MovieChat Forums > The Office (2003) Discussion > The character of Neil: a little contrive...

The character of Neil: a little contrived?

posted 9 years ago by graham_525
21 replies | jump to latest

In the second series, Neil obviously represents everything that Brent believes himself to be. Neil is good looking and popular with his staff, he can have a laugh with his staff yet keep them highly motivated. His staff respect him and he knows how to set high expectations without getting their backs up. Unfortunately, I think that in order to make Neil fit this "everything Brent wants to be" mould, the character was inconsistent. In particular, his relationship with Chris Finch. Neil is shown to have exactly the sort of camaraderie with Finch that Brent imagines he has. We know, as the audience, that Finch bullies Brent, and that he has no respect for him. I don't think Neil's interactions with Finch are consistent with everything else we see about him. He suddenly becomes comfortable engaging in sexist banter with Finch at an office party, the kind of behaviour he would give Brent a telling off for. Is this an inconsistency just to contrive Neil to be everything Brent wants to be, or is it showing that Neil is actually just a bit of a wanker underneath it all?

[–] avia2 9 years ago

Neil is comfortable with everyone, therefore he can engage in serious business talk and sexist banter with ease. It's also implied that Neil is slightly higher class than Brent (accent, love of rugby)... the reason why Neil is so tolerant of Brent is because he knows he's much better than him.

[–] vjpb 9 years ago

Neil is more annoying each time I watch.

[–] randomposter123 9 years ago

Neil is a bit a of a wanker, and a bit of a 'subtle' bully popular type.

His first speech to the staff in Series 2 Episode 1 contains a jibe implying Brent is gay, and that's before they have even got to know each other, so it's fair to say Neil is a bit of a tosser for sure.

[–] starvb083 8 years ago

I got the impression that Neil already had a pretty good understanding that the 'Gay' jibe aimed at Brent was exactly the kind of banter that he (Brent) would have no hesitation in dishing out himself so Neil just wanted to get the first insult out there using the type of language that David Brent understands.

[–] clintbdee 9 years ago

As I was watching the Christmas Special part 2, I realized that while Neil had always been kind of harsh towards David, I realized some if it was probably justified. David had proven himself unmanageable by the time they fired him, and since he was apparently in the office constantly since his departure, it would create a distraction to the workers.

[–] drakeyequation 9 years ago

As I was watching the Christmas Special part 2, I realized that while Neil had always been kind of harsh towards David, I realized some if it was probably justified. David had proven himself unmanageable by the time they fired him, and since he was apparently in the office constantly since his departure, it would create a distraction to the workers.

People seem to overlook this when rooting for Brent. In the Christmas Special, when Neil announces he's getting married, he shows the guys a photo of his bride-to-be, to which Brent remarks: "I prefer someone a little bit more intellectual" implying that she's a bimbo just because she's attractive. Brent is just as guilty of sexism as Fichy and Neil, and that's without getting into how he bullies Dawn in Series 1 & 2.

[–] clintbdee 9 years ago

I always kinda felt that Brent was getting ganged up on there, and lashed out almost in self defense. I remember the whole "wake up at the crack of Dawn" thing, but to me, Brent thought he was being funny. To any reasonable person, there's no doubt he was being inappropriate, but I don't think that was his intent.

[–] drakeyequation 9 years ago

I remember the whole "wake up at the crack of Dawn" thing, but to me, Brent thought he was being funny. To any reasonable person, there's no doubt he was being inappropriate, but I don't think that was his intent.

What about pretending to fire her for stealing?
Or when he forced her to put him down as her role model?

[–] clintbdee 9 years ago

The first, while totally wrong, was intended as a joke. Bad idea, but his intention was OK. The whole role model thing was a bully tactic, for sure.

[–] archer1267 9 years ago

Not that Neil was infallible, but I see David as swinging the first punch, or series of punches. Neil admitted that it was awkward to be David's boss, after having been his peer, which was an honest remark. David didn't make it easy and slagged off Neil in front of others repeatedly (calling him "pathetic" for playing ball (cricket?) with staff during lunch and wanting to be liked, mocking the cake he made for Trudy's birthday ("too rich," "I prefer a flan"), or his dancing on Comic Relief day. When he was goading David towards the end, I saw that as payback for all the times David did it to him.

I once had to supervise someone who pretty much told me from the get-go that they weren't going to pay attention to my feedback, and I see that same passive-aggressiveness in David. Neil wasn't perfect, but I think he tried with David, and did seem genuinely disappointed during their redundancy conversation. David Brent was his own worst enemy.

[–] clintbdee 9 years ago

As far as Brent being his own worst enemy? No argument here.

[–] UN_Jefferson 8 years ago

Oh, because the regime don't like it!

[–] lennholm82 9 years ago

I interpreted it as he's not that all-out nice guy that people think. It's a bit of an act and he's actually a bit of jerk himself, which seems to show when he's drinking.

[–] Darfrinker 9 years ago

Well he's at a party and not in his authoritative state of mind. He also probably had a drink or two as well.

[–] freebird1987 9 years ago

When Neil gave David tickets to the Christmas party, he was clearly hoping that David would show up without a date and was disappointed when David's date did show up.

[–] HelveticaFont 8 years ago

Neil is patronising. He's friends with Finch and is cold towards David.

[–] roland-rockerfella 8 years ago

The funny thing is that David was the first choice to take over from Jennifer. Neil only got the gig because Brent failed the medical. The board clearly thought David was the better choice despite his antics, it would be interesting to see how he would have done in it.

[–] UN_Jefferson 8 years ago

In a landslide.