For this portion of the course, I will be analyzing how gender is displayed in a sexist fashion throughout the popular television show, “The Office.” Right away in the first episode, Michael Scott makes a comment to the camera that relates directly to Gaze Theory that we learned about in class. When he introduces the receptionist, Pam, he makes a comment saying “If you think that she is cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago… Rawr!” This comment in and of its self connects with gaze theory, strictly because it models objectification towards a female within film. This is something that we are seeing more and more in our culture today, not only on television, but also in our day to day lives. Almost every time I am in a bar, I hear someone make a similar comment towards someone else that is there. Not just to target Pam in this episode, but also around the 7 minute mark, Todd Packerd makes a phone call to Michael making a comment about their boss, Jan Levenson. In his comment, he states “does the carpet match the drapes” which is an implication of a sexual innuendo towards her. for the first episode as a whole, these were the two biggest examples of how gender is used in the objectification of females within “The Office.”
Shared by: Jack Flis
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