Oscar from "The Office" is indecent in "The Proposal"

This weekend I happened to catch Sandra Bullock's new romantic comedy The Proposal, (or as I like to call it, Any Excuse to See Ryan Reynolds Shirtless).

I have to say I enjoyed the film, as have a lot of other folks — 70 mill after two weeks and still going strong. Way to go, Sandy! Not bad at all for a 45-year-old Hollywood ingenue.

But one running gag in the movie fell curiously flat to me, and that was Oscar Nunez's turn as an exotic dancer slash cater waiter slash soda jerk named "Ramone" who lives in a small Alaska town and forms what seems like an unhealthy obsession with Sandra Bullock's character.

Over five seasons, straight Cuban actor Nunez has made quite an impression playing the put upon gay accountant "Oscar" on The Office. His character was central to what is widely regarded as the NBC sitcom's best episode ever: "Gay Witch Hunt." and even though I wish Oscar had more to do on The Office, the show (and the actor) deserves credit for providing one of network TV's few non-stereotypical gay male representations.

Oscar Nunez

Photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

But in The Proposal, his Ramone is, uh, a muddle. The character is presumably straight, though the only evidence for this is his inexplicable obsession with Bullock's character. However, in many respects the character reads as stereotypically gay.

Or at least he did to me, although I wonder if part of that reading is influenced by my strong familiarity with Nunez as gay Oscar on The Office? 

If so, that's probably unfair to Nunez, who shouldn't be burdened with typecasting just because he's played a popular gay TV character. But regardless, one wishes he hadn't been tapped for his part in The Proposal, because it was a downright icky role, particularly in the exotic dancing scene.

The Proposal's director, Anne Fletcher, explained that scene and Nunez's take on it to the LA Times:

"Ramone went to Chippendale's in the '80s and said, 'I'm bringing this back to Alaska and giving it to the ladies.' But you never are uncomfortable or creeped out; he does it with pure, genuine heart that only Oscar can bring to it."

One has to wonder what Fletcher was smoking when she said that, because the whole point of the exotic dancing scene was to make Sandra Bullock's character (and hence the audience) uncomfortable and creeped out. 

I'm curious what other AfterEltonites think. If you've seen The Proposal, what was your take on Oscar Nunez's part in it?