Many people think that culture must be a large-scale idea that applies only to countries and massive geographic areas, but culture can apply to a group as small as a family, and even a family’s culture includes traditions like a country’s culture would. The popular American sitcom The Office gives a great, darkly-comedic example of a family tradition at a funeral. The Office is a satirical show that presents itself as a documentary about a group of coworkers working at a paper company. In the episode which the clip is from, one of the employees, Dwight Schrute, was notified that his Aunt died and all of the Schrute family had to gather for her funeral. The Schrute family has been described as “Pennsylvania Dutch” in previous episodes which helps the audience understand the dated clothing worn by Dwight’s family–except for Dwight’s sister who wears modern clothes. The clip explains that the Schrutes had a streak of “burying some heavy sleepers” which led to the family tradition of “making sure the dead are completely dead” (by shooting the corpses). In the video, Dwight shoots into the coffin which makes his co-worker, Oscar, very uncomfortable, but Dwight sees this as normal. This dark family tradition is an example of how family traditions can either bring family members together in their own culture or push members of the family away, because we see that Dwight’s sister has distanced herself from the Schrute traditions, but Dwight seems to be proud of his family. The comedic element of this scene, other than the shock factor, is that the family tradition of shooting corpses is an extreme version of a relatable scenario. Families often have weird traditions that remind the members why they are not involved with their family anymore. In the context of identity, a family’s traditions can play a huge role in the identity of its members. Depending on whether a family member embraces or rejects their family’s traditions, that member may want to develop an identity with values and social norms completely different from their family’s. If a person’s family culture includes traditions like shooting dead relatives, for example, then perhaps they will develop a less family-oriented identity.