You’re watching an episode of The Office. Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute are discussing some sort of off-the-wall scheme. As they fall deeper down their likely illogical rabbit hole, they get so animated that Jim can’t take it anymore. As a way to ground himself in reality, he stares directly into the documentary crew’s cameras and reaches out for sympathy from the viewing public using only his eyes and facial muscles. That is the Jim Halpert stare that has become such a big part of the show and of pop culture as a whole. It’s so prominent that people think even Hillary Clinton pulled it out during a presidential debate with now-President Elect Donald Trump.
Over time, other Office characters couldn’t help but stare into the camera for one reason or another either, leading to a wide variety of emotions in the form of fourth-wall-breaking camera stares. And now, if you want a The Office character to empathize with you by staring into your soul, The Office Stare Machine has you covered.The website has catalogued “every single time a character speechlessly breaks the 4th wall and stares at the camera,” so it has 706 clips that were collected over the course of a year and a half. It’s an ambitious project, so we ran it through a quick litmus test, and it passed easily. Here’s what we got when we typed in “happy”:
Here’s sad:
Exasperated:
And horny:
There are plenty more where that came from—702 more, to be exact—so explore them all for yourself at The Office Stare Machine.
Featured image: NBC
