The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention issued a press release this week criticizing The Office for its “graphic depiction of the suicide method” on last week’s Halloween episode. According to the organization, “‘there comes a point when jokes can go to far and are potentially dangerous and offensive,’” and they’re “calling on all within the entertainment industry to refrain from using suicide and mental illness for comedic entertainment.” (NBC did not respond to a request for comment.) Nothing in the release mentions the fact that Michael is trying — badly, yes — to promote a suicide prevention message. This is the scene in question:
Is it offensive? Maybe. But…that’s what Michael Scott’s entire deal is. He’s offensive. He says disparaging things about women, people of different races, the disabled, gays and lesbians, and basically everyone else. He’s ignorant about religious differences and he’s chronically inappropriate.
The AFSP and other suicide prevention organizations say that explicit depictions of suicide can have a “suicide contagion” effect, particularly on young people. But The Office didn’t depict a suicide or a suicide attempt: It showed a questionable haunted house gag from a generally offensive, unreasonable person.
PopWatchers, did you find this scene to be in poor taste?
Comments (1-30) of 104 Add your comment
NO, it was just a f*cking joke people!!!! Michael Scott is just an ignorant idiot who does stupid stuff!!! Deal with it or maybe Aha!! try to laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haha i agree totally, if you dont want to watch shows that make you laugh at inappropriate things then DONT watch the office! live your boring life and stop being offended every time the wind blows
people shouldn’t joke about suicide. but obviously people should know better that it’s not real, just a show.
So we can joke about murder and racism but suicide’s over the line? Please, a joke is a joke.
Lighten up America, it’s a JOKE. When did this country become such P****ES
It was the funniest fake suicide evuh! pffffffft!
“the suicide method”??
there are many ways to commit suicide, there’s no one method, just saying.
Its a joke!!!
The Office, poor taste – no, not now, not ever, never !!
I suppose this group also objected to the theme song from “M*A*S*H”.
You’ll notice they didn’t use the lyrics on the TV show. (I always sing them along with it though.)
I always sing the words too. Ironically it was the first song I learned to play on guitar in Junior High.
Yeah, I sing along with it, too. I know they sang the song in the movie, but I can’t remember if they ever sang it on the show.
The scene in MASH was done in good taste and it was done out of love for Painless. Showing someone hanging from a rope is more shocking to see. It is certainly distressful for people who have been affected by suicide. A little more sensitivity would be appreciated.
Are you kidding me? I sure hope The Office doesn’t start censoring itself because of these stupid d-bags that get offended by everything.
Who at the AFSP is watching this show probably laughing at every other offensive thing Michael does, but now he’s crossed the line because he depicted a fake suicide? Please.
haha, totally agree!
Don’t really how it was over the line…Michael immediately followed it by saying “Don’t commit suicide” or whatever. He didn’t make light of it.
Let me say I’m a huge Office fan and would usually ridicule the PC police with everyone else. Unfortunately one of my 19 year old son’s best friends had killed himself with a shotgun just a week earlier. After this scene he left the room very shaken and didn’t return. It just brought all the pain back, especially since it was played for laughs. So I guess it all depends on your circumstances, experiences and timing. One person’s joke is another person’s nightmare…
that is michael scott’s whole thing that he is inappropriate, and darryl, the voice of reason in the show, stated that. If we become too politically correct, where is humor going to come from?
To follow up on my above post, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the show should be censored or that it was anything more than “Michael being Michael”. It’s just that for my family, and I suppose some others, it was a painful moment. Sometimes we get a little flip in blowing off other people’s concerns by calling them names and acting like they are humorless jerks. I should know I’ve been doing it also for years. But I still love the Office and would hate to see it reined in, perhaps just a bit more careful.
I don’t know what your above post was since I don’t see anything else from you previously, but it was also “a painful moment” for me and my family … and I adore The Office. Agree with you completely. I’m not generally sensitive about such things, but really could have done without this.
It is hard, when somebody you love has killed themselves, to see it depicted in the media, particularly when it’s meant to be funny. It’s a painful reminder. But I can’t imagine that it’s any different for anybody who’s had a loved one die in any number of different ways, or for men who have small penises, the morbidly obese, or any number of different sensitive subjects that may have people inwardly cringing or crying. This is what Michael Scott is all about, actually. I don’t think the show went over the line, although I did myself cringe at the scene. That was the response it was supposed to elicit! (For the record, I also don’t think they were promoting wearing * in the Box costumes around small children!)
Thank you, Molly. My sister was killed in a car accident this summer and it is cringe inducing every time I see an accident depicted on screen now, whether played for drama or laughs. However, I would never assume that the producers of such shows and scenes were using them in an unfair or hurtful way. Sure, it hurts and I may never laugh at a comedic take on an auto accident again, but I would never say that they don’t have the right to protray them in whatever light they choose. That’s how art works.
I don’t know which way I go on this issue. Yes, being in bad taste is what makes Michael Scott funny. But I can’t get that scene out of my head, over a week later. I would rather remember a funny bit from the show rather than this “message against suicide”. I think they might have gone too far, at least for me.
The Office has always been about pushing the limits of humans. This is what it takes to angry people?
You know what the most ironic thing is? Back in Season 2’s “Safety Training”….the suicide plot/joke was far more inappropriate. People are so sensitive these days.
Exactly. Newsflash. Not the first suicide joke in The Office
Season 2: Safety Training..Michael Scott on roof…Bouncy Castle…
But not many people have relatives who have committed suicide via bouncy castle. Just saying. For some reason the roof jumping didn’t touch me and was hysterically funny, but Michael hanging from the noose made me want to retch, and still does. And my sister shot herself, so it’s not like it was the exact depiction of the method I’m sensitive about. Can’t articulate exactly what the difference is, but the fine line seems to be somewhere in between here.
not at all. thats what michael scott does and the writers weren’t trying to do anything malicious. and in their defense, he did at least say he was trying to teach a lesson
That’s the point of Michael Scott- inappropiate and offensive. It’s all a part of the show, there are cringe-worthy moments but they are all intentional.
No, it wasn’t in poor taste, but it
wasn’t particulary funny either.
They could have come up with something better.
I agree that it wasn’t really very funny. I expected more of a Halloween show but it was just a tiny part of the episode, the rest of which I enjoyed more. They should have left the hanging gag out.
It was a joke. If they call out this as “over the line”, why not call out the jokes where Michael makes racist and sexist jokes, which could, by their reasoning, encourage racism and sexism?
I mean, I see the difference between racism and suicide but I think it goes too far to state that seeing Michael Scott fake hang himself on a show that revolves around his idiocy would encourage others to do the same. If that joke pushes them to do it . . . They were going to do it anyway.
I think we need a little less PC in the world.
Have YOU lost someone to suicide? Then you have no business making comments like this. We could use a lot more “education” in the world, as well.
Deb, you ask a question and assume the answer is ‘no’. Very presumptuous of you.
Come on, lighten up and have a laugh. jeeperz
It was fine. Besides it’s not a contagion. You can’t give somebody suicidal thoughts, they either have them or they don’t. It’s not something that can be “spread.”
I agree! It is impossible to make someone commit suicide because of the natural survival instinct. It is much more easy to make a group of people (a group in connection with each other not just rendom people) to commit a mass suicide.
I did not find this offensive, because he said that other holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving have messages attached to them, so why shouldn’t Halloween have a don’t-commit-suicide message. Was it over the line? Yes. But Michael told the kids not to commit suicide, he scared them out of it.
Okay, so if we’re not supposed to have anything in television that could remind families of something they’ve gone through, we can’t ever talk about… Cancer, murder, rape, suicide, robbery, kidnapping, miscarriages, divorce, affairs,…basically, anything. That’s not to say that I am not sympathetic with the families who have had to experience this, however..neither can you expect not to ever be reminded of them. That is just ludicrous.
Have you been through any of those things that you’ve listed here, Amy? Those are ALL horrendous things and YES, it is a painful reminder. It’s not ludicrous, it’s life changing.
Thank you for explaining that the things I listed are horrendous, or I never would have been able to figure that out. And to answer your question, yes.. I’ve been through more of them than you could probably guess… but I am also smart enough to know that the second I turn my television on, I am opening myself up to the possibility of seeing something I don’t want to see. And if I don’t want to see it badly enough, I change the channel. I do not put expectations on the rest of the world to eliminate them from television programming based on the experiences I have lived through. And THAT is what makes it ludicrous.
Amy, you are 100% right. If this is off-limits, then soon, everything will be off-limits. I lost a family member in a car accident, but I’m not going to expect TV shows or movies to never depict car accidents in a humorous way. Nor will I be offended by it. This is just entertainment, and I’m able to separate it from real life.
Besides, this scene in The Office wasn’t done in a distasteful or offensive way. Anyone watching The Office at this point knows that Michale Scott is a buffoon. He is always offensive, and everything he does makes us cringe. For anyone with half a brain, it’s obvious that the way they played that scene was acknowledging how wrong what he did was. And that’s where the humor comes from.
It would have been less offensive if it was funny. As it was, it was just offensive. Not over-the-line offensive, but yeah, offensive. And incredibly triggering, btw…
YES…it was offensive!! Suicide is NO joke! If any of you have lost a sister, mother, brother,father,husband, wife….you WOULD understand. The AFSP is all about educating & prevention. This is NOT a thing to JOKE about folks!!! I lost my sister 12/2/07…and I’m not laughing and neither is her husband or her daughter. Please think before you use that word or JOKE about it. Thank you.
Deb, I’m sorry you experienced such a loss–it’s tragic and I’m sure that reminders of it are hurtful. But I think the point most people here are trying to make is that you can’t expect to avoid reminders of things that hurt every time you turn on your television, or that it’s ok for watchdog groups to police the airwaves. My Dad’s son from his first marriage drowned, but since then my Dad’s seen countless depictions of drowning on TV and in movies. I’m sure it hurts him, but he doesn’t expect a watchdog group to limit it because it might be offensive. My friend’s mother is morbidly obese (as in 600+ lbs and immobilized), and how many times has that been mocked on TV? Yet she’s not looking for censorship of it. No one is trying to make light of any particular loss; the point of that clip was not to laugh at how “funny” suicide can be. But mainly, it’s not right for groups–whatever they’re watching for, suicide or political correctness or whatever–to police the airwaves, because it’s akin to censorship, and that’s not right.
Oh my god !! How come there are so many groups to always complain about everything that airs on TV (suicide, threesomes in Gossip Girl, etc). Joking about suicide is offensive, yes, it’s called humour noir, it’s meant to be. And it’s funny !! The only way not to depress about those things is to make jokes about it. Seriously, no-one is going to kill himself after watching The Office, they’d already be dead from suffocation for laughing to loud !!
IF you had experienced losing a relative or loved one to suicide, you would find that it is NOT FUNNY….humor noir…NOT FUNNY.
I have lost a family member to suicide, and I didn’t find the scene offensive. Deb, you seem to take things way too seriously and missed the point that the joke was about Michael Scott, not suicide.
Sorry. Humour noir is pretty much the base of my humour. I will ALWAYS find it funny no matter what.
You know what’s odd? When I first saw that scene, at first I laughed, but then I went “oh, no.” Because I KNEW someone was going to try and make it into a thing. Amazing. It’s a JOKE, poeple.
Suicide is NOT a joke…your lack of education about the subject could be considered a joke, though.
Oy. Put a cork in it, Deb. I’m sorry that you lost your sister, but this scene was not the result of someone’s personal vendetta against your family’s pain. If it truly offended you that much, then stop watching The Office.
The scene showing a fake hanging was way over the line and insensitive.
I didn’t offend me, but I didn’t find it funny. Some of you just don’t, or can’t understand. Suicide is one of those things you never really appreciate until you’ve lost someone important to you. My sister took her life this past May. It’s not something to joke about, sorry. I’m not thin skinned at all, I just think the lack of compassion for others is pathetic.
The AFSP is a great organization. I participated in an Out of the Darkness walk this year, and it was a great healing experience.
It’s called art, you would probably have them put pants on David too.