The Office and "theory of mind".

Hey, so I've just finished watching the US office and something has occurred to me; Jim appears to be a whizz at pointing out what people are going to do, what they think of others and such whereas most of the rest of the characters seem to have literally no clue of how they appear to others, other people's views or how society views them and it looks to me like a very clever play on the idea of "theory of mind".......my only problem is that while he can spot and understand how others interpret others, he finds it hard to look at himself.

Bit rambly but has anyone else watched the office and noticed this?

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  • i'd agree pretty much 100% with what you observe in the american version of the office. except... i think jim's skill at detecting what triggers and motivates people (ToM) comes from his meanness and boredom.  the writers present jim as this 'nice guy', the typical 'nice guy,' but really (and unintentionally, cause he's jim, the nice guy) he's simply as mean and nasty as anyone else. he simply presents a 'nice guy' personae.

    let's face it: jim is the biggest wad in the office. he gets married to pam, the wannabe artist, and soon they will have a wad of a kid, who will be grow up to be very pc and good looking and maybe 'successful.' and be a tool, unbeknownst to everyone, including himself. just like his dad.

    jim's ToM is very good, but he uses it against people to amuse himself. maybe his self awareness is lacking, but that simply makes him normal.

    a normal tool.

  • Good point! I didn't think about that....I always think "nah, that's not me" but maybe it is.

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