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Steve Carell was undoubtedly the reason most of us became hooked onThe Office.With his quick wit and charming personality, the actor was able to bring to life a quirky, loveable, and sometimes aloof regional manager, Michael Scott. While sometimes he did things that were unbearable to watch, like kiss Oscar and pledge college tuition to students, he is still the heart of the show and we will die on this hill.
Of course, some might argue that he is one of the most intolerable characters in sitcom history, especially those who have only watched Season 1. However, we, and the true fans, would beg to differ.
Steve Carell’s Michael Scott isn’t evil, just aloof
Michael Scott and “evil corporate overlord” are two parallel lines; they simply do not intersect with each other. There is a huge difference between a character being malicious and just being clueless.Steve Carell‘s Michael falls in the latter category.
No matter how he may come across, it is safe to say that he never had bad intentions. He wasn’t a conniving mastermind, just someone who thought his employees were like his family and someone who didn’t understand the concept of workplace boundaries.
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From his Diversity Day shenanigans that would’ve gotten him fired in real life to his entire Prison Mike dialogue, Michael wasn’t trying to be offensive, he was just so out of touch with reality that he thought he was actually helping.
TakeScott’s Totsfor example. Of course, what he did was absolutely ridiculous and downright cruel in hindsight, but he really did care about those kids. As he said, “I fell in love with these kids and I didn’t want to see them fall victim to the system.” His heart was in the right place, just not his head.
A fan explained it perfectly stating,
After Carell left the show, Dunder Mifflin was “blessed” with managers who were more corporate-like. They knew their ways around the workplace and the dos and don’ts of being a leader as well. Whether it was Robert California, Charles Miner, or even Nellie Bertram, they simply couldn’t be what Michael was. And that’s a big reason whyThe Officesuffered after Carell’s exit.
So, everyone from showrunnerGreg Danielsto producerMichael Schurcan believe that Carell was a big reason forThe Office‘s success, but it was the earnest comedy in the form of Michael’s oblivious personality that made the show so lovable.
Even at his worst, Michael wasn’t detestable. He wasn’t a villain – just a man who desperately wanted to be the fun boss, the best friend, and sometimes even the father figure his employees never asked for. After all, he just wanted people to be afraid of how much they loved him. We would say, mission accomplished.
Steve Carell has vouched for Michael Scott
Carell will agree with whatever we have said above. Why? Because he thinks so himself. InWelcome to Dunder Mifflin, an oral history ofThe OfficebyBrian Baumgartner, the cast and crew of the show were talking about the infamous moment fromDiversity Daywhen Carell pitched in stating how Michael wasn’t a bad person, just tone-deaf.
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Carell believes that Michael is simply trying to do good and make a positive impact on his employees, he just does it in a way no one would. He stated that he doesn’t agree with people who call his character a“racist”as he is simply someone with an “enormously good, kind heart”but a bit too“ignorant”for his own good.
He put it perfectly when he said that Michael is a character sound asleep in the woke world. In his words,
It’s why I bristle a little when people try to compartmentalize Michael as a racist. He’s a person with an enormously good, kind heart who lacked a great deal of information about the world around him. He was as asleep in a woke world as you could be. [Michael’s] trying his best! There’s a difference between being intolerant and being ignorant. Sometimes intolerance and ignorance go hand in hand, for sure. But I think he was a very earnest and decent human being. He just didn’t… get it all the time, you know?”
We couldn’t agree more! Michael’s comedy and actions do not come from deliberately stepping into situations where he shouldn’t be. It comes from him actually trying to do the good thing but fundamentally misunderstanding how to. Isn’t that a little relatable?
The Officeis available to watchon Peacock Premium.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2256
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you may find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
