Comment to Lead Blog (Sonali)


While I have never seen The Office before I totally know what Sonali is talking about when she mentions how popular the show is. I have heard many people make references to certain scenes or episodes, much like people do with vines. Furthermore, I know enough about the show to know that the inappropriate humor plays a key role in the plot of each episode. Another key component of each episode is the absurdity behind the comments that the characters in the show say. Based on these two key concepts behind the show, I agree with Sonali that incongruity theory is the most accurate theory to use to describe the humor of The Office.  The example that Sonali used to illustrate the incongruity theory was a perfect representation of the typical joke that is used in The Office. I think she did a good job of explaining how people find jokes, like the ones that Dwight makes, very funny. She described that while most the jokes that are made on the show are insensitive and inappropriate we are inclined to find them funnier and laugh harder because we know we should not. I fully agree with Sonali that the levels of absurdity in what the characters say is what draws people in. People want to keep watching the show because they like that they never know what could be said next or what inappropriate joke will be made by a character. Another aspect of the show that keeps people entertained is how the characters in the show interact and treat each other. Many of the characters will try to make fun of each other’s sorrows or unfortunate events. Sonali used a perfect example of this in her blog post. She mentioned the scene where Dwight downplays Meredith’s medical situation and compares her health to the value of a fan.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 20, 2018 at 10:21 AM

    I definitely agree with you when you say we sometimes laugh a lot harder at things we shouldn't laugh at. An example of this would be when Kevin drops an entire pot of chili and then proceeds to try and scoop the chili back into the pot, since we know he's going to try and salvage that chili and feed it to others. Another example would be when Michael pours packing peanuts everywhere in the warehouse to act like its snowing, but the viewer knows that Daryl the warehouse manager is going to have to pick every single peanut up.

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  2. Shane HerronSeptember 20, 2018 at 6:15 PM

    I just saw a post the other day that it was the 9th anniversary of the chili dropping. I guess the 19th is that day? How does the way the characters laugh at each other differ from the way we find entertainment in them?

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