredibly defensive after Dwight tries to retaliate.

[@greenman394]

@@David-rq9en Jim is an attention seeker. The meatball prank proves that.

[@cvelly7448]

You are the best channel on KZbin hands down. You break things down to the point a simpleton can understand (I’m a simpleton)

[@toribarron534]

Seeing wisecrack talk about revolution Marx and fantasy of the office makes me all giddy inside 👏🏼👏🏼

[@FlyxPat]

“… the show’s Jim-equivalent, Tim …” 🤣🤣🤣

[@Dan-ud8hz]

"You're not real, man!" ouch

[@Sketch89]

The Office(US) works bc not many people wants to go to work(which more often than not is dull and drab) and come home and watch the same type of show of their reality. We are well aware that no job functions like this, but it’s fun to watch something that’s premise is based on somethin boring and watch nonsensical things happen at the same time. It’s also why Parks and Rec worked.

[@WhatsYourGhostStory]

Love seeing that there's still new Office video essays coming out. Yeah, still can't get enough of this show. To answer the question at the end - yeah, I totally wanted to work in a real life Dunder Mifflin. My office experience wasn't nearly as fulfilling.

[@jordanloux3883]

Can you do a video about how conspiracy theories get into pop culture. Like how Ghostbusters was based on Dan Ackroyd's beliefs in the supernatural, and even how Kong: Skull Island kinda normalized hollow earth theory.

[@TheDSasterX]

I knew neither of these things, but I think this sounds like something some hollow earthers could use

[@David-rq9en]

wait, hollow earth theory is an actual thing? lol wow!

[@jordanloux3883]

@@David-rq9en Yep, that's where people think the lizard men live and the nazis created their secret base after they lost the war.

[@nolan6183]

Gotta love that they had to put subtitles to some of David Brent's mumbley dialogue

[@kjtaseen]

like over and over we learn that people get through hard situations by relying on community and their sense of self and meaning but that the workplace now particularly sucks cause not only is ur labor going towards something ure alienated from, they also make policies to further alienate you. but all my friends wanna prove their self made and independent so idk where to go.

[@soumonism]

UK: Laugh about reality to cope. US: Escape reality.

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

I believe they're both escapes. The American seeks to fill the void in their pathetic life through TV, while the Briton seeks to make their pathetic life seem better in comparison by looking at how bad other people's lives are.

[@andythedishwasher1117]

My whole thing about The Office was how it only depicted a narrow subset of American work experiences while subtly implying that it was attempting to generalize ALL American work experiences. I think it generated an inaccurate image for young people about what work environments are supposed to be like by neglecting to depict the real ways the problems in the show are addressed by companies, some of which are just as hilarious but far more uncomfortable for the business owners creating these experiences for others. Naturally, some of those business owners would include television executives, so I don't judge the writers for not being able to take that direction without getting canceled. I just think it's an important bit of subtext to keep in mind during analysis and criticism of the show.

[@sociolocomtsac]

Dwight made the show for me lol Such a great character.

[@Padtedesco]

US and UK Office difference seems more like the one between an empire who falls and a empire who fell

[@moukidelmar]

Oooh I don't know how the algorithm works says the guy with the 61k views on this video alone. I'd say you're doing great my dude.

[@KingBean904]

When I was working my job was like the Office (US Show) it was fun and dysfunctional like the characters but we are friends till this day including our boss.

[@lukemccann8930]

The KZbin algorithm works by feeding on the desperate hopes and dreams of creators, admittedly not the most helpful explanation but algorithm fed nonetheless

[@cobrakingofeart]

@15:56 "their world is so much nicer than our own" from a real scrantonian to a guy living in a liberal metropolis: you're just living in the wrong place and doing the wrong job to fulfill yourself

[@frigginjerk]

Both versions could be seen as having an element of relatability to them. In the American version, we watch a show where work is fun because we want to believe that it's possible for us to experience that, too. In Britain, they watch a show where everyone is an asshole, so they can confirm that they aren't the only people who feel that way about their lives. It's just a question of which you'd rather have confirmed-- escapist fantasies, or depressing realities?

[@jordanjamalgardner7672]

I wish you guys would release mini short videos. I think little segments with minor philosophies would be kickin

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

The YT Algorithm works in a very similar way to how the US Federal Reserve manages the Economy.......in South Park.

[@Leonyithas]

Trailer Park Boys is the science fiction to the Offices Fantasy.

[@fernandosanchezm]

This is how YT algorithm works: It benefits you if you make money for YT

[@gh0s1wav]

Lol, I don't know why I never thought about it that way.

[@MakiPcr]

Holy crap Is that Martin Freeman?

[@escapemenot5860]

Seriously nothing can make me uncomfortable like the UK office

[@DigiMatt52]

I thought the fantasy would be that you CAN get the engaged co-worker that you fell in love with. But hey, I, too, would tolerate a job I didn't love if I was paid enough to not stress about paying rent month after month. If everyone was in economic stress at even a hint of it closing the branch, US Office would be much more terrible.

[@notwithoutmytv3600]

"How the US office is different " is a different topic than "Is the office a fantasy "

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

American TV shows : Take sardonic criticism of modern life in UK and turn it into a feel good propaganda

[@Flailkerrin]

Are hope and escapism such bad things? There's a reason one was a niche success, and the other one of the most popular comedy series of all time. It's all well and good being realistic about how soul crushing most of our work lives can be, but sometimes we want to spend our free time clinging to the hope life could get better, or watching characters living that life to avoid thinking about our own.

[@digitalbrentable]

Be friends with your boss and all your dreams will come true 🌈

[@hebrewmarcelin5879]

10:07 lol I'm happy to oblige😂😂

[@somedipshtinthecomments2507]

I think real life is probably a synthesis of the two. Most people's work isn't as communal and fun as the US office obviously, but not everyone's work is likewise as crushingly alienating and excruciating as the UK office. The problem is it's really just a matter of luck (and yeah, economics) where it is you actually end up.

[@dfhdf4214]

At least here in the us, I think people loved the show so much it shaped the ending to reflect america's infatuation with the show.

[@Maxx__________]

There's a strong correlation between how the youtube algorithm decides which videos get the score distribution to determine which videos to feature and classical chicken bone reading popularized by voodoo priests. Why do you think those videos are so popular?

[@Mephiestopholes]

Yous guys keep it it fresh. Thank you

[@allisoncastle]

God I know this so wasn’t the point of the video but every time Dwight calls Pam his best friend it makes me wanna cry 😭😭😭💗💗💗

[@emirinobambino]

One of the biggest differences of opinion we have is that I find the US Office depressing too. The UK Office and the US Office, are for me, equally miserable places to work, but the mentality of the characters are different. I like the US Office better because it's characters acknowledge that while the office is an awful place to be, it doesn't mean you can't try to improve it. I think that is the fundamental difference between David Brent and Michael Scott; Brent tries to make things better for himself, but Michael tries to make things better for everyone. I find Michael to be a more relatable character because he is in constant conflict with trying to balance his own emotions, personal needs, and social needs with others, while making an effort to understand (oftentimes incorrectly) their needs. Brent doesn't care if he offends and so doesn't grow as a person; Michael is ignorant that he offends and is conflicted by why he needs to grow. I think your observation of the US Office having similarities to a highschool drama comes from the fact that many of the characters in the US Office (esp. Michael) are trying to determine how to best enjoy their life despite suffering--or in the case of the show, being bound to the office.

[@justaname2422]

Based wisecrack. Solidarity, a better world is possible

[@caseyr6933]

I would love to work at a place like Dundermifflen. You can't really be fired for anything you do and everyone there seems to make a fairly decent wage.

[@jamesllewellynevans9733]

No boxer shorts with wisecrack on the back? That’s money just sitting on the table

[@dande3139]

The KZbin algorithm run by a blackbox AI. AI aren't programmed like other software applications. Rather the programers build a test environment (with lots of data), and, effectively, code that can rewrite itself. It's a lot like genetics and evolution. Lots of random "mutations" happen in the code. When the AI's "fitness" is increased by those "mutations" (as determined by the test), those "mutations" persist. When its "fitness" is decreased, those "mutations" are discarded. And just like genetics, you wind up with a TON of messy, near indecipherable code that is very well adapted to its function (making Google lots of money).

[@beej741]

The ending of the office when they do the retrospective and everyone ends up getting what they want/deserve was especially cringey on my last playback. US office is really childish

[@Sataka23clips]

jimorthy

[@lilchopstixz2161]

It’s true most offices, everyone’s a Angela theirs no Jim’s or pams or Kevin’s anywhere

[@aquilux-vids]

I feel like the major difference in audience that the US Office had to adapt to is that in the UK work sucks but it's not quite as bad as in the US. In the UK, these individual elements suck but comedic relief can be found in an "at least it's not that bad" depiction that probably relies on schadenfreude. This is supposed to be an exaggerated depiction, but even in this video you can spot the difference as this exaggeration is labeled realistic. In the US we can't imagine something worse than what we have, or at least if we can we're low key terrified it can get that bad because everything has proven it will if it can. In contending with this, the US Office had to instead go for escapism, calling back to high school in it's antics as that's the last place most remember being that safe and free, to paint a wistful picture of what could never be.

[@ianjohn2648]

10:12 The secret is it doesn't. They have small drunken dwarfs stacked high underground watching what you are watching and offering up choices to viewers individually. The original three were named are Al, Gord, and Rhythm and people started running it all into one. Anyone in the know will tell you algorithms are just people talking about the department that guesses at random.

[@tooketsuenshi8121]

No idea how the this KZbin thing works, but I heard this helps.

[@Vivi_9]

Pam going to art school is based on Dawn (UK version of Pam) being an aspiring artist who does nothing with her dreams, rather than Tim's flirtation with higher education.

[@ianjohn2648]

You guys should do Ted Lasso: How Commerce Became Art and compare it to other attempts to make movies/shows out of commercials that failed

[@Sef-Lo]

“Or are we lying about the possibility of having a Meaningful work life” that is some pessimistic thinking lol

[@carlrood4457]

One of the obvious differences are Tim's "pranks" vs. Jim's. The stapler in the Jello is as creative as Tim ever got. Mostly, it was trying to get Gareth to say things that made him sound homosexual. Jim planned major cons on Dwight that clearly took lots of time. This is indicative of their differences. While Jim dislikes being a paper salesman, he does have ambition and a desire to succeed. Tim never really pushes himself. Of course the main reason for most of this is the difference in episode count. The US version has more that 10 times as many episodes, so character development had to occur and storylines had to proceed or else it would have become boring.

[@guyedmondson198]

My opinion about which Office is better is actually correct though

[@ogfunk187]

I prefer a flan.

[@dnxls_]

Fact check: Brent isn’t that bad a musician It’s a small thing, but Brent deserves credit

[@abhinavanand_661]

Entering the workforce next month 😂

[@JozzFilms]

Glorious purpoffice

[@pongop]

Both versions are good but the US version is far superior. The Indian/Hindu version of The Office is amazing, too! It's an adaptation of the American one. It's interesting to see which characters and jokes they kept the same or similar how they adapted the others for an Indian audience. Awesome video! I can't believe there's a channel that discusses some of my favorite shows and movies through a radical/revolutionary lens! (A)