Entertainment
This Is Why Fans Love Michael Scott From 'The Office' So Much
After nine seasons' worth of episodes, there's no shortage of reasons to love The Office. But throughout the show's entirety, there was always one lovable constant. If you've ever wondered why people love Michael Scott from The Office so much, though, the reason is simple: because he's pretty much the world's best boss.
Was Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) the world's most conventional boss? Nope. Was he the world's most PC boss? Not exactly. Did he have some strange leadership strategies? Yes, yes he did. But Michael Scott, at his core, was the world's best boss — well, at least as far as fictional paper company bosses go.
Seriously, though — he loved the hell out of his office and everyone in it. He truly cared about his employees at a really deep level — maybe a little too deep, in regards to Ryan Howard, and maybe not quite enough, in regards to Toby Flenderson .... but still.
He did the best he could to make work fun — an almost Herculean feat, considering he was in charge of a company with an earth-shatteringly boring purpose. Not only that, but he made after-hours work functions super fun, too! They may not have always been HR-friendly, per se — but hey, work hard, play hard, right?
People love Michael Scott. And if you're not one of those people yet, you will be. And if the thought of loving Michael Scott so much scares you ... well, good. Because that's exactly what Michael Scott would want.
He Tried To Make Work Fun
Michael Scott wanted to make work fun, so he created a committee to do just that — The Party Planning Committee (not to be confused with The Committee to Plan Parties, of course).
Michael Scott loved at-work fun so much that he encouraged the Party Planning Committee to throw nearly 20 parties for employee enjoyment throughout his time at Dunder Mifflin.
There were, of course, plenty of Christmas parties over the years. And plenty of birthday-related parties to be had, too. Actually, there were a lot of employee birthday parties. Birthdays were a big deal at Dunder Mifflin.
But there was also a bridal shower party for Phyllis, and a baby shower party for Jan. There was a party for the launch of the company's new website, and there was a luau-themed party to celebrate Micheal coming back from vacation. The party possibilities were endless at Dunder Mifflin, and they were all thanks to Michael Scott's make-work-fun motivation.
He Loved His Employees
Michael Scott would have done anything for his employees. Michael Scott would have sacrified everything for his employees. Michael Scott's employees were more like family to him, and the office was more like his home. He wasn't afraid to admit that, either. He straight-up said it.
In the "Health Care" episode he said, "The most sacred thing I do is care and provide for my workers, my family. I give them money. I give them food. Not directly, but through the money. I heal them."
Michael Scott loved his employees so much that he even went so far as to say that, if given a choice, he'd choose his employees over romance. When asked if he was seeing anyone in the episode "Hot Girl" he said,
"Do I have a special someone? Well, yeah of course. A bunch of 'em. My employees. If I had to choose between a one-night stand with some stupid cow I pick up in a bar and these people? I'd pick them every time. Because with them, it is an everyday stand and I still know their names in the morning."
Beautiful. Pass the tissues.
He Challenged The Norms
Michaet Scott was, at his core, a brilliant philosopher. He questioned everything, all the time, and he thought about things in ways that no one had ever considered before. Like the time he tackled Christianity in the "Fun Run" episode and asked, "Is there a God? If not, what are all these churches for? And who is Jesus' dad?"
Michael Scott also refused to conform. He played by his own rules, and encouraged others to do the same. Eat ice cream in the morning! Make friends first, and then worry about making sales second! And like he said in "Grief Counseling," it's okay to cry!
"Society teaches us that having feelings and crying is bad and wrong," he said. "Well, that's baloney, because grief isn't wrong. There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
You're right, Michael. It is okay to cry.
And At The End Of The Day, Michael Scott Was Relatable
Michael Scott was all of us. That's what it all boils down to. If you search for "when Michael Scott said" on Twitter, it seems like everyone can pin point a time that Michael Scott said something that made them say, "same."
One fan tweeted, "when Michael Scott said 'I wanna be married and have 100 kids so i can have 100 friends and no one can say no to being my friend' i felt that." Another fan confessed, "when Michael Scott said '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.' I felt that." Same.
Or this fan who shared, "When Michael Scott said, 'I want the house Jan. I want the picket fence. I want the ketchup fights and the tickling and the giggling.' I felt that." Who doesn't want the ketchup fights and the tickling and the giggling?
Then there's, "When Michael Scott said 'I’m going through a little bit of a rough patch... a whole year actually' I felt that," the fan who wrote, "When Michael Scott said 'and I knew exactly what to do, but in a much more real sense I had no idea what to do' I felt that," and one of my personal favorites, "When Michael Scott said 'I am Beyoncé, always' ... I felt that."
Michael Scott is Beyoncé, and everyone is Michael Scott. So, I guess we're all Beyoncé?
The world would be a better place if more people like Michael Scott existed. The world would be a weird place if more Michael Scotts existed, but who knows? Weird might be kind of wonderful.
