Actor/ comedian Ricky Gervais shows his support for Red Nose Day. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
The most intriguing thing about The Office (the original UK version), co-created by and starring Ricky Gervais, was the presence of the camera crew.
David Brent’s dreadful humiliations were often fueled by his obsession with the camera, his desire to escape the off-white, dreary hellscape he inhabited and transcend into television stardom, a position he firmly believed he was entitled to.
Gervais’ cringe-inducing creation was expertly crafted; Brent was absolutely insufferable, but not a bad person. His flaw was his love of attention, combined with an absence of charisma, taste, and comic timing. The man couldn’t read the room to save his life, but was determined to force the world to laugh along, whether they found him funny or not.
We all know someone like David Brent; that guy who just can’t see himself for who he really is, who would be perfectly likable if he just stopped self-sabotaging by trying to be edgy. The Office ended more than a decade ago, and these days, Ricky Gervais is exhibiting the same lack of self-awareness that defined his most famous creation. It’s a surprising plot twist, coming from a performer so observant of the oblivious.
Gervais used to weaponize cruel humor to attack the high and mighty, proving to be a hilarious Golden Globes host, for example, practically reducing his audience of pampered celebrities to tears.
Recently, however, Gervais has been reduced to an “attack helicopter comedian,” who believes in the alchemic power of the line, “I identify as ...”
It’s the philosopher's stone of stand-up, a line that can turn any lazy, leaden one-liner into comedy gold, as long as your audience believes that someone out there, somewhere, is offended by the material.
When YouTuber Kat Blaque drew attention to Gervais’ love of the oft-recycled one-liner, fellow YouTuber Lindsay Ellis joined the conversation, and Gervais took the time to reply to both women, responding to Blaque with a sarcastic, “Thanks for following,” and in a since deleted tweet, smugly reminded Ellis that he is a multi-millionaire, and thus, must be extremely funny, stating:
“If I had $130 million for every joke I made ... wait, I do.”
As Ellis points out, Gervais is not tagged in her comment, which leads to the assumption that he was searching for his own name, Bret Stephens-style, presumably responding to popular accounts that say mean things about him.
This isn’t exactly unusual for Twitter, an extremely silly alternate reality that relies on daily drama for user retention. But Twitter’s interface, ill-designed for thoughtful discourse, often casts celebrities in an unflattering light, revealing many to be somewhat out of touch, and not nearly as funny as anonymous accounts with cartoon character avatars.
Gervais used to be able to find humor in the pathetic and absurd; The Office and Extras are hilarious tragedies, while his later work veers into strange territory. The most bizarre example, Derek, is a bit like the fictional film “Simple Jack” depicted in Tropic Thunder, but without the self-deprecating irony. (It should be noted that Gervais claims his titular protagonist does not actually suffer from a disability, but Derek, with his gaping jaw and inability to grasp complex concepts, certainly comes across as a tasteless David Brent creation).
That being said, it’s incredibly difficult to create good television; pop culture juggernauts like The Office don’t come along often, and it’s unfair to expect one creator to repeatedly match that level of quality. But continuously mocking the downtrodden, after reaching Gervais-levels of wealth, fame and success, is simply not funny.
More importantly, it is not offensive; it’s lazy. There is no “outrage” being generated over attack helicopter lines, merely criticism. No one is claiming that the trans community cannot be mocked - quite the contrary.
Humor can be found in almost any situation, providing the comedian puts in the effort. But the “I identify as …” mantra is almost like a codeword, a way to identify ideologically compatible comedians, those who believe that the world is going crazy and recognition of gender identity will lead to the collapse of society, or the death of “common sense.”
From the outset, it doesn’t look like a legitimate attempt to spark laughter; it looks like a way to collectively bully the trans community. And jumping onto a tasteless trend at the expense of the outnumbered is exactly what David Brent would do, in the desperate hope of drawing attention to himself.
And that was the point of The Office; Brent was unable to see himself through the lens of the camera, unable to recognize his self-humiliation.
Ironically, Brent identified as a comedian.
