The Office: Breaking the Fifth Wall

**Potential spoilers for those who haven’t watched season 9**

As is so often the case these days, I have a Netflix shaped hole in my heart. 😦

Over the last few months, I have binge-watched the American version of the Office.   As the lives of each Dunder-Mifflin employee unfolded again before my eyes, I was struck by the massive influence the show has had on comedy in the last decade.

Most obvious is popularizing the mockumentary style.  Typically this filming approach consists of off-angle shots, characters speaking directly to a film crew, voiceovers and quick glances from each of the characters to the camera to express emotion. Here’s a scene that combines a bunch of these techniques.

Like its British predecessor, the Office found its groove somewhere between a straight up sit-com and a reality show. Stylistically this has been picked up by other shows like Modern Family and ABC’s current rendition of the Muppets.

Episodes in the Office very rarely have a point, except to highlight the goings on around the workplace. Bosses are weird, employees get bored, corporate policy is often at odds with branch operations, and through it all, relationships form. For 9 seasons, the viewer is invited to get to know these characters slowly–sometimes even painfully– as they simply try and be who they are.

Over the years, the show had its ups and downs success-wise and lagged in the latter two seasons. Even so, there was one scene in particular that really stood out for me.

As the show is wrapping up (ie. last 10 episodes), one of the main plot-points is the stress on Jim and Pam’s relationship while he tries to work two jobs. It isn’t going well, and both are feeling isolated and alienated from each other. After a while, Pam simply breaks down:

Prior to this point in the series, the documentary crew had never been shown. Never had a voice, had never been involved…..and now in the midst of crisis, a real human moment takes place.

More than that, this scene–for me– illustrates something larger, and a bold move by the writers of the Office.

Thanks to the Internet we live in a world where almost everything we do is caught–if not on camera–certainly online. Large chunks of our lives are in the public sphere…..even when we are overwhelmed by sadness, people see it.

And just like Brian–the character operating the boom mic–sometimes we can’t help but be affected. Even when it is our job to ignore the situation, we just can’t.

Brian also recognizes that the camera needs to be turned off. That there are some things the audience doesn’t need to see. Times when the veneer of reality television gets stripped away, and things stop being funny.

Now obviously, The Office was a fictional show, and this scene a scripted moment, but it was a moment that managed to do something rather incredible.

In 28 seconds, the writers, cast and crew combined all of the fundamental story telling devices and abruptly turned the camera around. The mockumentary style created a fifth wall and the Office decided to shatter it; leaving Pam, the film crew, and the viewer with something that will last for a long time.

(That’s what she said.)