A Study of Character: Michael Scott

   Arguably the most popular and loved sitcom of all time: “The Office” saw a near two-million loss in viewership, for the airing of the first episode after Steve Carrell left the show. Because as all good fans will attest, the show just isn’t the same without the character of Michael Scott.

   Love him, hate him, love to hate him; the absolute mess of idiocy, selfishness, horrifically misguided good intentions, and occasional accidental brilliance, all of this is Michael Scott.

   As with most new viewers of the show, the first few episodes brought me nothing but frustration. Watching a narcissistic imbecile at the helm of a slowly dying corporation did not, (at first) seem like my idea of fun. However, something eventually clicked, and Michael's maddening blunders all of a sudden became hilarious. 
   The acute drop in popularity after Michael Scott moved out of Scranton, and out of the show, reveals how much the formula’s success depended on Michael Scott.

   Many other characters often jump in and steal the spotlight. Ask most fans and they will state that Dwight is their favorite character, or Jim, or Pam, but in the end it all comes back to Michael. This is because we all have a Michael in our lives, and a bit of Michael in ourselves.

   So with all of this in mind, what real-life wisdom can we learn from the character of Michael Scott? Aside from his quote of a quote by Wayne Gretzsky… A great deal, surprisingly.

   Who is Michael Scott? As with all personas, fictional or factual, we can learn much about who he is, by taking a closer look at what he wants. Michael’s desires, interests, passions, and longings define nearly all of his character. My friend and guest writer for some of my columns made a quick, but accurate assessment of dear Michael when we were discussing the characters for this series.

   “Michael Scott is always grasping and reaching for something, and is never fulfilled.”

   –David Alan Burnett

   This is such a good summation of Michael, if a bit tragic. Everything he does, every action he takes, is a desperate and clumsy effort to find some joy, or satisfaction, or greater meaning out of his dull position in life.

   Michael is an impulsive romantic who throws himself fully at any woman who comes into his life, often believing within mere minutes that he has found his soulmate, and will be ruined forever without her. This, of course has disastrous (and hilarious) outcomes. His relationships with friends and family is no different. He is an impulsive buyer, purchasing expensive and wildly impractical things, and he is desperate for attention, constantly laboring to convince others of his talent and value.

   For the sake of comedy, the character of Michael Scott is a highly exaggerated persona. However, I would assume that in reading the paragraph above, you felt some small twinge of recognition. Everything that Michael longs for and desperately grasps at, are things we all long for. Everyone wants to feel loved, admired, appreciated, and satisfied. And why not? These are wonderful things that we should pursue.

   “We are made in the image of God; we carry within us the desire for OUR TRUE LIFE of intimacy and adventure. To say we want less than that, is to lie.”

   –John Eldredge

   The great tragedy of life is that many of these things seem to elude us more and more as we chase after them. Why is love; in romance, or friendships, or family, so difficult? Why is admiration and appreciation constantly at battle with humiliation and abandonment? Why do the things we value most highly in our lives fail to fully satisfy us?

   Because we live in a broken world, with great opposition.

    A major turning point in my life as a Christian came with the realization that all of my passions come from a positive design. Even though our passions fail or become corrupted in the mess of a broken world, God intentionally designed us to love all of the good things that we love. When we allow God to enter into our desires and passions, he sees to their sanctification, for the purpose of our experiencing life to the fullest and glorifying Him through this.

  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

   John 10:10

   The point I allude to is this; our passions and desires in life are essential. How we go about seeking those desires is equally essential. If God is their designer, he must also be our guide to realizing them. The brokenness and desperate grasping we see in poor Michael Scott is a perfect example of pursuing desires without a good guide. God is invested in our passions. He made them to be tools for our serving of others, and experiencing the joy he desires for us. Only when we allow God to lead us in our passions will we find satisfaction.

   The effort to sanctify and then pursue our passions, instead of burying them, is a righteous effort. With God as our guide, we will have the strength to overcome opposition, and these efforts will be rectified to an extent greater than we could imagine.

   This is a big one friends. I have only scratched at the surface of the topic of our desires and how we should go about pursuing them. However, I hope you learned something new through this article, or at least have an idea to ponder. As always I would love to hear your thoughts and/or criticisms.

   BONUS! If you got absolutely nothing out of this piece, perhaps a nugget of wisdom from the great Michael Scott himself will suffice as a substitute:

   “Don't ever, for any reason, do anything for anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what. No matter where. Or who, or who you are with, or where you are going or... or where you've been... ever. For any reason, whatsoever.” – “Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don't even know where it’s going, I just hope I find it along the way.”
   -Michael Scott