Postmodernism in "The Office"

The Office is a popular sitcom that aired for nine seasons on NBC. The show displays postmodernism through its mockumentary style of film. The Office is set up and filmed comparable to a documentary, however the humor and tone in the show demonstrate the parody aspect of the sitcom.

The show revolves around employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The sitcom illustrates what everyday life is like for the employees, while providing their commentary through interviews. During the interviews, the characters discuss their opinions and allow the viewer to have multiple perspectives on the certain situation. The interviews grant insight to all of the characters, similar to Jennifer Egan's novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad.

A Visit From the Good Squad follows the lives and stories of many different characters who all somehow are tied together. As you progress through the book, you learn information about the characters that connects to previous stories. For example, in "Found Objects", Sasha is the main focus. She struggles with an addiction to stealing things, and allows the reader insight on her life and her condition. Sasha comes back into the book in the second story, "The Gold Cure." In this chapter, the new focus is Sasha's old boss, Bennie. Sasha is a minor character in "The Gold Cure" and, in Bennie's eyes, is viewed as an object. Near the end of the second story, Bennie is unable to locate his red tin where he keeps his gold flakes. Sasha says that she has it as Bennie "left" it somewhere on their way out of the sister's studio. Bennie then makes a comment about how Sasha can always find things that he misplaces, which is why he feels so dependent on her. The reader can infer that Sasha probably stole the red tin and many of the other items that Bennie has "misplaced." I find this fascinating as the reader knows what is going on and is aware of the depth to Sasha's character while Bennie is ignorant and unconcerned with Sasha. Granting the reader this sort of understanding is similar to a specific situation in The Office. Jim and Pam are two of the main characters in the television show. The co-workers are friends, however they both secretly have feelings for each other. They both believe their feelings are unrequited but it is revealed during interviews that they both like each other. This example reminds me of A Visit From the Good Squad because in many situations in the book, like Bennie and Sasha's, the reader has more information than the character's do, allowing the reader more involvement in the story.