I am having an issue with one of my greatest loves. My favorite TV show right now is not scifi, which shames me (more on that in another post). Nope, it’s The Office. I love nearly everything about it, the sharp dialog, the subtle jabs, the dark humor that has you laughing and squirming uncomfortably at the same time, and the bizarre characters.
But the problem I have, and how this ties into science fiction, is the character of Dwight. He is obsessive about hierarchy, rude, myopic, and an utterly hysterical character. He’s also the office geek.
It’s honestly hard for me to see holy concepts like Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars being gushed about by this character who is utterly dreadful.
Dwight at a cocktail party: “Do you watch Battlestar Galactica?”
Confused stranger: “No.”
Dwight: “Well then, you are an idiot.”
It bugs me to see the only person in the office that shows geek tendencies - love of SF, part of a laser tag team, into the martial arts, collector of odd facts (his are about bears - did you know a bear can climb faster than it can run?), paintball enthusiast, and cosplayer (He spent a lot of money on his Sith Lord Halloween costume.) But as I mentioned above, he’s one of the least likable people (also, I grant you, one of the most fun.)
I think what bugs me the most is that I thought the writers would be smarter than that. They’ve created multifaceted characters like Creed, who just gets weirder and weirder every time we hear that he speaks Chinese, has a four-toed foot, and, during the 60s, had sex with “a lot of women. A man could have slipped in there, there is no way of knowing.” And Kelly, the celebrity-obsessed customer service representative who has trouble comprehending people who say what’s on their mind (“What kind of game is that?”)
And then there is Dwight, who, granted, has more depth than most stereotypical geeks, but he still is a socially awkward lover of “uncool” things. He is a practitioner of karate but he attends a school for kids. He misses the cool TV show (“The Apprentice”) by getting drunk with his laser tag team. Every time the show brings in an aspect of geek life, it’s invariably concerning Dwight and therefore is to be mocked.
Characters in The Office have more potential than most sitcom characters, as they have the chance to change as the seasons go on. The writers don’t always make Dwight the loser; he’s brought a room full of salesmen to screaming applause with a speech before, not to mention this season consistently cuckolding his rival who’s engaged to his ex-girlfriend. I just want one of his triumphs to be geek-associated: Let him meet Katee Sackhoff from BSG. Let his Sith Lord costume win an award at Halloween. Let us meet his laser tag team and learn that they’re all really interesting people.
In short, writers, show us a view of geeks besides that which is portrayed in every other sitcom. You stand above all the others in every other way, why not this one?
There have been little hints that Jim, the office "cool" guy, is something of a stealth geek. There was an incident where he and Dwight simultaneously corrected Michael about some bit of comic book superhero lore, and Jim seemingly did it without thinking -- just automatically. He also had to know a fair amount about Battlestar Galactica and other science fiction franchises to pull off his conversation with Andy where he was totally wrong about all of them in order to tempt Dwight into talking about something non-work-related. I think Jim even mentioned that his pick for a DVD to watch long-distance with Pam was Battlestar Galactica (that may have been in a deleted scene that's on the web site).
So I give the writers credit for giving us the stereotypical geek in Dwight while subtly showing that the cool guy is also a bit of a geek at heart. He's just cool enough not to be too obvious about it, which shows that someone with geek tastes is capable of having social skills.
Wow...
You know, this totally justifies my enjoyment of the Schrute-ster. But I think you've got a point here that geeks still seem to be getting the shorter end of the stereotyped stick. It'd be nice to see them step out of that, but maybe all the humanizing that they have done to Dwight is a step in the right direction. Great stuff.
@Shanna - That scene with Jim trying to goad Dwight into non-work related talk was absolutely hilarious. I watched it on Hulu and would rewind just to hear it over and over. Someone is certainly up on his geeky TV, but Dwight's helpless reaction was what made that scene work so well. That was some smart Geek vs Geek action. Just golden.
I think "geek" is becoming more and more normal. Yes, you still have the stereotypes like Dwight; but, more often the geek characters aren't so typically stereotypical. Dawson on Dawson's Creek, that dude from The O.C., and how about the characters on How I Met Your Mother? Marshall and Ted are more open about it than the others (this season featured an episode in which Ted's fiancee had to like Star Wars or we was going to question marrying her); but, Barney does have a life size clone trooper on display in his apartment. Even Robin and Lily are known to toss out geek references now and again.
When it comes to geeks though...my favorites (by a landslide) are the four scientists on The Big Bang Theory. Yes, major stereotypes all, but they know they're geeks and are proud of it. Last night's episode was brilliant (and loaded with fun geek references). If you're not watching it, I highly recommend you start.
Shanna- fair enough, I do remember the Gotham/Batman/Aquaman discussion. And Jim did spend a little too much time with his avatar in Second Life (although he was then mocked by Pam).
I admit I caught up with the deleted scenes *after* I wrote this post, and discovered the BSG discussion.
I'm totally okay with having stereotypical geeks as long as non-stereotypical geeks are also represented. CBS really has their act together -- both How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory both have a lot of fun playing with the traditional ideas of geekdom, and do it realistically and charmingly.
That said, The Office cracks me the hell up, and Dwight isn't as a geek as much as a hilarious sociopath whose knowledge of useless trivia lends itself to great conversation. That "Battlestar Galactica" line still makes me laugh.
Oh no - if Dwight is a sociopath, then we're back into the "What does my fondness for Dwight say about me?" territory.
I prefer to think of him as a stereotyped antisocial geek. It helps me sleep better at night.