FWAP Bromances: Dwight and Michael

Dwight Schrute and Michael Scott, The Office

In case you didn’t know, a bromance is a close, non-sexual friendship between two men. Basically, it’s the equivalent of “besties” but butched up, sort of.

Dwight and Michael’s bromance starts out totally one-sided. Dwight is a constant brownnoser who will do almost anything for Michael, but Michael has eyes for Ryan and Jim. Mainly, Ryan. But as The Office progresses, their friendship deepens.They weren’t without their conflicts, but hey, the course of true love never did run smooth.

Michael often took advantage of Dwight:

• Volunteer sheriff’s deputy Dwight sacrifices his position to give Michael a clean cup of urine so he can pass a drug test. This means Dwight has to give up his deputy gig because he broke his sacred oath to uphold justice.
• After Michael’s Golden Ticket promotional discount goes horribly wrong, Dwight agrees to take the fall. However, when it suddenly goes amazingly right, it’s too late for Michael to get the glory.
• After being manipulated by Andy, Michael fires Dwight. He realizes his mistake in firing Dwight thanks to  Andy’s constant sucking up for job advancement purposes. He says, “I don’t want somebody sucking up to me because they think I’m going to help their career. I want them sucking up to me because they genuinely love me.”

Dwight genuinely loves Michael, but their relationship was not without fights:

• They resort to fisticuffs on more than one occasion, most notably the fight at Dwight’s karate dojo.
• Dwight once attempted to overthrow Michael as branch manager, a move that ended with him begging for forgiveness and doing Michael’s laundry for a year.
• Michael starts a new paper company, which Dwight does not join. Michael steals Dwight’s clients, and Dwight retaliates by sabotaging Michael’s office and stealing his Rolodex. He attempts to use the info in Michael’s Rolodex to steal Michael’s clients, but Dwight ends up having his biggest client stolen instead.

But they always hug it out:

• Dwight is Micheal’s right-hand man. Michael makes Dwight “Assistant to the Regional Manager,” the second highest ranking position in the branch.
• Dwight assists Michael in all his video productions.
• They go together on sales calls, to company functions, and even to parties.
• Dwight is Michael’s confidant. He doesn’t often give good advice–Jim provides that–but Dwight is there.
• Dwight participates in all Michael’s stunts

During the series finale, the depth of Michael and Dwight’s bromance becomes clear. It’s not a one-sided friendship. Dwight’s love is requited:

The Takeaway for Writers

Writers of one gender often have trouble portraying characters of the opposite sex and their friendships.

• Men don’t relate to other men the same way that women relate to other women. It’s been said that men have side-by-side friendships and women have face-to-face friendships, meaning men do activities together and women talk.
• Men settle disputes with each other differently than women settle disputes with other women. Men are more prone to punch it out rather than talk it out. Sure, Michael and Dwight do have some meaningful conversations, but their actions speak louder than their words.

It Is Valentines Day.