The Office

This scene of The Office is definitely one of the funniest! I agree that it is a great example of incongruity theory especially in the character of Dwight. While the audience knows it is a terrible idea to trick your coworkers into believing their lives are in danger, Dwight approaches the matter as if it is a simple drill or training exercise. We expect any rational characters to follow usual building building procedures or call the fire department, but instead they crawl into the ceiling and steal from the vending machine. When the fire alarm is finally pulled, is is by Dwight right before he reveals it is all fake. Because these actions are incongruent and unexpected, we as the audience can laugh at the absurdity.
I also agree with the use of superiority, which The Office uses frequently with the character of Michael Scott. While the characters are trying more and more unsuccessful ways to get out of the building, we the audience can laugh at their frantic blunders. For example, Michael Scott calls out of a broken window for help, instead of using one of the many phones that that are on everyone's desk. Additionally, "The fire is shooting at us!" is absolutely hilarious and another good example of superiority because even the other characters weren't panicked enough to believe that.


Relief theory can be seen at the end of the clip when Stanley has a heart attack. This is already a stressful situation for the characters, but now the audience is concerned too (because we knew before that the fire was not real). Relief is used when Michael Scott attempts to give him mouth-to-mouth,  tells him Barack Obama is his reason to live, and has to be pulled off of him by the other characters which are all odd and counter-productive. You can even see Kevin in the back with all his stolen snacks! These jokes take the weight off Stanley's situation and give the audience relief.

Comments

  1. I wonder if the scene would be as effective without the heart attack. It seems that is the thing in the end that ties it all together.

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  2. I think the absurdity of this scene brings to light how a lot of the characters do not act as many people. A lot of this scene is ridiculous, but in a panic people do act crazier than normal. This scene makes me question, where The Office draws the line between having realistic characters and having characters who are just incredulous.

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