As I began browsing through the various ruminations and wild cards posted by the class this week, I noticed there's a strong prevalence of connections, and references, to the TV show, The Office. I believe many in the class, including myself until now, internalized Professor Calhoun's mention of using The Office as a point of reference while reading, as him suggesting that the show could be closely paralleled to Jonson's Voldone. This is not to demean, discredit, or deny the connections or similarities explained by those who wrote on this topic; however after reading the rumination by Daniel Kolitz entitled, "Volpone, and the Modern Sensibility,"I realized that there are other TV shows that, in my opinion, could be much more closely related to this play.
After coming to this realization, I went back to Calhoun’s prologue and saw that he only mentioned The Office in terms of the show’s use of dry humor- specifically, how that might be interpreted if read as a script-as a reference to better read, and understand, the play’s use of irony and sarcasm. I am sharing this revelation I had because it drastically altered the types of connections I had been making between the play, and it’s characters, and relevant examples I saw in our modern world.
Those of you who may have ruminated about connections to The Office in any way: I am BY NO MEANS looking to correct you, or make you second-guess the points you’ve made- quite the opposite actually. I just thought that if any of you had used The Office as a primary reference while reading- because, like me, that’s what you thought the prologue meant- then you may also find it valuable/insightful to reevaluate the play, and it’s characters, with this new perspective of the possibility of there being a multitude of TV shows, and movies, that may more appropriately parallel your interpretation.
I know that as I read the play, and brainstormed different ideas for my rumination, I kept trying to decide who each of the characters would be in The Office; or what schemes, or interactions, were reflective of something I could expect from an episode. As you can tell with my resulting rumination, I didn’t end up using any of the connections I found with The Office because I kept coming to the conclusion that I didn’t view any of the show’s characters as morally flawed as those from the play.
Yes, Dwight is peculiar, calculated, power hungry, sneaky- but immoral? Willing to con others for monetary gain, or personal amusement?
Yes, Jim is often manipulative over Michael Scott, and cunning in his practical jokes toward Dwight- but villainous? Willing to allow his gulling of a person to result in their grief, or demise, for his personal gain?
Yes, Angela is unpleasant, judgmental, insensitive, unfaithful- but void of all empathy? Willing to exploit the weakness in others to the extent of suggesting, or allowing, those they’re exploiting to compromise their relationships with their loved ones?
The unifying answer I found for all of those questions was: No. I saw certain similarities, but not enough that I felt confident in defending. I didn’t feel completely confident in the connections I was making, however I continued to think using The Office was an ideal way of understanding the story. If you shared in a similar experience, than I think you would greatly benefit from considering the play on it’s own right now, and opening your mind to other TV shows that better-suit how you understood the characters and story.
After reading the rumination I mentioned above, I realized that shows like Seinfeld and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, serve as much closer comparisons for me. Both of these shows have countless examples of thoroughly flawed individuals acting on, and participating in, immoral behaviors at the certain expense of others, for the simple benefit of themselves. I can think of a multitude of different scenarios in which the characters of both of these shows would display the character traits, and personal motives, reflective of those written by Jonson. The stark difference I find in comparing the play to either of these shows as opposed to The Office, is the fact that in the latter show all of the characters are shown to reveal an inner-goodness that underlies all of their seemingly negative qualities; while in the former shows all of the characters are meant to be perceived and received as the morally-flawed individuals their actions reflect. On this basis, I agree with Daniel’s suggestion: that Seinfeld, and Always Sunny, are supreme modern-day references to Jonson’s Volpone.
Do you agree with this connection between the play and these two TV shows? What TV shows, or movies, do you find as a solid point of reference when reading Volpone?
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