Chapter 10
Character personalities
In the previous chapters, we studied individual examples of
flawed role performances by the characters in The
Office. The more we observe the characters in their social
roles in the situational contexts of the sitcom world and the more we
re-construct their private mental models and the a priori intent steering
their behaviour, the more we can zoom out from individual scenes and take a
more general view of what life in The Office is like.
We can assess the emerging patterns in the characters’ specific role
performances, and gain insight into the characters’ personalities. We can
also assess the characters’ role identities and relate them to culturally
established norms to see to what extent the characters deviate from the
predictive expectancies shared by the TV viewers.
Article outline
- 10.1Social roles and role identities
- 10.2Role identities in interaction, interactional roles
- 10.3The social role of managers in British business and the characters’ role
identities
- 10.4Role identities at Wernham Hogg
- 10.4.1Neil, the successful orderly organizer
- 10.4.2Brent, the unsuccessful inspirational coach
- 10.4.3The price of incompetence
- 10.4.4Gareth, the unsuccessful orderly organiser
- 10.4.5Tim and Dawn, the perspective of English-style common sense
- 10.5Summary of the main arguments in this chapter
-
Notes