Reviewer: manidfk Signed
Date: April 13, 2017
Title: Chapter 1: Yuanfen - 2002
I love the writing style. You nailed Pam, and it's cool to see what happened before the cameras showed up at Dunder Mifflin. Nice touch with the golf pencil (which ended up in the teapot years later).
This scene from the 2006 chapter stood out to me-
"She bit her lip and pressed the pen tip back to the paper.
- Because right now, I kind of need my best friend.
Her eyes kept passing over the words 'best friend'. She had considered Jim to be her best friend for years now."
It's sad how Pam uses Jim for years as her emotional crutch in the pretense of being 'best friends'. It's evident he's attracted to her, since a normal guy would a) not seek companionship in a woman or b) throw in the towel after a few weeks of getting nowhere. Pam is either completely oblivious to this or willingly ignorant, since elevating with Jim would put and end to their 'great friendship.'
Rant over- Looking forward to more chapters!
Author's Response:
Thank you for your review! I had fun with the "pre-camera" chapters since I had a little more freedom to speculate on how V-day went for them, and really enjoyed the mini-golf chapter.
I don't disagree that Pam was getting a certain level of emotional fulfillment from Jim that she wasn't getting from Roy, but I do think in her mind she was able to put it all in the "friendship" category. In seasons 1+2, we are definitely seeing Jim and Pam's relationship from Jim's perspective and it's evident to the audience that he has very strong feelings for her but there are a lot of reasons it may not have been obvious to Pam. His actions and words with her are typically pretty subtle, and any time it started to even push the "friend" line she pushed back immediately, like in The Fight and The Client, not to mention there plenty of times Jim was on the verge of revealing his feelings but retreated, (Christmas Party and Booze Cruise) and when he did reveal his "old" crush The Secret, he did it in a way that seemed to leave Pam more confused and unsure than before.
Pam also always made it clear she was committed to Roy, she (pretty infrequently, really) complained about him but there was nothing that ever approached the level of "I'm considering leaving him", and Jim knew this.
(I'm a little concerned about the "normal guy would not seek companionship with a woman" statement because why not? They work in close proximity to each other, they are the same age and they have a similar sense of humor, it makes perfect sense that they are work buddies.)
My goal with the 2006 chapter was to convey the confusion she was having about her own feelings for Jim and Roy and everything. Jim was obviously more than just a co-worker she got along with, but even considering that she may have romantic feelings for him would have felt like "cheating" since she was committed to Roy (and loved Roy, though maybe not so much "in love" with him anymore), so for her I think "best friend" was the only acceptable designation to give Jim.
And yes, I would say Pam's side there is a bit of willing ignorance because elevating Jim would do far more than end their "great friendship", it would completely upend her life. She had been with Roy for a decade, he was an integral part of her identity even if it was increasingly evident that she had outgrown him.
A work (essay, I suppose) that I frequently reference when writing early Pam is The Pam Dichotomy by Scrantonbranch, I remember it when it was first written (I'm old :-P) and still think it's a great breakdown of the emotional struggle Pam was having.
Response over ;-) thanks again for reading and reviewing!