Fabrizia Maiello
CCS 313
Professor Smith-Casanueva
10/21/2014
Identifying the Medium as the Message
NBC’s “The Office” has a double-edged sword in the messages
it presents. Audiences have regarded this show as a satirical comedy, however
its constant topics of controversy may elude to other meanings. The show is a perfect
example of television programs modeling a reactionary response system with
their audiences. Comedic lines and plot threads are only as good as the
interpretations received by spectators. While the show does sport a reasonable
plot line, the fuel that keeps it high on its marketability is the reciprocity
of comedic reaction that exists between its audience and its actors. Marshall
McLuhan identities this notion in his book, Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man. In his statement, “medium is the message” (7), McLuhan explains
two important facets of today’s televisual media: the extensions used by man in
technology has a way to better understand our world, and the use of televisual
programming to encourage participatory reactions to these methods of
understanding. Firstly, the extensions provided with technology act as our
helping hand as stated in McLuhan’s understanding that they have “accelerated
and enlarged the scale of previous human functions” (8). Since technology is
never static in its development and advancement, we use medium interactions to broaden
our impacts and become active in its progression. McLuhan explains that “it is
the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and
action” (9). Aside from print media, McLuhan identifies that televisual medium
transforms the individualistic view to a global awareness and understanding of
being part of a community. “The Office” uses a medley of characters to appeal
to and observe different forms of personal interaction. This in turn helps
spectators to broaden their subjective view into a global community, with the
acceptance of many norms. Aside from the interpersonal interactions of its
characters, the show has also focused on topics of opinionated controversy such
as diversity, sexuality, and gender. The satirical style of its comedy may be
used as an aid to approach these topics with a relaxed atmosphere, or it may
cause a spark of reaction in its spectators to respond. This point leads me to
McLuhan’s second facet which targets the goal of television programming to
create a reactionary response system with its viewers. He has specifically categorized
mediums into two different modes of sensory participation: hot mediums and cold
mediums. Hot mediums describe those of which that do not allow much space for interpretation,
while cold mediums describe those that encourage more individual reactions. As
opposed to print media, television is overloaded with data and does not have a
lot of space for visual objectivity, characterizing it as a cold medium. Television
has been used as a purely reaction-based system; it doesn’t have a purpose if
the audience isn’t given adequate time and space to interpret and reshape messages
for their own context. McLuhan explores this idea through which ‘the medium is
driven home through involvement’ (13). Thematically, comedy is one of the most
reactionary-based systems used to interact with spectators, and “The Office” is
a pure example of its identifying forms.
Works Cited
McLuhan, Marshall.
""Introduction," "The Medium Is the Message,"
"Media Hot and Cold." Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge: MIT, 1994. 1-32. Print.
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