About

“Looks at the Camera Like I’m on The Office” is a comment meme based on a running trope on the American TV sitcom The Office in which characters would look directly in the camera, emphasizing their emotions to the audience. Online, the phrase is widely used as a reaction to a statement that surprises, confuses, or offends them.

Origin

"Looks at the camera like I'm on The Office" is an example of characters breaking the fourth wall the on The Office when characters would become so surprised at the absurd actions they would look at the camera as if to ask the audience "Are you seeing this?"

The joke first appeared on The Office UK, which premiered on July 9th, 2001. On the BBC version, the character of Tim (Martin Freeman) would frequently break the fourth wall (shown below).

However, In most cases, looks at the camera like I'm on The Office refers to the America version as it is sometimes referred to as "The Jim Halpert Look," after the American version character Jim Halpert (John Krasinski). The Office US premiered on March 24th, 2005.^[1][2]

Spread

On June 20th, 2010, Urban Dictionary defined "The Jim Look": ^[3]

The classic look that Jim on the TV show "The Office" gives the camera. It is usually seen when Michael does something ridiculous; or after a successful prank on Dwight; sometimes in look of desperation of normalcy.

Dwight: Who put my stapler in jello?!

Jim: (gives the camera The Jim Look)

The first known iteration of the phrase "looks at the camera like I'm on in the office" occurred on June 2nd, 2014. Tumblr user harmonyrow^[5] posted an image of John Lennon with the caption "john lennon: looks at the camera like hes in the office." The post received more than 360 notes. The phrase soon became a popular hashtag on the site.^[6]

On June 14th, 2014, the website The Office Stare Machine launched.^[4] The website chronicles all 706. According to the site:

"The Office Stare Machine showcases every single time a character speechlessly breaks the 4th wall and stares at the camera. It then indexes those stares into an interactive machine encompassing the full range of human emotional expression."

The first instance of the phrase being used on Twitter was on December 9th, 2015, when users began sharing and copying this tweet:^[7]

The joke has since been shared by numerous sites.

Notable Examples

External References