What makes The Office truly wonderful? At its core, the show traces the mundane repetitive lives and humdrum existence of office workers in a city that offers them no out and no drama. The characters, almost in a mechanical fashion, keep repeating their daily chores, almost to a fault, to cash in their monthly paychecks and relive the same routine over and over again.
But no matter how dystopian it sounds, The Office reflects the truth of a corporate society – one that allows people to earn a living and lend them a modicum of social security. And beyond the almost-meta level awareness held in between the lines of the show, it is not the unending goofs, over-the-top antics, the romantic subplots, or even Dwight Schrute’s power-hungry, thick-headed doggedness at getting everything right that makes it stand out.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, what makes The Office truly wonderful is the unapologetic presence of an obnoxiously over-the-top male boss in a show that revolves around making the viewers as uncomfortable as possible. A socio-politically aware series that employs an all-female cast will not be able to effectively carry the message through to the audience without stepping on some toes first.
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A Female-Led Reboot of The Office Cannot Survive
The socially awkward and cringe-inducing mockumentary that reaches the heights of obnoxious and disturbing hilarity is not an easy feat able to be manipulated into existence by every other comedic artist. Sure, Kristen Wigg could give Steve Carrell a run for his money, but the entire crux of the matter lies in the fact that the office is led by an extremely self-inflated, petty, sexist, boomer-like figure who wants to come off as the cool Uncle at the party but ends up creeping everybody out.
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In the occasion of a female-led reboot, “Michelle” Scott cannot afford to be misogynistic or inappropriate, or sexist if the office itself resides within a space dominated by women. Two-thirds of the reasons why that series works are because of the co-existence of gender binaries within the office space. The unhinged caricatures and eventful happenings around the bullpen can be attributed to many factors: pranks, botched sales, the HR who needs to keep the “fun” in check always (much to the Boss’s chagrin) – but through it all, Michael Scott’s handling of a situation in his usual magnanimous, inappropriate, unhinged, and childish ways makes the show utterly delightful.
A Female Office Would Be Limiting To the Show’s Strengths
One can sit through the female-led reboot of Ocean’s 8 because – let’s face it – who wouldn’t like to see Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, and Anne Hathaway in a frame together? That sole factor almost defeats the obnoxiously on-the-nose moment of female empowerment that is being portrayed through a poorly executed spin-off of the perfectly well-done Ocean’s trilogy. But to do the same to The Office is unforgivable for reasons that are too moronic to even point out.
For one, it limits the show’s strengths which essentially lie in the power imbalance of the obnoxious male boss who is too self-inflated in his understanding of the influence he holds over his employees. If there exists the need for an all-female reboot of a culturally inimitable sitcom, then one also needs to examine the repercussions of exposing the show to the modern era’s demand to promote female empowerment.
Some questions will then inevitably be raised – how will they project the excruciatingly demeaning boss of a show that is working towards empowering the audience? How will the writers churn out jokes that made episodes like “Diversity Day” and “Scott’s Tots” memorable in their magnitude of inappropriate buffoonery if an all-female cast essentially projects a manner of thinking that is on par with the socio-political awareness of the time?
If one begins to consider all the factors that are made redundant by turning The Office into a show comprising of only females, the skin-crawling inappropriateness and classically cringey antics get thrown out of the window and all that remains is a simple sitcom with a dozen or so females working day in and day out at a dysfunctional office.
