Michael literally doesnt go a single episode without projecting lmfao. I loved your insight about how he primarily makes sense of himself and experiences through others and the projection is a response to this
As someone who lost their sister at the age of 27 and who themselves has a predicted shortened life expectancy all while living with a disability that keeps me housebound: Don’t take your health for granted, growing old is a blessing!
Hey Dr. Elliot, I wanted to thank you sincerely for starting your channel, and being who you are. I have really severe anxiety, to where I'm scared to leave my house most of the time due to it, and mornings after having fragmented sleep are the worst. But your videos genuinely help me re-ground myself back into my body and reality, instead of feeling like I'm always on the cusp of life-threatening danger. Thank you for what you do, and who you are.
Thinking about grief, and I can't help but look back at a friend's funeral that was actually a really upbeat affair. Not that we were happy that he was dead he was a great person and we were all devastated. But somehow through chance or perhaps because of who he was as a person it was more a celebration of his life than mourning his death. The priest gave a fairly standard speech but then everyone's personal eulogies were a lot more jokey and even taking the piss out him quite a bit. And somehow that was really really helpful to me with saying goodbye to my friend. Out of context I am sure some of those eulogies were horrific, but to those who knew him it was perfect.
I hope that’s why my funeral is like. I’d hate it to be doom & gloom. When my sister died she was only 27 but we asked everyone to wear bright colours instead of black. It didn’t stop it from being bleak but she’d have liked the colours. And I’m very sorry you lost your friend.
Dwight would probably despise Michael if Michael weren’t his employer. Dwight is an authoritarian, but it isn’t just that Michael is Dwight’s boss that he commands Dwight’s loyalty, as Dwight has been shown to express distain for authority figures in the past who he deemed as “weak.” The same ability that makes Michael good at sales, was used by Michael to understand how to work with Dwight. By gifting Dwight with small amounts of purely symbolic power (making him the “assistant to the regional manager”), he helps feed Dwight’s need to feel “special,” “superior,” but by being dismissive and insulting to Dwight, shooting down his ideas for being idiotic, calling Dwight a nerd, etc., and even undercutting Dwight’s purely symbolic title by constantly reminding him that he isn’t the “assistant regional manager.” He is the “assistant to the regional manager” - Michael manipulates Dwight into being eager to impress. It isn’t easy to think of a seemingly dumb person as Michael as “manipulative,” but the fact that he appears quite stupid and in many ways is quite stupid, that is part of his manipulation. Customers concerned that they are getting sold a scam are more likely to trust Michael because he doesn’t seem smart enough to successfully lie to them. Like, technically a dog is not considered traditionally intelligent either , yet they manipulate us all of the time and it isn’t by accident.
I think on top of that Michael is a father figure to Dwight and also that Michael is so full of self hatred that he sees anyone who openly likes him as being a pathetic loser and has disdain for them. More transference from Michael there I guess!
@ I hadn’t considered that Michael’s poor treatment of Dwight when he is fawning over him might connect to Michael’s low opinion of himself - but that’s a really great observation. Just as Dwight might be more likely to seek approval from someone who is dismissive of him, Michael may be more likely to dismiss someone who is kind to him. I guess that makes their relationship kind of an unhealthy yin and yang 😂.
Michael feels so hyperempathetic autistic or social anxiety disorder in this moment. He doesn’t know how to relate to others, but he’s desperate to be liked. And even when he’s alone, he doesn’t know how to name his own feelings. It’s sad how relatable it is, even though I’m fully aware that it’s not subtext Edit: I fully believe that some versions of grief do become dysfunctional and dangerous. I’ve seen people slamming their heads against tombstones until they bled. People who couldn’t leave their closets (even to eat or shower) because their rooms reminded them too much of the time with that person. Parents who let kids starve because they were bed rotting. There is a level where it does need treatment and medication
i love office so much, in some comic way it kinda does show an actuall office, like literaly in every office you will find individuals like in a tv office.. btw queer as folk american version was a masterpice comparing to british one. and with much hoter cast.. omg i was so traumatised as a 4 year old at my grandmother's well they had chickens and it was time of the year to make a food out of them, darn thing ''chased' us without head for like 10 meters and collapsed, we were screaming like crazy, like in a horror movie, we literaly thought we gonna die, that chicken will get us. we had no clue it can happen, well adults had their hands full to calm down 5 kids under the age of 10. even my brother who was 12 at that point was like wtf and started to yelling mum like crazy..my sister was only 2 and she fell and we were screaming how chicken without head got her..today i laugh like crazy but in a same time have that horror feeling...
I first heard about "prolonged grief" being criticized by Stephen Fry on QI of all places haha. At the time, my reaction (as a total non-expert) was, "oh come on, Stephen, I'm sure medical professionals don't diagnose things in order to be judgmental; it must be a logistical requirement for getting the patient additional care." But I know you've criticized it a few times in a similar way. What is the story behind this diagnosis?
Michael literally doesnt go a single episode without projecting lmfao. I loved your insight about how he primarily makes sense of himself and experiences through others and the projection is a response to this
One of my favorite lines, "I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby"
As someone who lost their sister at the age of 27 and who themselves has a predicted shortened life expectancy all while living with a disability that keeps me housebound:
Don’t take your health for granted, growing old is a blessing!
Hey Dr. Elliot, I wanted to thank you sincerely for starting your channel, and being who you are. I have really severe anxiety, to where I'm scared to leave my house most of the time due to it, and mornings after having fragmented sleep are the worst. But your videos genuinely help me re-ground myself back into my body and reality, instead of feeling like I'm always on the cusp of life-threatening danger.
Thank you for what you do, and who you are.
Dr. Elliott is so much fun. Thank you for making these!
Thinking about grief, and I can't help but look back at a friend's funeral that was actually a really upbeat affair. Not that we were happy that he was dead he was a great person and we were all devastated. But somehow through chance or perhaps because of who he was as a person it was more a celebration of his life than mourning his death.
The priest gave a fairly standard speech but then everyone's personal eulogies were a lot more jokey and even taking the piss out him quite a bit. And somehow that was really really helpful to me with saying goodbye to my friend. Out of context I am sure some of those eulogies were horrific, but to those who knew him it was perfect.
I hope that’s why my funeral is like. I’d hate it to be doom & gloom. When my sister died she was only 27 but we asked everyone to wear bright colours instead of black. It didn’t stop it from being bleak but she’d have liked the colours.
And I’m very sorry you lost your friend.
Michael is projecting his feelings onto his subordinates, maybe?
Dwight would probably despise Michael if Michael weren’t his employer. Dwight is an authoritarian, but it isn’t just that Michael is Dwight’s boss that he commands Dwight’s loyalty, as Dwight has been shown to express distain for authority figures in the past who he deemed as “weak.”
The same ability that makes Michael good at sales, was used by Michael to understand how to work with Dwight. By gifting Dwight with small amounts of purely symbolic power (making him the “assistant to the regional manager”), he helps feed Dwight’s need to feel “special,” “superior,” but by being dismissive and insulting to Dwight, shooting down his ideas for being idiotic, calling Dwight a nerd, etc., and even undercutting Dwight’s purely symbolic title by constantly reminding him that he isn’t the “assistant regional manager.” He is the “assistant to the regional manager” - Michael manipulates Dwight into being eager to impress.
It isn’t easy to think of a seemingly dumb person as Michael as “manipulative,” but the fact that he appears quite stupid and in many ways is quite stupid, that is part of his manipulation. Customers concerned that they are getting sold a scam are more likely to trust Michael because he doesn’t seem smart enough to successfully lie to them. Like, technically a dog is not considered traditionally intelligent either , yet they manipulate us all of the time and it isn’t by accident.
I think on top of that Michael is a father figure to Dwight and also that Michael is so full of self hatred that he sees anyone who openly likes him as being a pathetic loser and has disdain for them. More transference from Michael there I guess!
@ I hadn’t considered that Michael’s poor treatment of Dwight when he is fawning over him might connect to Michael’s low opinion of himself - but that’s a really great observation.
Just as Dwight might be more likely to seek approval from someone who is dismissive of him, Michael may be more likely to dismiss someone who is kind to him.
I guess that makes their relationship kind of an unhealthy yin and yang 😂.
Love The Office! I would love to see you analyze a Dwight centric episode :)
I really want to see Dr Elliot react to Dwight wearing the CPR doll’s face and saying “Hello Clariccccce”.
It pops into my head about once a week.
Michael feels so hyperempathetic autistic or social anxiety disorder in this moment. He doesn’t know how to relate to others, but he’s desperate to be liked. And even when he’s alone, he doesn’t know how to name his own feelings. It’s sad how relatable it is, even though I’m fully aware that it’s not subtext
Edit: I fully believe that some versions of grief do become dysfunctional and dangerous. I’ve seen people slamming their heads against tombstones until they bled. People who couldn’t leave their closets (even to eat or shower) because their rooms reminded them too much of the time with that person. Parents who let kids starve because they were bed rotting. There is a level where it does need treatment and medication
michael is doing some projection/deflection?
Immediately thought projection too
now why hasn't this king reacted to jinx/arcane yet ???
i love office so much, in some comic way it kinda does show an actuall office, like literaly in every office you will find individuals like in a tv office.. btw queer as folk american version was a masterpice comparing to british one. and with much hoter cast.. omg i was so traumatised as a 4 year old at my grandmother's well they had chickens and it was time of the year to make a food out of them, darn thing ''chased' us without head for like 10 meters and collapsed, we were screaming like crazy, like in a horror movie, we literaly thought we gonna die, that chicken will get us. we had no clue it can happen, well adults had their hands full to calm down 5 kids under the age of 10. even my brother who was 12 at that point was like wtf and started to yelling mum like crazy..my sister was only 2 and she fell and we were screaming how chicken without head got her..today i laugh like crazy but in a same time have that horror feeling...
So excited for this love the office sm🤣
Could you do a video on Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin? My favorite movie as a kid.
May I recommend reacting to Dr. Who Season 4 Episode 10: Midnight? It has to do with mob mentality. Love you! ❤❤❤
Heaven Sent is also the perfect episode to discuss grief
Where was Jim in this episode?
he was not working there in that time
Could Michael have borderline personality disorder?
I first heard about "prolonged grief" being criticized by Stephen Fry on QI of all places haha. At the time, my reaction (as a total non-expert) was, "oh come on, Stephen, I'm sure medical professionals don't diagnose things in order to be judgmental; it must be a logistical requirement for getting the patient additional care." But I know you've criticized it a few times in a similar way. What is the story behind this diagnosis?
He literally explained it in this video
@ Of course I know, that’s why I commented about it. I’m just trying to understand better. Sheesh 🙁
What about cryotherapy?
Michael is...intellectualizing?
I liked a comic strip from decades ago... "A good death: dying in bed. A great death: dying in bed with someone much younger."