Closure

I can say for the first time in my life I was instructed to read a comic for school. Granted, it didn't involve super heroes, but it was a unique break from a typical article. The comic was about Closure and how we as humans use it on a daily basis. Basically, Closure is the process that occurs when we take our knowledge and past experiences and use them to interpret something that may not be fully apparent. One example that the comic used was a bunch of pop bottles with a logo and several words that are not fully shown. Using Closure, many people see the logo and instantly know it is referring to Pepsi and though we cannot see the entire word the fact that we know only a few of the letters we can guess what the rest of the letters are that make up the word. Another example it used was the positioning of a quarter and two dimes in a way that many people would recognize as a profile of Mickey Mouse.

Further it explained that even though we may not see everything that is occuring, we can deduce what is occuring based solely on what happens in the frames that we do see. An example shown in the comic is two people kissing and slowly lowering out of frame. Though the article doesn't explicitly say what they do once they are out of frame, it can easily be assumed what will happen using closure.

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The Office

I don't have much access to the outside world, as I've recently cancelled my $100+ a month Cable/Internet bill, but I do have a sister with a Tivo and I asked her to record this show for me. I work at a video store, and we often get TV shows on DVD and a few years ago we got one called the Office. It was the British version starring Ricky Gervais and though I had heard of it, I wasn't quite sure what it was about. There were only a few episodes, but what was there was hilarious.

A year or so later (after the show won several top prizes in Great Britain), it was announced that an American version of the show was being produced. At first I was skeptical, because American TV in general sucks. After watching the first few episodes, I wasn't that impressed. However, I kept watching (as there was nothing better on) and eventually got into the storylines.

The show is slightly similar to the British version in that it takes place at a mid-level paper company. It takes on a documentary feel in that all of the characters are aware of the camera and occasionally sit in for "The Real World-style" interviews. The branch manager is very obnoxious and can get on the nerves of the workers, and in the first season both storylines involved an ongoing "drama" about the branch closing.

The biggest difference between the American version and the British version is that the American version has far more episodes per season which has allowed the characters and storylines to become more involved. Initially the story revolved around the four main characters: Michael (the Boss), Dwight (the suck-up), Jim (the straight-man), and Pam (the secretary). In recent seasons the bit players have had larger roles and new characters have been introduced.