I think Interrobang!? gave a good explanation to the sentiment. Though I think the most important factor here is that the script writers intentionally chose a workplace that isn’t inspirational. Cubicle office work. At a paper firm.
So I think “inspirational” is the key word here. Because that is not in itself saying that the staff necessarily are losers. Stanley might be sour, but he’s got a family to support and so puts his own interests aside. Jim and Pam are bored, but at least they have eachother.
As for the others, well – they have a steady middle class job at least, even if they for some reason don’t respond to their inner callings.
In regard to Jim being a loser, I think his main goal in life right now is to marry Pam. He dumped a good girlfriend and moved back to Scranton to achieve that. His job is secondary and just a support to his objective. He mentioned in the last episode that losing his job at this point would not look good to Pam’s parents. Who knows what Jim will accomplish (good or bad) once he is married to Pam?
Jim probably won’t accomplish anything once he’s married. I mean, when you’re on your own and single, it’s not a big deal to take a few big chances and fail, right? You’re not destroying anybody else’s life in the process. But once you’re married, you have to be a little less selfish. And they then might start talking about kids, and you can’t start a family if you’re not gainfully employed. Plus, if he really wants to support Pam and her art, they both can’t quit their steady employment to pursue dreams at the same time—not if they want to eat and pay their bills. And if he doesn’t really like Pam’s art, he might grow to resent her overtime, because why should he work while she gets to pursue her dreams? Why should he slowly complete his evolution into Michael Scott?
Man, the more I think about this, the more depressing it is…
It’s not that they work at a paper company or even that they work in Scranton that makes them loserish. It is that most of them are completely miserable there and yet have done nothing to improve their situation. Like look for another job.
The entire premise of the show is based around Dunder-Miflin Scranton being an ordinary, run of the mill office environment populated by its ordinary, not particularly special low level functionaries. It’s not following a bunch of high powered attorneys or investment bankers or the goings-on in a hip Manhattan publishing firm or a team of MIT educated scientists. We rarely even see what goes on in the corporate offices.
The point is, for the show to work, we the audience have to look at working in their office as a crappy job they are all stuck with for one reason or another. If they were all smart, ambitious go-getters like Ryan, otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense.
Ryan is smart? I think he’s portrayed as a venal, pretentious, smarmy idiot who failed upward based on a piece of paper rather than any actual experience or talent. That seems to be the MO for getting promoted at Dunder Mifflin.
Also, from Jim or Pam (or even Ryan)'s perspective, the others in the office don’t have to be “losers” to be people they don’t wish to be like. Phyllis is happy being Phyllis, but Pam doesn’t want to be Phyllis.
Which is why the intimations of Michaeldom in Jim’s future must be extra horrifying for him. He doesn’t want to be Michael, but he keeps finding out that his decisions mirror the ones Michael made to get him where he is now.
Of course, we’re going to need a few Jan-centric episodes to figure out whether she was a competent executive going through a rough patch emotionally, or just batshit crazy. I hope she doesn’t just disappear.
Then again, if DM had no functioning website circa 2007, and they needed a “whiz kid” to point that out to them, we might be safe in assuming that the idiocy goes all the way to the top. David Wallace, I have my eye on you.
I was thinking more of Ryan the Temp, not Ryan the VP. It previous episodes, Ryan used to be portrayed as book smart when it came to his business school stuff. It’s actually relating to the people of Scranton he had a problem with which was probably why he was so bad at sales. I don’t think he’s portrayed as an idiot. I think he is portrayed as someone who does have some good ideas, but is unable to generate support for them without appearing threatening or overbearing. After his promotion and move to NY, they have been portraying him as much more arrogant and pretentious.
We’ll have to agree to disagree, because I think it’s more than his “inability to generate support.” I think his ideas are actively bad, ala the social networking site on a paper company’s home page, which he continues to push even after [del]Creed[/del] sexual predators infiltrate it and the police get involved. I also think there’s not much way to generate support for having salesmen misattribute their own sales to a website, on a Saturday, because Ryan’s website was down. And for carrying personal grudges into the professional space, like he did with Jim. Yeah, I’m going to stick with “Ryan is an idiot.” He’s also a lot of other unpleasant things, which are possibly more important. We haven’t seen much upside to his character. He’s a terrible boss and not a very nice guy either.
I think he was always portrayed as an arrogant jerk with bad judgment. His relationship with Kelly, his contempt for his coworkers, etc. He just has more power now, so other, previously unexplored, negative traits have been able to shine through. Though the condescending pomposity and self-aggrandizement that were present before are still there.
Maybe all bosses on The Office are going to be characterized as incompetent blowhards and/or nutjobs. If this is Jim’s fate, he is to be pitied.
I recall Ryan to not be that bad in the beginning of the series - the relationship with Kelly was a turning point for his change of character. It seemed to go down from there. I think he was always a bit reserved and bemused, but it used to be in a relatable way.
I don’t know…he’s an addict so he’ll have to be given a chance to get clean and stay on the job. Then he can crash and burn, or become an insufferable 12-stepper.
