I pass a good portion of the day listening to music on my ipod. At least I do on a good day. And there is something about rediscovering a song you love that you’d forgotten you love–like when the Cure filters through your playlist and your reminded of how great it is to be in love on a Friday.
Its here, the day is finally here. The Office begins again at 9pm on NBC, and we get to catch up with our friends from Dundler-Mifflin and see what has come of last season.
If there is something wrong with you and you aren’t aware of the drama, its not hard to catch up. The Office follows an office, a plain, boring office in Scranton, PA where the company makes and sells paper products. The people in the office are ordinary people, with frequent glances to the clock during a regular day. Except there not, because each character has been refined and portrayed to the point where they are real, they are people that populate the offices of the world, they could be in the cubicles next to you, annoying you or making you laugh. They are all endearing.
But the most endearing is Jim. Jim Halpert is a salesperson in the office who, for the first two seasons, nurtured a big crush on the receptionist Pam, who was, alas, engaged to a brute in the warehouse. After two seasons of flirting, laughing, and generally convincing the entire world that they were perfect for each other, “the secret we were all in on,” it culminated in a perfect moment of understanding, confession–and a kiss.
It took another season to get the repurcussions of that sorted out. But after a year of growth and honesty Jim was finally in a place to lean into the conference room where Pam was reassuring the camera that she’d be fine, because she and Jim were friends no matter what and casually and clearly ask Pam if she was available for dinner. When she agreed, he said, perfectly, “It’s a date, then,” with a characteristic tilt of his head. And people around the country were given something to feel good about for months.
Tonight, we get to see what happened on that date. I’m curious about why I care so much, or why it affects me the way it does. Why do these people that aren’t real, these people who are portrayed by actors who make BAD movies (License to Wed, anyone?) get under my skin so much that I think about them? I have an interesting life, I get to do cool stuff and make my own memories, so why is the saga of Pam and Jim something I pay attention to, and, more so, why is it something I care so much about?
To answer my own question, it’s the writing. It has to be the writing. The writing is good, smart and crafted to make you care. The circumstances surrounding them and their growth is designed to focus on the good in the world and emphasize that even in the most mundane of offices, amazing, beautiful things can happen.
Consider Jim. He’s the good guy, the guy you desperately want to get the girl. But more than that, he is incredibly likeable. He’s funny, self-deprecating and very laid-back. He can handle Dwight, he can handle Michael, he can handle all of the annoying quirks of the people he works with because he is endowed with the gift of being able to see the humor in things–and that makes his day better. More than that, he has low expectations. He didn’t mean to fall for Pam, it happened against his judgment. He couldn’t help but fall for her, because something in her spoke to him in a way he couldn’t suppress. And the idea that love is like that, that it happens outside of our control and rational thinking is pretty intoxicating. It speaks to greater, wider things in the world than most daily life would allow you to accept.
Another likable characteristic of these characters is how they change. When we first meet Pam, she is defined by her fiance and by all of the things that she hasn’t done. It’s hard to understand what Jim is drawn too, what he finds so appealing. (Which is another thing that makes Jim so attractive, in a round about way.) But through Him at first, and then of her own accord, she becomes the person Jim always knew she was. She undergoes a graceful transformation, propelled by her own, inert desire to be a different person. It starts when Jim kisses her and she begins to realize what she does and doesn’t want. It takes her awhile, though, and when Jim asks her, “You’re going to marry him, aren’t you?” she says “Yes,” because up until that point she didn’t know she had other options.
And Jim leaves but he’s already done his damage. Even if he never sees Pam again, she’s been changed by him. She calls off her wedding and begins a season of self-improvement, culminating in her walk across coals and her outburst at the fireside. What this means for Jim, he has to figure out for himself. And we love him because it does mean something to him, and that evan after a year of dating Karen his heart still beats a little faster for Pam. Pam has done the work and she is where she wants to be–and with her eyes shining she will take whatever is offered.
And that’s why I love these people, even though they aren’t real.
I have a bad habit of watching movies nearly constantly. I like to have the background noise on while I’m making dinner, folding laundry, paying bills. . . I find it takes the montony out of normal household chores. Plus, if the movie is bad, you can focus on what your doing and not feel guilty–I’ve justified watching many a shallow film in this manner. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had the courage to sit through Employee of the Month. And yesterday I almost burned the ground beef because I got so wrapped up in this movie. No, not Employee of the Month, but a great little movie called Starter for Ten.
I had reason to be optimistic. I had read the book and at points it had made me laugh so hard I was a little embarassed. It is a wonderful feeling, to be laughing so hard when you are alone, with nothing but the written word inspiring your giggles. The people I was living with at the time wondered if I had a boy in my room. Sure I did. And his name was Brian Jackson.
He was the main character, played winningly, adoringly, beautifully by James McAvoy (no, not the angry tennis guy, although I thought that too. But the nice guy, the gentle faun from The Chronicles of Narnia). And while Narnia is a charming place, there is something in him that is really appealing. I get the impression that its the character, the person inside that is appealing, and now what he looks like, which makes me feel better about myself as a person, that I am not shallow or superficial. And I would venture that his appeal is broad–he is the nice guy, the good guy, the guy you want to get the girl but usually has to overcome obstacles before he can achieve that particular happy ending.
Nothing special, no Shane or Hazel or Phinneaus is needed to make this boy special, he is that way by the strength of his own character, his own convictions, the choices that he makes and the way he puts his ideas into practice.
But I get ahead of myself. The plot is hardly ground-breaking. Jackson goes off to college, eager to learn all there is to know about the world. He wants to learn why people like jazz, he wants to learn what the word “dialectic” actually means. He goes off to college and carefully stacks his copies of Karl Marx, and Freud next to his bed. He listens to music that is both pretentious and heartbreaking. The Cure often plays in the background. He joins the college quiz team because that to him, means knowledge. There is some appropriately significant back story as to this reasoning, but I’ll let you figure this out. And inbetween joining the College Quiz Team and his first few excursions into the world of college drinking, he meets two girls. He meets Alice, the beautiful blond drama student who has dreams of being a “tv presenter” and he meets Rebecca, the non-zionist Jew who protests against everything. Which is kind of a funny aside, because nearly every time Brian sees Rebecca, she is protesting something. Their relationship is forged over yells and impassioned screaming. And not the sexy kind.
Even though we all know its a bad idea, he falls for Alice almost immediately. He gives her answers to the quiz challenge, forfeiting his own spot because he is bespotted by her off-the-shoulder sweater and her blonde hair tamed into a side of the head pony-tail. Brian pursues a relationship with Alice, inviting her out to dinner the most embarassing scene I’ve ever witnessed as far as a first date goes, all with Rebecca commenting wryly. After being invited to Alice’s for New Years he does a little dance in the courtyard. Rebecca opens her window and shouts down to him, and they have a brief conversation where everyone watching the movie knows that he is chasing the wrong girl. Fortunately, the disastorous New Years changes all that (I won’t say what happens, its really worth watching for yourself). He spends New Years night with Rebecca and then ruins it all when he says Alice’s name at a key moment.
And thats what really matters in the movie. There is more to it, of course, but you should watch it for yourself. What was interesting to me was how much I was wrapped up in Brian Jackson. And after thinking about it, I figured out why.
Brian Jackson was basically every guy I fell for in college. He was well-meaning, decent, a little nervous and a little pretentious, but not overtly so. I find it annoying when people pretend to read Freud and Marx and speak of them as if they’d be meeting for drinks later, but I bet Jackson actually tried to read those books. He may have fallen asleep two pages in, but he cracked them, he made the effort, he knows they have value when so many guys can only see the value of scantily clad women in Maxim and a cans of beer. And he casts himself always in the “learning” side, he never would admit or even think that he was on the “knows everything” side of things.
So get netflix! There is more out there for you!
It’s 4:26 and I have another half hour at work. When you consider that I’ve been here for 7.5 hours, it shouldn’t be a big deal, right? But somehow, this last half hour makes everything before it look like a fast forward scene from a particularly boring movie, so its more of time lapse photography that they use in tv shows to denote that boring, pointless time is passing.
My office isn’t that bad. I have co-workers who can provide interesting conversation, a boss that is quirky enough to merit raised eyebrows and rolled eyes, but doesn’t cause any real harm and there are three cats who live in my office, as a bizarre perk. So it could be a lot worse. I get to wear jeans and listen to my i pod. My browser isn’t tracked. It could be much, much worse. By the way, its 4:31. If I calculate the time it takes to carefully and slowly pack up my desk, make a list of things to do for the morning and shut off my computer (and rinse out my coffee mug thoroughly) I can usually justify stopping work at 4:45. That leaves 14 minutes.
Another good indication of when its ok to start packing up is by watching my co-worker, Dan. Dan is an interesting guy, I don’t like to disagree with him because he is always right. He also always packs up about ten minutes before I do, so he makes me look like a hard worker. This helps me out, because it gives me cover on the days when I just can’t take it anymore (like today, today got to me for some reason) and I have to leave, leave now!
There is a sort of quiet desperation that clings to us at 4:30, an acknowledgement of how close we are, but how close isn’t enough, and close isn’t instant gratification.
So, there has been a lot of discussion of Britney Spears and her “big comeback” that wasn’t.
Before she performed, I wasn’t ready to count her out. I know she’s been drinking, and driving around aimlessly, has been investigated by Child Welfare Authorities and has been forgetting her underpants but I thought maybe that was all a stunt. Maybe she was playing us all, using the lens of celebrity scrutiny that she’s been under since she was 15 to play a joke on us all, and when she wasn’t drinking and going commando she was practicing on her dance routines and when the time came to unveil her new song on MTV she’d blow us all away with a killer bod and a fabulous performance. After all, the VMA has been a site of triumph for her before. She sang with a python! She made out with Madonna! This was a place where she had taken the world by storm, who’s to think she wouldn’t do it again?
So I’ll admit, I was disapointed when I watched the video on Youtube and I largely had to agree with a lot of what her critics said. She didn’t dance very well, and when she moved around it lacked energy and she didn’t look like she was on her game. Britney was content to let the stripperesque dancers writhe on their poles to count as her performance. And unfortunatley, the audienece agreed. The slack-jawed looks of the audience as they watched in horror didn’t help those watching at home form a positive opinion. Watching Britney, you knew she knew it wasn’t going well. And I’d bet a lot that she was wishing at that moment that she’d skipped the bars, skipped all of that and spent more time on her comeback. And that makes me think that maybe she will.
However, I don’t think the furor and all of the claims of “fat and flabby” were founded. Give her a break! She’s just had two children for crying out loud! And while she hasn’t demonstrated the best judgment, she had to work plenty hard to get where she was. And maybe this embarassment is what she needs to get herself back together, to remember her underwear, maybe give up ‘da club and try a semester of college. Or at the very least, get herself back into the gym.
All in all, I don’t think its fair what she’s been through. She was famous young, had too many people caring about the choices she made–so with that much money and that much attention and the inevitable insulation, yeah, she made some bad calls. But none of that takes away from the drive and focus she had to demonstrate to get there.
I like to listen to Britney Spears’ songs, especially when I’m running. There is nothing like Stronger to get you started or to get you through that last mile. And I like to imagine that Spears listens to her own music, gets the slightly cliched message that she sings. About being stronger, about focusing on what she can do with her life, and figuring out what she really wants.
I intensely dislike this beginning part, where I write about myself and offer the brief little introduction, perhaps better found on a facebook or myspace page. So maybe, for now, I’ll just leave it with the basics and then my thoughts will fill in the blanks that clever witticisms in describing my life would fulfill.