74 Votes in Poll
I liked him as a boss. Sometimes he was cringe and not funny but for me he made most of the show's atmosphere. In a few episodes he even shows that he can doing sales and not even bad. He's also very happy for his employees's lifes.
@Pleasehelpme10 Yeah sorry that's my fault😂
Ohoh I just thought that you didn't like him. That's funny. But honestly, I don't like him. I don't get why we all just give him a pass when he's sexist, racist, homophobic, and just plain ignorant. It's not funny when people are just plain insensitive.
@FeelingPanstastic YES I 10000000% AGREE
I agreeeeeeeeeeee
@FeelingPanstastic Well exactly, that's why I like him as a character, not a person. As a person, he definitely is a jerk, though he gets better. Kind of. But as a character, he's really an ingenious creation and becomes more layered as time goes on. I like how he portrays the incompetent boss that many people are stuck with, creating a juxtaposition between him and his employees.
And like I said, I also like the layers - when we get a glimpse into his childhood, for example. I think it's interesting how he is simultaneously the perpetrator and the affected of a flawed American workplace. He's the incompetent boss that perpetrates what's flawed about the modern American workplace but also senses a disillusionment between him and his employees, and as an employee himself. The conflicting interests between his superiors and subordinates as different points on a hierarchal system hinder his ability to connect with them as people, which drives his character to do crazy things.
So for me, that's kind of where the humor is best derived from. Not "giving him a pass", but rather the hilarity at his vain attempts to connect with his employees despite the expectation to act professional.
His character is racist, homophobic, sexist, and a lot of other ists. You can't really seperate those two things. Just because he's funny and maybe had a tough childhood doesn't excuse this behavior. Lot's of people have bad childhood memories and aren't ignorant.
I don’t mind Michael as much because he genuinely has good intentions, unlike someone like Packer, and he also has a character arc and really isn’t that bad by the end
@FeelingPanstastic Not sure what you're trying to say here. I wasn't disagreeing with you. I was never trying to excuse his behavior, I was saying that he's captivating as a character and there's a difference between liking someone as a character and liking them as a person.
When I was talking about his childhood, that's because I found his childhood interesting because it fleshed out his character. I find it interesting when shows and movies do that with all characters. I like it even more when the characters aren't good people. It's captivating. It's interesting.
I like the character of Michael because his person is a reflection of society. Many people have had incompetent bosses or coworkers like Michael so he's a parody of incompetence in the American workplace. That's what makes the character funny. He makes fun of a kind of person that can be annoying and aggravating to a lot of people.
He's pretty funny for the show, but if that were real life I'd have a major lawsuit for harassment and racism filed against Dunder-Mifflin courtesy of Mr Scott. I would keep an undercover recorder running whenever I'm around him.
What do you think?