The Office, shown on NBC, has been a hit since it debuted in 2005. Its popularity and influence on popular culture hold strong to this day, almost five years after the air date of the final episode. This show is known for its more crude humor, going from race to gender to just about anything Michael Scott can make dirty. What people do not often register is the serious political statement they made, buried underneath the comedy, with season two episode seventeen, "Dwight's Speech" written by Paul Lieberstein.
For those who are not fellow addicts and have every episode of The Office memorized, in "Dwight's Speech" it tells the tale of Dwight winning the Salesman of the Year award and his anxiousness about giving a speech at the sales convention that comes with it. They document his struggles in preparing for this speech, as Michael tries to help but really just makes things worse. In the end it is Jim's advice he ends up taking. He convinces Dwight he majored in public speaking in college and gives him some advice as well as writing up some talking points for him. As we know with Jim helping Dwight there is always a catch. This time it is that he pieced together the speech from a collaboration of talking points given in a speech by the famous dictator Benito Mussolini and the advice was to pound his fists and wave his arms a lot.
This results in Dwight waving his arms, pounding his fists, and literally quoting Mussolini during his speech for the convention. He actually says the line "blood alone moves the wheels of history." What is even more scary than Dwight giving the speech, is the reaction of the crowd. The crowd became aroused. They did not look at him like he was crazy, or recognize even the content of the speech. At points Dwight is actually laughing maniacally, yet none of this phases the crowd. There was applause, cheering, and nods of agreement. They are hanging onto his every word, even participating and repeating back to him "it is together that we prevail" when asked.
Everyone likes to think that if they were faced with the words of our worlds infamous dictators, they would be different. They would be able to see through the tactics of those horrible men. They would not fall into their trap like their ancestors in previous generations. This episode of The Office shows just how easy it actually is. It sounds positive and passionate, offering a solution to a popular problem. It starts on a small scale, just crowds of a few hundred, then maybe a few thousand, and continually growing as more and more are drawn in by these words.
Dwight's speech symbolizes this affect. In the beginning people were just there listening and by the end they are enthusiastic, cheering, and voicing their agreement. If Dwight was actually serious about these ideas, and not just reading what Jim pranked him into saying, he would be showing the very way many dictators got their start: gaining the approval of small crowds, with seemingly positive messages, hiding their true intentions and messages. It's crazy what we can see embedded in popular culture artifacts today when we look past the surface level comedy and at the deeper meaning, even with shows famous for their use of "that's what she said jokes."
Dwight's speech symbolizes this affect. In the beginning people were just there listening and by the end they are enthusiastic, cheering, and voicing their agreement. If Dwight was actually serious about these ideas, and not just reading what Jim pranked him into saying, he would be showing the very way many dictators got their start: gaining the approval of small crowds, with seemingly positive messages, hiding their true intentions and messages. It's crazy what we can see embedded in popular culture artifacts today when we look past the surface level comedy and at the deeper meaning, even with shows famous for their use of "that's what she said jokes."
Works Cited
“The Office.” NBC, www.nbc.com/the-office.
“‘The Office’ Dwight's Speech (TV Episode 2006).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0770626/.
ustheoffice. YouTube, YouTube, 31 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYyZqlyDEL4.“The Office.” NBC, www.nbc.com/the-office.
https://i.redd.it/tthnt7rs45xz.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e-lnrBcr_9U/maxresdefault.jpg“‘The Office’ Dwight's Speech (TV Episode 2006).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0770626/.
ustheoffice. YouTube, YouTube, 31 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYyZqlyDEL4.
“The Office.” NBC, www.nbc.com/the-office.
“‘The Office’ Dwight's Speech (TV Episode 2006).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0770626/.
ustheoffice. YouTube, YouTube, 31 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYyZqlyDEL4.
“The Office.” NBC, www.nbc.com/the-office.
“‘The Office’ Dwight's Speech (TV Episode 2006).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0770626/.
ustheoffice. YouTube, YouTube, 31 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYyZqlyDEL4.
Very insightful. This episode can also be used to illustrate how Hitler and his National Socialist Party rose to prominence. With just a small following in the beginning and control over a company or a country in an end, why does no one stop them? Surely it can't be pure obedience to authority, rebellious ones are all around us but in the speech and 1930's Germany, hardly any resistance was offered. Great work again.
ReplyDeleteI think this insight into the episode "Dwight's Speech" is particularly relevant today, considering a current elected official was elected to office using strategies very similar to these used by Dwight and following the snowballing pattern of gaining supporters you described towards the end of your post.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this blog. I am very familiar with the episode and have thought about this before. It is very easy for the average human to think they would not be able to fall under a dictator's speech but this episode shows how easy it really is. I enjoyed reading your work and thought the picture with Dwight and Mussolini was great.
ReplyDeleteI've mindlessly watched the office many times and have never really put too much thought in the episode. This was very interesting to think about.
ReplyDelete