# Michael Scott in the real world **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 21, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002 "2021-07-21T19:47:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/1 "2021-07-21T19:47:16Z")
I would have always believed it impossible for a Michael Scott to really exist… then, about a year into his tenure, I realized that that is exactly who Trump reminded me of. Mentionedcuz I am binging superfan episodes on Peacock. (Someone needs to make sure Billie Eilish knows about the superfan eps… eps including allthe stuff cut originally, frequently a lot of material…) ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/2 "2021-07-21T20:02:20Z")
I would disagree on the assessment personally. Michael Scott was very socially awkward and was in a job that he was just not qualified for, but he showed time and again that he really and truly cared for his underlings and that he was a decent guy under it all. None of those qualities would apply to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/3 "2021-07-21T20:03:59Z")
Someone posted the other day they’d like to hear Michael Scott explain Critical Race Theory. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/4 "2021-07-21T21:57:11Z")
This view of him (Scott) is a source of major disagreement… I am on the other side after watching so much. Total narcissist, no genuine feeling for others at all. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/5 "2021-07-22T07:22:45Z")
I knew a Thai version of Michael Scott. He was a brain surgeon who was named dean of a public-health school at a prestigious university in Bangkok. I understand he was a decent surgeon, but he had no social skills whatsoever. His jokes always fell flat and insulted potential donors. He insisted on being nominally in charge of “everything.” A cleaning lady at the college, who was married, became pregnant, and he was mortally offended that she did not ask his permission first (although that really is more of a Thai thing). I worked at that college for a year and had first-hand observations of all this. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/6 "2021-07-22T12:48:48Z")
I agree with **SwissMan**. He really did care about his employees, he just had no idea how to express it acceptably. True, was also incredibly insecure and self-centered, but he wasn’t a narcissist. And the second difference - several episodes made it clear that Michael had been an excellent salesman, before he was promoted to branch manager. He had a bunch of sales trophies on his desk, he signed the Hammermill deal at the paper convention, he got Dunder-Mifflin to buy him out after he left for way more money than his “company” was worth. He’s a classic example the Peter Principle. Whereas Trump was never excellent at anything useful, just self-aggrandizement ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/7 "2021-07-22T15:56:57Z")
Season 1 Michael Scott was pretty Trumpy. It wasn’t until they retooled him the next season that he became more caring and more of just a buffoon. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scott-in-the-real-world/947002/8 "2021-07-22T16:06:53Z")
One could also make the case for Michael as something of a George W. Bush knockoff, right down to his penchant for malapropisms and his perpetually scowling second-in-command.