Mike Judge is one of those creators who’s under the radar that whenever he comes out with something, most of the time he hits it out of the park. Case in point being his Beavis and Butt-Head show on MTV. From then on, he has a certain style of comedy that is relatable. Like creating King of the Hill which spoofs living in Texas. With Office Space, he makes fun of the mundane life at working at a tech company.
1. Modern Day Bartleby
You may be asking yourself “What in the Hell is Bartleby?” Well, to summarily entice you with old American Literature, Bartleby was a Scrivener. One day, he decided not to work and when asked why he respond with “I would prefer not to.” More or less, the film is somewhat inspired by this short story.
We see Peter working as a programmer at the tech company Initech along with his friends Michael and Samir. He is extremely unmotivated with the job that his multiple bosses tells him the same thing he already knows. Wanting to breakout of his stalemate, he and his girlfriend go to a therapist. Which predictably goes wrong as Peter lives life carefree.
Seeing Peter go through his day is hilarious and terrifying. Having him to repeat the same answer to his various bosses is funny since we see him at wits end. The good thing that makes it better is his coworkers. They all go through different problems, but obviously not as existential as Peter’s. To further help the disgruntled worker is when he meets the waitress Joanna. She’s the female representation of having to deal with her boss at a restaurant.
I feel that the movie was ahead of it time when portraying a person being annoyed at work. It’s an understandable feeling, but it hasn’t been communicated in any sort of medium. Well except Bartleby, but that’s not the point. The point is that it shines a light on a job that is soul sucking and too hands on. Like Peter’s boss Lumbergh constantly at him for fixing an error.
The one character who just can’t catch a break and that’s Milton. He is the punching bag in the company. He stammers and he has a distinct red stapler, which my Algebra teacher from high school had and made me want to watch the film. Anyways, Milton is what I assume to be a version of Peter if he has no voice and is constantly moved within the company, right down to the closet.
2. A Better Life
This is a thing that Peter does when he’s in his hypnotized mode. He takes things a little more relaxed. Right down to casually hanging up the phone when his cheating girlfriend calls him in distress. Not to say that everything around Peter is going great. We see just how mad his friends are when he gets promoted, but they are getting shelved. It shines a light that Peter is being carefree and almost forget what his friends go through.
It adds more levity to the film when he spends time with his new girlfriend and hanging out with his next-door neighbor. To a point though, as he begins to have the idea of stealing from the company in retribution of putting up with the mundane job. The new life that he has starts to alienate those around him. Which I think makes Peter into a more in-depth person. Since we see this idea fester in the movie, that it has to be real when Joanna questions Peter’s intentions. Well Joanna tries to stand up to her boss and is promptly fired.
The more I think about it, the idea of just living life is kind of new when the context is placed in working at a dead-end job. And it really shows just how talented Mike Judge is since he did the double duty of writing and directing. He can take the most mundane concept and completely flip it and just make it more comedic than we would think.
3. Legacy
When the film came out it was a financial bomb. 20th Century Fox dropped the ball on its marketing since the poster you see on top wasn’t a good way to communicate the movie to the people. It really went through the motions of being a cult classic to a classic. Like airing on Comedy Central as a rerun and its video sales spiking since word of mouth spread on the film’s newfound popularity. To say it’s influential is underselling, since the restaurant that is in the film was partly inspired by TGI Fridays. Which had the “flair”, but after the film dropped them since employees could relate to Joanna constantly being reminded of how much less “flair” she has on.
It wouldn’t be the last time Mike Judge would focus on something tech-wise. In the late 2010s, he created the show Silicon Valley on HBO. It’s a hilarious spoof of the tech world on that part of California and with startup companies in general. One last thing is that the stapler that Milton uses was a black stapler that was painted red. The actual company Swingline created a red variant and has become popular. I know this because I bought one which is now in my mother’s possession.
4. Overall
Office Space is a comedic relatable movie that anyone can watch. Some would laugh at it, or cringe that it’s way too close to home. It’s a relic of the time and it still holds up.
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