We first became interested in Michael Scott when we realized his parallels to the character Wall-e. In the Pixar film, Wall-e is a comedic character within a tragic environment and we quickly realized that Michael Scott is the opposite, a tragic character within a comedic environment. A lot of people love Michael Scott and relate to some of his more tragic elements, so we decided to focus in on him for this project. It was also interesting how he tries so hard to be a comedic character (often using stereotypes to make jokes), but he falls short almost every time. 

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This project analyzes the character of Michael Scott from a rhetorical standpoint. We will use tragedy and comedy as well as ethnocentrism as a lens for this analysis. While The Office has an overall comedic tone, Scott shows some key tragic components. 

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Michael Scott's  ethnocentric beliefs are evident in a number of episodes, including Diversity Day, Diwali, and Gay Witch Hunt. He often pushes these racist, ethnocentric, and sometimes homophobic beliefs in a way that can be seen as comedic because of the overall tone of the show. Oftentimes, he does not even realize what he is saying is offensive, however, if Scott's character were real, he likely would have been fired in Season 1 (or before filming even began). 

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The pages of this website give an in-depth analysis of Michel Scott's character, from his journey as a tragically comedic character to his constant ethnocentric/ culture-centric ideals. This project also delves into the real live implications of the portrayal of these stereotypes on television.