The Office is one of those shows that you either love or you hate. The humor is on the awkward side and many people find it offensive.
The show takes place in a PA town called Scranton. And it is based on the characters who work in a paper supply business (Dunder-Mifflin). The main character is Michael, the socially awkward and offensive Regional Manager. The other characters all have second place major roles: Jim (the go-getter prankster), Pam (the girl next door receptionist), Dwight (the very very odd rule follower), Andy (the hopeless romantic, ex-anger management), Oscar (the know it all), Angela (Up-tight), Kevin (food obsessed, fat guy). The office pretty much takes all your possible stereotypes and turns them upside down.
For this particular episode Michael learns that Oscar is gay, after Toby (the HR Rep) confronts Michael about some politically incorrect terminology he has been using in the office (faggy). After Toby talks to Michael, he informs him that this is a secret and it should be kept this way. Michael then proceeds to confront Oscar in the middle of the office and tells him that he's sorry and that he never knew. Michael then asks Oscar if they can go out for a beer so Oscar can explain how he can do those things to a man (while the rest of the office overhears all this). After being harassed by a another employee (Angela... blatantly using purell to sanatize her hands after every interaction) for being gay, Oscar talks to Toby and Toby then confronts Michael.
Feeling bad about outing Oscar, Michael hosts a meeting about homosexuality, where he attempts to present himself as open-minded and progressive. Showing everyone in the office that hugging and kissing a gay man, doesn't get you sick. After all of this the head of Dunder Mifflin give Oscar 3 months of paid vacation and a company car if he promises not to press charges. Oscar agrees and before the show ends, he looks at the camera and says, "See kids, it pays to be gay." and smiles.
This episode to me was one of the craziest line pushers of the series. I had a hard time not cringing through the whole thing, because it was like watching a horrible train wreak for 21 minutes (netflix). But as you watch and see how Oscar handles the situation, I feel that the educational value comes from the ending. Oscar obliviously didn't want to be outed, but embarrasses his identity. He only once denied it in the episode and after that accepted what was happening and handled it by going through the proper chain of command. The whole educational value of the show comes from seeing stereotypes played and understanding the reason they are given so much attention is because they are ridiculous. Everyone is different and through understanding and compassion an office can run, even with conflicting ideas and personalities.
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