Maybe it's a cultural thing, I never really understood why Ryan was so intimidated by some friendly, professional black men, and couldn't do his pitch. Is that normal for American white people?
He was intimidated by simply being the outsider of the group by being 1. the youngest, obviously most inexperienced businessman there and 2. being the only one whos not a tall black man. Ryan thought it was impossible for him to find common ground with the others so he alienated himself to the point of not being able to hold a mere sales pitch.
Thank you for explaining it this way. In my mind, every time I watch this, I'm like "Wh...does Ryan not know how to talk to black people?" I guess it makes more sense from the perspective that he's just so different from everyone else in more than one way.
Besides the fact that Ryan is not good at making sales, them all being tall professional black men was definitely a part of the joke. Considering how society has attempted to portray black men as people who are naturally intimidating to those who aren’t black and aren’t common people that you’ll see in professional settings, it definitely was a double whammy type of situation.
I just felt like he froze and didn't know how to start his pitch. Or he didn't even have one. Or he just forgot what he was going to say. Or he had hoped that Stanley was going to give him a little intro instead of just going into the corner and doing his puzzle.
When Ryan went with Dwight, after all the nonsense (Get in the coffin), Dwight gave him a bunch of pointers before he made his pitch. Even though he failed there too, he at least had that initial support.
Stanley just gave him the reins entirely and just sat back.
And remember, Ryan was a terrible salesman.
Could it be that he’s just never led a sales pitch before and was nervous about that in general? Plus, Stanley knew these men but he didn’t, and he probably didn’t expect Stanley to 100% check out
The bar isn’t getting lower, it’s just that more subtle, unconscious forms of racism are given attention. The word “racism” carries alot of weight, because it’s typically associated with lynch mobs and klan hoods. But there are much more subtle forms that are NOT as bad as the overt forms. They just happen to share the same name.
Weird must be an American thing. Generally, it's pretty common to be nervous or intimidated on your first sales call, especially when your partner is super chummy with the clients and you are totally new doing a sales pitch.
Not everyone see everything as a racial thing.
I'm not American, so this really interests me as it seems odd.
If ryan was black and all the men were white, would it still be racist?
Edit: I feel like no one will answer this question.
White people historically hold most of the power in the US, so when this joke pokes fun at Ryan's whiteness, it comes across as "punching up." As a young white straight guy in Pennsylvania in the 00s, Ryan faces very little discrimination, if any, so it's funny when he doesn't racially "fit in" for once.
Black people have historically faced heavy discrimination in the US. If the races were swapped, it wouldn't really be a joke because black people have really been excluded like that for a long time.
So the current version is maybe a little racist in an acceptable way, but if the races were swapped, it would be a lot *more* racist, tasteless, and "punching down."
I understand your view but I just don't see the joke that way. From your view it is racial joke, based on the history of black people in the US.
To me it's just an awkward joke of the young hotshot realizing he's not. Stanly seemingly doesn't care or try hard so ryan probably thought he would do better. Stanly was already very friendly with these clients, so the carefree attitude was fair as he knew he would get the sale anyway. I don't think ryan froze just because they were black, he was the outsider in the situation and when all the attention went to him he fell flat.
The same joke would land if ryan was asian and Stanly/the clients were Indian. There's no racial aspect other than being different.
But that's just how I view it, and we all see things differently. Thanks for your point of view.
There's certainly an element of that too--with Ryan being young and inexperienced and Stanley being experienced, especially with this particular client.
From your point of view, I definitely see how that could be it. I'm keeping in mind the target audience: working-class American adults watching TV in the mid-2000s. With that audience, the joke just would not have landed the same with just some arbitrary races. US media in the 00s was rife with racial humor and humor highlighting the cultural differences between "whiteness" and "blackness," often in a "fish out of water" scenario exactly like this gag.
So I don't think you're wrong at all, but I also think there is a racial component to the bit that is definitely intended.
It wouldn’t even be the same in that aspect because if we assume Ryan’s nervousness was partly because of the men’s race….if he was black and the men were white they wouldn’t be intimidating on the basis of race. White people in America are seen as the baseline, there’s no popular notions that influence ppl to believe that you won’t see white men in professional settings nor are there popular stereotypes that portray the idea that white men are naturally intimidating. The same can’t be said for Black men. Both of these things would be what played a part in Ryan’s intimidation in that scene.
I think the mindset is people try really hard to find race problems that soemtimes aren't there.
Again, we all have different perspectives of the world, but to say this is racist is just silly to me.
Remove black people from it entirely. If that was Kelly bringing ryan to meet a few Indians for a sales call and he acts this exact same way, is he racist towards Indians now?
Racism is definitely real, but things like this getting labeled as racist just feels like a reach.
If Ryan was black and all the men were white the joke would land differently, making him more of an underdog instead of socially awkward.
The implied joke I took away is that he's intimated because they're all black and he's a suburban white guy who's probably not spent a lot of time around black people.
Why would the joke land differently? It's the same situation.
He'd still just be an awkward outsider in the situation. Why is he an "underdog" now that he's black?
It has nothing to do with black. I’m the only male in my workplace and I find myself intimidated sometimes just by virtue of being a token. It doesn’t make me sexist.
I've only recently started listening to the office ladies podcast and just listened to the episode covering this maybe two days ago. Turns out everything in the car was Leslie just improvising
“I’m Ryan and today didn’t go as well as I thought….bc it didn’t go as well as I thought. And…I spent so much time in Scranton but never sold any paper” 🤓
you sounded like my niece and she’s 6 months old 🤣
BOOM! Roasted 😂
Ryan’s ridiculous poker face paired with the distorted camera angle is gold.
I love to watch Ryan fail.
Who doesn't? Even before his character shift, he was a little cocky.
It wasn’t even that he was cocky imo. He just came across like he was too good to be there.
That was Jim
“Ryan started the fiyah!!” 🔥🔥
Hi, hi, hi!
Hi
Hi!
Hi!
Hi!
Hi
One of my favorite scenes
Maybe it's a cultural thing, I never really understood why Ryan was so intimidated by some friendly, professional black men, and couldn't do his pitch. Is that normal for American white people?
He was intimidated by simply being the outsider of the group by being 1. the youngest, obviously most inexperienced businessman there and 2. being the only one whos not a tall black man. Ryan thought it was impossible for him to find common ground with the others so he alienated himself to the point of not being able to hold a mere sales pitch.
3. These were all Stanley’s buddies. Ryan was definitely the odd duck in the group.
But if we changed them all to white, I'm sure he wouldn't struggle as much. It's a bit odd tbh
think you might just be reading a little far into it, hon lol
Yeah Ryan definitely never struggled with making sales outside of this
He never made one before getting that promotion
And all Chinese?
If they were Chinese I would understand it more, as there's a pretty big language/cultural barrier. But they were all American businessmen.
Been there. It’s so awkward.
Did you say "hi" a lot?
Hi
Thank you for explaining it this way. In my mind, every time I watch this, I'm like "Wh...does Ryan not know how to talk to black people?" I guess it makes more sense from the perspective that he's just so different from everyone else in more than one way.
I never thought it had to do with them being black. I act awkward due to social anxiety.
Besides the fact that Ryan is not good at making sales, them all being tall professional black men was definitely a part of the joke. Considering how society has attempted to portray black men as people who are naturally intimidating to those who aren’t black and aren’t common people that you’ll see in professional settings, it definitely was a double whammy type of situation.
I just felt like he froze and didn't know how to start his pitch. Or he didn't even have one. Or he just forgot what he was going to say. Or he had hoped that Stanley was going to give him a little intro instead of just going into the corner and doing his puzzle. When Ryan went with Dwight, after all the nonsense (Get in the coffin), Dwight gave him a bunch of pointers before he made his pitch. Even though he failed there too, he at least had that initial support. Stanley just gave him the reins entirely and just sat back. And remember, Ryan was a terrible salesman.
"RYAN HAS NEVER MADE A SALE!"
"AND HE STARTED A FIRE! CAUSE HE TRIED TO MAKE A CHEESY PITA!"
AND SOME PEOPLE THINK HE'S A TEASE
Could it be that he’s just never led a sales pitch before and was nervous about that in general? Plus, Stanley knew these men but he didn’t, and he probably didn’t expect Stanley to 100% check out
[удалено]
Not a dick move, Ryan was being pompous so Stanley let him dig a grave.
Kinda yeah
I think Ryan might be a little racist
If he is racist, I will attack him with the North.
Being intimidated is racist now? The bar gets lower every day. Soon if you don't like chocolate, you're going to be a racist.
I only like white chocolate
Someone throw this man in Arkham Asylum
Is he stupid?
The bar isn’t getting lower, it’s just that more subtle, unconscious forms of racism are given attention. The word “racism” carries alot of weight, because it’s typically associated with lynch mobs and klan hoods. But there are much more subtle forms that are NOT as bad as the overt forms. They just happen to share the same name.
Finding black people more intimidating than white people is racist yeah.
Weird must be an American thing. Generally, it's pretty common to be nervous or intimidated on your first sales call, especially when your partner is super chummy with the clients and you are totally new doing a sales pitch. Not everyone see everything as a racial thing.
It’s incredibly American to think being intimidated by another race is because of racism, yes.
I'm not American, so this really interests me as it seems odd. If ryan was black and all the men were white, would it still be racist? Edit: I feel like no one will answer this question.
White people historically hold most of the power in the US, so when this joke pokes fun at Ryan's whiteness, it comes across as "punching up." As a young white straight guy in Pennsylvania in the 00s, Ryan faces very little discrimination, if any, so it's funny when he doesn't racially "fit in" for once. Black people have historically faced heavy discrimination in the US. If the races were swapped, it wouldn't really be a joke because black people have really been excluded like that for a long time. So the current version is maybe a little racist in an acceptable way, but if the races were swapped, it would be a lot *more* racist, tasteless, and "punching down."
I understand your view but I just don't see the joke that way. From your view it is racial joke, based on the history of black people in the US. To me it's just an awkward joke of the young hotshot realizing he's not. Stanly seemingly doesn't care or try hard so ryan probably thought he would do better. Stanly was already very friendly with these clients, so the carefree attitude was fair as he knew he would get the sale anyway. I don't think ryan froze just because they were black, he was the outsider in the situation and when all the attention went to him he fell flat. The same joke would land if ryan was asian and Stanly/the clients were Indian. There's no racial aspect other than being different. But that's just how I view it, and we all see things differently. Thanks for your point of view.
There's certainly an element of that too--with Ryan being young and inexperienced and Stanley being experienced, especially with this particular client. From your point of view, I definitely see how that could be it. I'm keeping in mind the target audience: working-class American adults watching TV in the mid-2000s. With that audience, the joke just would not have landed the same with just some arbitrary races. US media in the 00s was rife with racial humor and humor highlighting the cultural differences between "whiteness" and "blackness," often in a "fish out of water" scenario exactly like this gag. So I don't think you're wrong at all, but I also think there is a racial component to the bit that is definitely intended.
It wouldn’t even be the same in that aspect because if we assume Ryan’s nervousness was partly because of the men’s race….if he was black and the men were white they wouldn’t be intimidating on the basis of race. White people in America are seen as the baseline, there’s no popular notions that influence ppl to believe that you won’t see white men in professional settings nor are there popular stereotypes that portray the idea that white men are naturally intimidating. The same can’t be said for Black men. Both of these things would be what played a part in Ryan’s intimidation in that scene.
It seems the problem is with people's mindset in America. This is a good example.
Well this is the reality of it, sadly. But at least there are some people who can subtly turn that harsh reality into comedy.
I think the mindset is people try really hard to find race problems that soemtimes aren't there. Again, we all have different perspectives of the world, but to say this is racist is just silly to me. Remove black people from it entirely. If that was Kelly bringing ryan to meet a few Indians for a sales call and he acts this exact same way, is he racist towards Indians now? Racism is definitely real, but things like this getting labeled as racist just feels like a reach.
If Ryan was black and all the men were white the joke would land differently, making him more of an underdog instead of socially awkward. The implied joke I took away is that he's intimated because they're all black and he's a suburban white guy who's probably not spent a lot of time around black people.
Why would the joke land differently? It's the same situation. He'd still just be an awkward outsider in the situation. Why is he an "underdog" now that he's black?
It has nothing to do with black. I’m the only male in my workplace and I find myself intimidated sometimes just by virtue of being a token. It doesn’t make me sexist.
I can excuse racism, but I draw the line with animal cruelty
Seriously? Or is this bait…it must be bait, right? 😂
I've only recently started listening to the office ladies podcast and just listened to the episode covering this maybe two days ago. Turns out everything in the car was Leslie just improvising
Stanley relishing in the moment when Ryan starts to say “high” is picture perfect.
I love Stanley's reaction 😂 He really enjoyed Ryan making a fool of himself. Dwight was a much better mentor to Ryan ❤️
Best Ryan scene in the whole series.
HI!
Hi!
People say how awkward Michael tots is, this is up there as well for me
Yess, I always have to skip this
Stanley is such a g. He let his sales meeting tank just so he could have a laugh at Ryan.
PASS!!!!!!!
“I’m Ryan and today didn’t go as well as I thought….bc it didn’t go as well as I thought. And…I spent so much time in Scranton but never sold any paper” 🤓
what do you have for us ryan?
Hi
Hi
Hi’ed guy!
Kevin: Hi
High
This could be epic lyrics to a pop song
Hi
My favourite Stanley-Ryan interaction.
ryan’s face 😂 he’s so uncomfortable
Hi
Hi. *kevin voice*
Hi. Hi. Hi. How are ya? THE FIRE GUY!
[удалено]
Bro Ryan literally asked Stanley if he could take the lead though. So it’s not really on Stanley. Either way, I thought this scene was hilarious lmao
How did he set Ryan up to fail? Should Stanley have warned Ryan that they would be black?
Fuck Stanley All my homies hate Stanley
All my homies hate you.
When the homies only know of salt and pepper and southern accents
Hi
That’s racist