The Dunder Mifflin Appeal

Since starting college, i have become obsessed with the NBC show "The Office." "The Office" fictionally documents the everyday happenings of the Scranton, PN branch of the paper company Dunder Mifflin. I'm have never been the type of person to gather in front of the t.v. at the same time each week to watch a certain television series. However, this has changed in the past few weeks, as i find myself on the couch every Thursday at 7:20, ten minutes before "The Office" goes on the air. I had heard from a few people that the show was funny, but i finally got into it when a buddy down the hall got the second season on dvd. I watched a few episodes with some friends and was instantly hooked. In about two weeks i watched all of season one and two and am now caught up to the current season.
I found myself wondering what makes the show so appealing to me and millions of other people. I think "The Office" is so popular because it plays to numerous stereotypes that certainly occur in ordinary offices around the country. Almost everyone can relate to one of the characters on the show. For the guys, there's the laid-back prankster Jim, the all-knowing, egotistical Dwight, and the ignorant, self-centered boss Michael Scott. There's also a smart, quiet, but funny temp, named Ryan, and a lazy big man Kevin. For the ladies, there's the cute, innocent Pam, the tightly wound Angela, and the over-talkative, sweet but annoying, Kelly.
Another reason for the shows high ratings is it's ability to relate to everyday situations and problems that arise in the workplace. For instance, there is an episode that deals with restructuring health care plans for office employees. There's a take your child to work day episode and a Christmas episode that includes an office secret santa. There are numerous little disagreements and confrontations between the employees that are very believable. Although there is a certain level of exaggeration in the characters and the scenes that is necessary for mass appeal, the show has a lot of truth to it that so many can laugh about. If you haven't seen "The Office," try it out this Thursday at 7:30 on NBC.

I think the "Numbing of the American Mind" (NAM) is a brilliant work that touches on some serious issues. Today's world is a world filled with a number of complex problems. Just turn on the ten o'clock news and you'll get the daily wrap on the most negative events of the day. We are always discussing problems, whether it be the war, the economy, global warming, or politics. Perhaps the main problem that faces most of us today as NAM suggests is just the full out waterfall of information and technology our brains are experiencing. I say most of us because i feel the Machugingu tribe in South America has there own separate bag of issues. Whose to blame for this? I believe it is today's media.
In the world today we are being so bombarded with ideas and events that no one person could possibly comprehend it all. Today's media has gotten so incredibly negative and invasive. Watch the first ten minutes of the nightly news or the CNN bottom line and you will no longer wonder why depression is a steadily rising medical condition in America. I thought there was a sad truth in the reference to 9/11 in NAM. There was such a media overflow of pictures, tragic stories, and awful statistics after 9/11, the only thing we could possibly do was burry our emotions and move on with our lives. If we stopped to ponder every tragic situation in today's world we would drown in our own pool of tears.
Another problem with the media that NAM didn't touch on is how disgustingly invasive the media has gotten. I could care less if Britney Spears has cellulite, she's still hot! I don't care where Lindsay Lohan was at 2:30 last night or how so and so in politics had a beer when he was underage in college. I know it's all money driven, but I still think members of the paparazzi are some of the lowest individuals in America today. I just hope we see a general trend towards a more positive and private media in the future.