In the Season 6 episode “Murder”, the South comes to Scranton in the form of a mystery game entitled “Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets: A Murder Mystery Game” (much like Clue with acted out roles) in which the entire office escapes the reality of corporate bankruptcy. Everyone in the company must take on a character role from the town of Savannah, Georgia. Cue the exaggerated, Southern accents. The greatest of all accents comes from Michael Scott who uses the expression, “I do declare,” before every sentence. The slowest and most ignorant of all the employees, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), is seen practicing his Southern accent by slowly and painfully oozing the word “Y’all” out of his mouth. Even shy characters become more sexually open when they make the switch to their Southern themed character, which would not be as big of an atrocity if the majority of the characters were not related. Angela (Angela Kinsey) blames her corrupt and misguided behavior on being exposed to Harry Potter. Not everyone chooses to participate in the game, however, like accountant, Oscar (Oscar Nunez), who busts into the conference room, where the game is being played, with urgent news from corporate. Michael is quick to stop “the outsider” by screaming, “What is that strange Yankee accent coming out of your mouth, son? This, here, is Savannah.” What follows this outburst is a reaction that is quite shocking: Oscar, who is Hispanic, proceeds to play the part of a slave as he attempts to relay the news to his master. Michael stays in character throughout the remainder of the workday despite his employees best wishes to get back to work. In his final talking head, Michael admits, “There has been a lot of murder and a lot of intrigue and my lil’ heart can barely take it no more. This has been the hardest I have worked in a very long time.”
Several Southern characteristics are being satirized in this episode but some cannot go unchecked. My personal favorite was the attack on Southerners for our revered judgment of Harry Potter. Maybe it is the deeply religious background and strong traditional ties we have here, but I will never understand the conviction of it being “witchcraft.” Some Southern parents will never allow their children to watch or even read Harry Potter based on this wild assumption. The slave and master reference also cannot be avoided. Not a believable characteristic of the present day, can this slash to our past really disturb us at all? Similarly, the majority of the satire on the South comes in innocent fashion: laughing at our accents and values, desires of incest, and radically simple lives (thank God this aired before Here Comes Honey Boo Boo came out). It even points out our stereotyped belief that we country folk are harder workers than Northerners. Beyond all of this, there is a much harsher stereotype being satirized – the South is good at putting up a front or mask. We avoid controversial issues and “sticky” situations in the same way Dunder Mifflin played a simple mystery game at work to avoid the scary thought of losing their jobs. Perhaps the reason we look so much different from the rest of the world is because we are afraid of facing impending change. We are, often, afraid of reality itself. Even today, our country looks to be changing more than ever, so, in turn, the South signs petitions to secede from the Union. Let’s face it, sometimes, we deserve to be mocked and ridiculed especially at the hands of Michael Scott and Dunder Mifflin. - Brandon Landis
I absolutely love The Office, but of all the times I've seen this episode, I never really put much thought into it. It is really interesting though to see how Northerners participate in a Southern version of the game Clue. I find it kind of funny that Michael uses the South as a distraction for himself and his workers. Even though people would rather get back to work, Michael won't let them and this makes me wonder if the show was trying to say something about the work ethic of the South. I know it's sort of a long stretch, but that may have been something they were going for. I'm sure we all know people in the South who have a great work ethic, but we also know others who are hopelessly lazy. This isn't solely a Southern characteristic, though. There are people across the nation that are lazy, so I'm not sure why this quality is attributed to the South more often. Michael's Southern accent is so exaggerated that it's pretty comical. I don't know if that's how everyone outside of the South thinks we all talk, but there aren't any people I know that talk like that. Maybe in the Louisiana bayou, but probably not in Savannah, Georgia. Either way, it's an entertaining, Southern element filled episode.
ReplyDeleteI've got to admit, I really disliked the Office when I was younger, but now I can comfortably sit through one or two episodes. I love this analysis. It shows how great the stereotype of the south is as well by entering into the "corporate" world. It emphasizes that a southerner cannot be taken seriously strictly because of their background. To ride off Shelby, I think that the "lazy" stereotype is associated with the south because of their grammar-- if people cannot bother to say "hey you all" and enunciate their symbols, doesn't it imply that maybe they are a little lazy about learning the basics of the English language?
ReplyDeleteAs much as I'd like to cast aside your first topic, the Harry Potter subject, as a ridiculous modern day claim that adheres to a small minority... I can't. Simply because I have members in my own family that fell victim to this. I won't go much further on that, though, since discussions on it tend to get slightly religious and uncomfortable for those involved. I thought it was interesting that you touched on the secession topic too. Though it is not the majority by any means either, it's another aspect of our culture that I find shocking, and even terrifying to another extent. I think it's kind of humorous how a lighthearted comedy can provide subtle commentary on some of the South's darkest traits.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Brandon, there are times where the South and some of its peculiarities should be mocked. While my mother did not ban the reading of Harry Potter, in fact she encouraged it, I knew several families who did, and my school looked down on its students reading the book when they first came out. It's ridiculous to think about now, but back then Harry Potter was a little more touchy with religious groups. I also agree with Brandon that the South doesn't like change and confrontation. People are raised to be polite and have good manners, and that means not offending people, even though sometimes issues have to be addressed. I don't think the South will ever give up its pride, and its past even if people have to glamorize parts of it and ignore others. The Office's portrayal of the South while not entirely accurate does contain truth, sometimes comedy can be used to bring attention to negative things without offending people. Parodies like this one can make people think about how other's perceive them and can sometimes bring about change.
ReplyDeleteI've thoroughly enjoyed both of Brandon's analysis on this blog. I recall watching this specific episode of the Office on Netflix as soon as Ssn 6 was available. At the time, I was not a "southern film" master as I now am. Although I am posting at 2am on Dead Day, I had actually gone back through and watched this episode two months into the semester and drew some similar conclusions. I laughed throughout the entire episode, as I am a major fan of the series. However, I also realized that the satire could be a commonly misconceived representation of the South in other areas of the country. After all, many times I find myself agreeing with the foundation for all of Michael's over-dramatizations, even if I do not agree with the dramatization itself.
ReplyDelete