Everyone knows that “The Office” is one of those TV shows that will never get old. From episode to episode, we can’t get enough of the jokes, the incidents, and sometimes the love. But, there one couple on the show that everyone’s obsessed with that I’m just not a fan of.
Jim and Pam are the main focus of the show when it comes to romance. You can count Angela and Dwight slightly, and for a while, Kelly and Ryan are in the picture, too. Also, who can forget Jan and Michael, leading to Michael and Holly? But, the main love interest of the show? Jim and Pam.
People romanticize the couple as being “adorable, sweet, and goals,” but, in all reality, they’re pretty crappy people. When you break it down to its core, it’s really Pam Beesly being a poor excuse for a person. She messes up her own life, other people’s lives, and she’s just a selfish individual who has no care in the world for anyone else but herself.
Let’s discuss:
Pam strings along her fiancé and then cheats on the said fiancé.
Pam and Roy were engaged when the show began, but show little-to-no interest in getting married to him. She’s underwhelmed by their relationship and is constantly comparing it to other people’s in the office and around her. Yet, she doesn’t have the balls to stand up and tell Roy she’s unhappy. She passive-aggressively keeps it to herself. All along the way, she’s crushing on Jim, who is obviously into her. She uses this knowledge to get her cake and eat it too. She’s engaged to Roy but flirts and uses Jim in the office all day long for her amusement. After Pam gets hella drunk at The Dundies, she leaves and kisses Jim–all the while knowing he has feelings for her and she’s still engaged to someone else.
Pam literally toyed with Jim’s emotions and forced him to leave Scranton.
Pam knew that Jim was in love with her for more than a while–it was obvious, she knew it, everyone knew it (even Michael). After they kissed at The Dundies, Pam still strung Jim along, while knowing she had no intention of leaving Roy. When Jim finally decided to shoot his shot and give her a choice–she turns him down. Now, you can’t really blame Jim here (okay, you kind of can). Sure, he knew that Pam was engaged to Roy, but, Pam also gave him so many mixed signals, it’d make anyone confused. If Pam would have shut him down from the get-go, Jim would have moved on. But, she played him because she wanted the attention. Turns out, her relationship with Roy didn’t work out (shocker) and she really likes Jim–but, realizes way too late.
When Jim is finally happy, Pam has to ruin it for him.
Jim leaves Scranton to work in Stamford and meets Karen. Karen may be a bit strange at first, but all around, she only wants the best for Jim and she’s pretty rad. When both Karen and Jim end up working back in Scranton, there’s some awkward tension because Pam realizes she completely f*cked up and likes Jim. Tough loss, girl. Instead of licking her wounds and moving on, she has to sabotage Jim’s new relationship. Karen is obviously insecure knowing that Jim and Pam had a thing and are pretty close, and who can blame her? Could you imagine working side-by-side with the girl your boyfriend was head over heels in love with? I can’t. Pam tries to “befriend” Karen but spills the beans and everyone realizes she’s into Jim. She admits her feelings for Jim in front of everyone and inevitably ruins Jim and Karen forever.
Pam causes an actual fight because she’s a sh*t person.
After she realizes Jim had moved on, Pam tries dating Roy again for a hot second, but accidentally admits she cheated on him with Jim. Roy, obviously, gets angry and goes after Jim. He’s going to probably hurt him, but Dwight stops the fight in the office. All of this–Pam’s fault.
Pam tries to chase her dream (multiple times), blames everyone else but herself for failing.
Pam goes to New York to attend art school and fails miserably. Instead of owning the fact that she couldn’t make it, she blames everything and everyone else. In all reality, she’s a small-town girl from a boring place and can’t hack it in New York. She comes back to Scranton to work at Dunder Mifflin, but realizes she doesn’t want to be a secretary anymore. When Michael decides to make his own company, she leaves with him in hopes to find a more “fulfilling position.” It turns out to be a flop, obviously and wants to screw Michael over to get back into Dunder Mifflin–which also flops. So, Pam has no job and no future–what does she do? Pressures Jim to do some illegal sh*t to save Dunder Mifflin and get Pam her job back (and Michael).
When Pam’s parents get divorced, she blames Jim.
Pam’s parents are going through a rough patch and thinking of getting a divorce. When Pam’s dad talks to Jim for advice, he realizes he doesn’t want to be with Pam’s mom and they decide to part ways. After hearing Jim and her father had a talk, she blames Jim for the divorce and questions their entire relationship–even though Jim has left Scranton, come home, dumped a perfect girl, and pushes him to basically break the law so she can get her job back.
Pam loses her sh*t on Michael, who’s been incredibly supportive of her, for dating her mother.
Throughout the series, Michael has always been highly supportive of Pam. He’s the only one who shows up to her art show, he always compliments her, and he even let her be a salesperson in his company. But, when Pam hears that Michael and her mother are dating, she loses it on him. She talks to him horribly, treats him disrespectfully, and crosses the line of an employee/boss relationship. She finally is happy for the couple when she sees that Michael is actually a good person and means well–but, lets him know her mother’s age, which turns Michael off (oh well).
Pam makes Jim give up his own dreams because she “needs him close by.”
Jim has always supported Pam throughout the entire show, even when she wanted to be with another guy because he loves her. When she said she wanted to be with Roy, Jim left to make things easier. When she said she wanted to go to New York for art school, he supported her and proposed to her so she knew he was serious. When she was going through a hard time, Jim bought her a damn house. He is, obviously, the greatest boyfriend/fiancé/husbad one can have. But, Pam never returns the favor. She’s stubborn, naggy, and always pestering Jim about nonsense. Jim has an opportunity to take David Wallace’s job in New York in the earlier seasons and turns it down because of Pam. In the later seasons, Jim has an opportunity to work for a company he helped start and doesn’t tell Pam because he’s scared of her reaction. He ends up splitting time between Scranton and Philly because of Pam’s neediness. Instead of supporting her husband, she makes him run around like a mad person. He also turns down a high-level position in Dallas just because of Pam, too. In the end, Pam finally does the right thing (for once in her life) to support Jim–the least she can do after everything he’s done for her.
Pam, jealous Pam, convinces herself Jim is attracted to everyone and sleeping with everyone else because–she’s jealous Pam.
Despite all of the nice, positive things that Jim has done over the years for Pam and to Pam, she still is jealous when a new worker comes in, Kathy, because she’s good looking. She also convinces herself, with help from other people, that Jim’s having an affair with other people. This, coming from someone who cheated on their fiancé. She makes Jim go through hoops just to prove himself–all these f*cking years later–like, by making him get his blood pressure checked when asking questions about the new girl, and, getting angry when she finds out he’s not having an affair, but keeping the job opportunity from her.
