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February 19, 2024 8:24 AM Subscribe
Twenty-five years ago today, the movie Office Space premiered. Watch the original trailer. Read Roger Ebert’s 3-star review (“a comic cry of rage against the nightmare of modern office life.”) Enjoy an oral history. Read reflections on the impact of the movie from Variety, BBC, and The Guardian. Maybe you want to buy yourself a red Swingline stapler to celebrate?
Faint of Butt, I thought you were just being pedantic. Then I read the last line of your post. Worthy!
posted by MrGuilt at 9:11 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by MrGuilt at 9:11 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]
it's got a hell of a basic premise.
(SPOILER ALERT)
Ordinary young office drone Guy is depressed, goes to see a hypnotherapist, who having hypnotized him to relax and not give a shit about work, suddenly dies. So Ordinary Guy is stuck in relaxed-doesn't-give-a-shit mode, something of a superhero ...
BUT
contrary to what one would normally expect from Hollywood product, the movie proceeds to not just rest on this milking this premise, mucking around with obvious jokes as it plots a predictable "heroes journey" structure, at the end of which Ordinary Guy is back to being ordinary again, but he's learned stuff, he's grown, he's got the girl, blah-blah-blah.
Nah, it's a Mike Judge movie. It's not interested in that generic stuff. It wanders through all manner of smart, fun sidetracks and genuinely believable characters (best of all may just be Lawrence from next door). One of a very few movies that I can watch pretty much anytime.
when the movie is too quotable to fail
posted by philip-random at 9:12 AM on February 19 [11 favorites]
(SPOILER ALERT)
Ordinary young office drone Guy is depressed, goes to see a hypnotherapist, who having hypnotized him to relax and not give a shit about work, suddenly dies. So Ordinary Guy is stuck in relaxed-doesn't-give-a-shit mode, something of a superhero ...
BUT
contrary to what one would normally expect from Hollywood product, the movie proceeds to not just rest on this milking this premise, mucking around with obvious jokes as it plots a predictable "heroes journey" structure, at the end of which Ordinary Guy is back to being ordinary again, but he's learned stuff, he's grown, he's got the girl, blah-blah-blah.
Nah, it's a Mike Judge movie. It's not interested in that generic stuff. It wanders through all manner of smart, fun sidetracks and genuinely believable characters (best of all may just be Lawrence from next door). One of a very few movies that I can watch pretty much anytime.
when the movie is too quotable to fail
posted by philip-random at 9:12 AM on February 19 [11 favorites]
Fuckin' a.
posted by glonous keming at 9:17 AM on February 19 [22 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 9:17 AM on February 19 [22 favorites]
I bought one of the red Swingline staplers.
I like it because it doesn't bind up as much. And I keep the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire.
posted by flabdablet at 9:17 AM on February 19 [14 favorites]
I like it because it doesn't bind up as much. And I keep the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire.
posted by flabdablet at 9:17 AM on February 19 [14 favorites]
It’s one thing to create art that becomes famous, it’s another to create art that becomes part of everyday discourse. Office Space, Idiocracy, Silicon Valley all have entered into, and rightfully so, our views concerning office and technology culture and our culture in general. Prescient, yes, but the issues and attitudes mocked are still here. But we at least have good rejoinders from these films to continue the mocking now.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:18 AM on February 19 [8 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:18 AM on February 19 [8 favorites]
Still one of my all-time faves.
Time really flies though. How has Roger been gone for ten years already?
posted by macbot3000 at 9:20 AM on February 19
Time really flies though. How has Roger been gone for ten years already?
posted by macbot3000 at 9:20 AM on February 19
The Chotchkie’s scenes are my favorite in the movie, just because it shows that every corporate environment is just as mind-numbing as Initech. The whole "why don't you just make the minimum required higher?" dialogue brings it all home.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:21 AM on February 19 [28 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:21 AM on February 19 [28 favorites]
Yeah…it’s a great movie
posted by gottabefunky at 10:05 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by gottabefunky at 10:05 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]
I think of the line line "Why should I change my name? He's the asshole" A LOT when I'm about to change my behavior to accommodate someone else.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:21 AM on February 19 [21 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 10:21 AM on February 19 [21 favorites]
(best of all may just be Lawrence from next door)
Diedrich Bader is a fantastic comic actor.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:21 AM on February 19 [13 favorites]
Diedrich Bader is a fantastic comic actor.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:21 AM on February 19 [13 favorites]
To me this is like the Platonic ideal of a movie. It's basically perfect.
posted by swift at 10:23 AM on February 19 [9 favorites]
posted by swift at 10:23 AM on February 19 [9 favorites]
I took over a small-ish team of technical people like a dozen or 15 years ago, and every single damn time I open my mouth to ask them something, I picture my face above Lumbergh's suspenders and white collar, peeking over the cubicle divider...and my soul shrinks one *click* smaller.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:24 AM on February 19 [23 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 10:24 AM on February 19 [23 favorites]
I have vivid memories of this movie being on TV almost every day at like 11am on Comedy Central, a timeslot that basically guaranteed viewers from the "skipping work/class" demographic.
posted by Glibpaxman at 10:47 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
posted by Glibpaxman at 10:47 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
Watching Office Space is like “Huh, this is just a satire of office work. Oh, right.” It’s similar to an Agatha Christie book “Huh, this is just a formulaic murder mystery. Oh, right.” or a Beethoven symphony “Huh, this is just some classical music. Oh, right.”
posted by Melismata at 10:48 AM on February 19 [8 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 10:48 AM on February 19 [8 favorites]
this is just a satire of office work
More of a harbinger in my case.
posted by flabdablet at 10:57 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]
More of a harbinger in my case.
posted by flabdablet at 10:57 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]
I remain astonished that Milton and NewsRadio’s Jimmy James are the same actor. Stephen Root is a chameleon.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:00 AM on February 19 [30 favorites]
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:00 AM on February 19 [30 favorites]
Melismata, I like how your other two examples are both masters in their fields who basically defined those genres.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:02 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
posted by joannemerriam at 11:02 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
My pet theory is that this movie is why cubicle farms were replaced with the even more hellish open-plan offices.
posted by donio at 11:11 AM on February 19 [5 favorites]
posted by donio at 11:11 AM on February 19 [5 favorites]
"The pleasure is all on this side of the table..."
posted by Windopaene at 11:18 AM on February 19 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 11:18 AM on February 19 [2 favorites]
How times have changed. Now the show that best captures American work life is Severance.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:23 AM on February 19 [3 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:23 AM on February 19 [3 favorites]
Life imitating Art! "What would you say you do here?"
Mr Beer: Surely, as the only criminal lawyer in the business, there’s a suite of criminal law policies here, wouldn’t you put your hand up and say, “Hold on, that’s my job”?
Jarnail Singh: I didn’t. Well, maybe I should have done, in hindsight.
Mr Beer: You’re not involved in any prosecutions, you’ve told us; that’s Cartwright King.
Jarnail Singh: Yeah.
Mr Beer: You’re not involved in supervision of any prosecutions; that’s Susan and Hugh.
Jarnail Singh: Mm.
Mr Beer: You’re not involved in maintenance or review of the policies; that’s Susan and Hugh. What were you doing?
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:29 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
- Office Space The Bobs 1999
- Jarnail Singh Chief/only in-house criminal lawyer for the UK Post Office is found empty in the Tribunal Dec 2023
Mr Beer: Surely, as the only criminal lawyer in the business, there’s a suite of criminal law policies here, wouldn’t you put your hand up and say, “Hold on, that’s my job”?
Jarnail Singh: I didn’t. Well, maybe I should have done, in hindsight.
Mr Beer: You’re not involved in any prosecutions, you’ve told us; that’s Cartwright King.
Jarnail Singh: Yeah.
Mr Beer: You’re not involved in supervision of any prosecutions; that’s Susan and Hugh.
Jarnail Singh: Mm.
Mr Beer: You’re not involved in maintenance or review of the policies; that’s Susan and Hugh. What were you doing?
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:29 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
I picture my face above Lumbergh's suspenders and white collar. . .
It wasn't even the right Lumbergh.
posted by os tuberoes at 11:32 AM on February 19 [6 favorites]
It wasn't even the right Lumbergh.
posted by os tuberoes at 11:32 AM on February 19 [6 favorites]
I was at the dentist, and she said, "why don't you go ahead and rinse," and all I could think about was Gary Cole in suspenders holding a coffee cup.
posted by The Half Language Plant at 11:33 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
posted by The Half Language Plant at 11:33 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
How things change! Michael Bolton is cool now. Maybe he always was, I don't know.
posted by Snowishberlin at 11:37 AM on February 19
posted by Snowishberlin at 11:37 AM on February 19
BobTheScientist: "You’re not involved in maintenance or review of the policies; that’s Susan and Hugh. What were you doing?"
He's a people person.
posted by adamrice at 11:41 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
He's a people person.
posted by adamrice at 11:41 AM on February 19 [4 favorites]
I work in a massive liquor warehouse for the government. Blue collar, but, management and the vile HR department are straight out of this movie, but even more petty and mean.
We have endless employee surveys that always say the same thing; this is a toxic work environment, there's no accountability for management, and the employees are treated like shit. All of this is true.
So, in response, they have a staff meetings, nothing happens, and their brilliant plan to deal with the results of the survey is to..HAVE ANOTHER SURVEY!!
When I started it was a pretty decent place to work; old school blue collar in a funky old warehouse that was actually designed for people. We needed more space badly, so a couple of years after I started we moved to a giant, featureless warehouse so far awayI had to get a car. They pretty much took away every single perk we had in the old building, things like music allowed, various food days, a pretty slack attitude towards the time clock(the work still got done), etc when we moved.
The new production manager, hired about half a year before we moved, instituted vile changes, trying to make it more like Amazon.
We also have floor to ceiling turnstiles we need a pass card to get through just to get from the rest area to the warehouse floor. Just like a minimum security prison.
During the pandemic we were declared essential workers by the theoretically progressive NDP government headed by two-faced gormless fuckstick John Horgan but weren't given essential pay bumps in pay like other essential workers were.
The job has a pension, I'm 59, so I pretty much feel trapped here, especially living in the ridiculously over priced city of Vancouver.
Anyways, this is getting a wee bit rant, but, to be fair, my name is Grant so there's that.
All of this is a way of saying it's not just white collar workers who can relate to this; it's like management where I worked saw the film and decided Bill Lumbergh was the man.
God I love this movie.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:45 AM on February 19 [25 favorites]
We have endless employee surveys that always say the same thing; this is a toxic work environment, there's no accountability for management, and the employees are treated like shit. All of this is true.
So, in response, they have a staff meetings, nothing happens, and their brilliant plan to deal with the results of the survey is to..HAVE ANOTHER SURVEY!!
When I started it was a pretty decent place to work; old school blue collar in a funky old warehouse that was actually designed for people. We needed more space badly, so a couple of years after I started we moved to a giant, featureless warehouse so far awayI had to get a car. They pretty much took away every single perk we had in the old building, things like music allowed, various food days, a pretty slack attitude towards the time clock(the work still got done), etc when we moved.
The new production manager, hired about half a year before we moved, instituted vile changes, trying to make it more like Amazon.
We also have floor to ceiling turnstiles we need a pass card to get through just to get from the rest area to the warehouse floor. Just like a minimum security prison.
During the pandemic we were declared essential workers by the theoretically progressive NDP government headed by two-faced gormless fuckstick John Horgan but weren't given essential pay bumps in pay like other essential workers were.
The job has a pension, I'm 59, so I pretty much feel trapped here, especially living in the ridiculously over priced city of Vancouver.
Anyways, this is getting a wee bit rant, but, to be fair, my name is Grant so there's that.
All of this is a way of saying it's not just white collar workers who can relate to this; it's like management where I worked saw the film and decided Bill Lumbergh was the man.
God I love this movie.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:45 AM on February 19 [25 favorites]
Around the time this movie came out, I had a friend who liked to celebrate happy hours at a joint called the Old Alligator Grill (eventually they opened another location, which was just called the Alligator Grill). This was used as the location of Chotchkie's (in that weird triangular strip mall at Lamar & Manchaca, if you're ever in the neighborhood). It was kind of a trip watching a scene shot exactly where I had once sat.
The waitstaff did not wear flair.
posted by adamrice at 11:49 AM on February 19 [7 favorites]
The waitstaff did not wear flair.
posted by adamrice at 11:49 AM on February 19 [7 favorites]
Office Space may be in my top 5 movies. May even be number 3 but ... I only know for sure 2001 and Lebowski are 1 and 2. Office Space sure is a good contender for my 3rd. Yes I'm shallow, with an air of pretention.
posted by symbioid at 11:50 AM on February 19 [3 favorites]
posted by symbioid at 11:50 AM on February 19 [3 favorites]
METAFILTER: The waitstaff did not wear flair.
posted by philip-random at 11:53 AM on February 19 [10 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 11:53 AM on February 19 [10 favorites]
The Chotchkie’s scenes are my favorite in the movie, just because it shows that every corporate environment is just as mind-numbing as Initech.
Am I right in remembering that they walk through a drainage divot at the edge of the parking lot to get there? I may be conflating it with my 15+ years of working in an identical environment.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:53 AM on February 19 [2 favorites]
Am I right in remembering that they walk through a drainage divot at the edge of the parking lot to get there? I may be conflating it with my 15+ years of working in an identical environment.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:53 AM on February 19 [2 favorites]
I wear a lanyard around my neck for my work ID in cool "LEGO" fabric that I got years ago. I put enamel pins on the lanyard that I've collected over the years: they make me happy, and are good conversation-starters sometimes. But whenever anyone mentions "flair," it always makes my day.
(I just counted: 31 pins, and no more room left -- I have even removed some to make space for new ones.)
posted by wenestvedt at 11:54 AM on February 19 [5 favorites]
(I just counted: 31 pins, and no more room left -- I have even removed some to make space for new ones.)
posted by wenestvedt at 11:54 AM on February 19 [5 favorites]
How things change! Michael Bolton is cool now. Maybe he always was, I don't know.
From one of the previouslies: Office Space with Michael Bolton
posted by clawsoon at 12:00 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
From one of the previouslies: Office Space with Michael Bolton
posted by clawsoon at 12:00 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
In a weird small-world thingy, I became friends with someone with a small role ("Office Worker") in Office Space. She's now a judge in Texas.
posted by *s at 12:39 PM on February 19 [5 favorites]
posted by *s at 12:39 PM on February 19 [5 favorites]
Reader, she married him?
posted by biffa at 12:43 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 12:43 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
I've lost count of the number of times I've used "Did you get that memo?" in a conversation. It never fails to crack people of a certain age up.
And I have a red Swingline stapler, though over the years it's gotten gradually more pink than red. It'll staple anything, it's a monster.
posted by tommasz at 12:45 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
And I have a red Swingline stapler, though over the years it's gotten gradually more pink than red. It'll staple anything, it's a monster.
posted by tommasz at 12:45 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
The other day I was watching a Maggie Mae Fish video essay about how movie studios in the '30s would make "message films" with working-class themes and heroes, and how the Unamerican Activities committee and the Hays Code people worked together after the war to basically get rid of that kind of film and blacklist the people who made them.
Office Space isn't a message film, exactly - unless the message is that of the lay-flat movement - but I can't help but wonder if its longevity and popularity have a bit of a spiritual connection to what made those old message films popular.
posted by clawsoon at 1:08 PM on February 19 [14 favorites]
Office Space isn't a message film, exactly - unless the message is that of the lay-flat movement - but I can't help but wonder if its longevity and popularity have a bit of a spiritual connection to what made those old message films popular.
posted by clawsoon at 1:08 PM on February 19 [14 favorites]
I put together a Big Lebowski-themed alleycat bike messenger race years ago, visiting every bowling alley in the city and with a special task of throwing a "ringer" from a bridge. To follow it up I wanted to do an Office Space race where competitors had to collect files onto a floppy disk from stations all over town, but couldn't find enough laptops with disk drives to make it reality. There would have been a special printer-smashing challenge in a dusty lot of course.
posted by St. Oops at 1:19 PM on February 19 [5 favorites]
posted by St. Oops at 1:19 PM on February 19 [5 favorites]
Did you hear we were doing a new cover sheet on the TPS report?
posted by notmtwain at 1:24 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
posted by notmtwain at 1:24 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
I watched Office Space in a theater half of my life ago, back when I rarely went to the theater to watch movies. A housemate (still a close friend) suggested it, and I believe it's the only film I've ever seen with him in a theater.
A few months after watching the film, I went to work for Dell as a software developer in Austin (Office Space was filmed in Austin). It was my first office job working for a large company, and it felt like I'd walked onto the movie set. I banked the generous salary, but I knew I didn't want to spend my life in that or any other cubicle farm (Initech / Penetrode). I left Dell after 6 months.
Fast forward another 6 months, and I was backpacking around Europe, looking for a job. I'd also signed up for a MetaFilter account :D
Almost 24 years later, I'm still in Europe, managing teams on software projects (from home, rather than a cubicle farm). I try to be as chill a manager as possible, valuing my people over profit and subverting capitalism from the 'inside' to the extent I can.
I find the movie isn't as well-known in Europe as in the States, and I've convinced a number of my team members here to watch it over the years, hopefully to their benefit :)
posted by syzygy at 1:39 PM on February 19 [11 favorites]
A few months after watching the film, I went to work for Dell as a software developer in Austin (Office Space was filmed in Austin). It was my first office job working for a large company, and it felt like I'd walked onto the movie set. I banked the generous salary, but I knew I didn't want to spend my life in that or any other cubicle farm (Initech / Penetrode). I left Dell after 6 months.
Fast forward another 6 months, and I was backpacking around Europe, looking for a job. I'd also signed up for a MetaFilter account :D
Almost 24 years later, I'm still in Europe, managing teams on software projects (from home, rather than a cubicle farm). I try to be as chill a manager as possible, valuing my people over profit and subverting capitalism from the 'inside' to the extent I can.
I find the movie isn't as well-known in Europe as in the States, and I've convinced a number of my team members here to watch it over the years, hopefully to their benefit :)
posted by syzygy at 1:39 PM on February 19 [11 favorites]
I think it's worth remembering that the biggest model for highly successful office comedy at the time was Dilbert (which was not at that time widely recognized as vile but in retrospect always contained problematic elements and attitudes that time only magnified.)
Office Space isn't without flaws but it has aged magnificently in comparison to its contemporary.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:03 PM on February 19 [14 favorites]
Office Space isn't without flaws but it has aged magnificently in comparison to its contemporary.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:03 PM on February 19 [14 favorites]
I remember those little miniature Red swingline staplers. pulling back the top piece to load the staplers you could fold down the staple pad and have it look like a phaser.
posted by clavdivs at 2:14 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 2:14 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
I lived and worked in Austin when they were filming Office Space, and have two distinct memories. When I first saw it, I realized the opening scene where he’s in bumper to bumper stalled traffic and the old man walks by was filmed on Braker Lane by the IBM Campus, less than a mile from the office park I worked at (also on Braker!).
And I had a friend who worked at Apple’s support center just east of I-35, next door to a single story office complex where they were filming (I think the in-office scenes). They didn’t know anything about the movie other than the name, and that Jennifer Aniston was in it. I don’t know if they ever saw her, but there was a buzz that everyone at Apple was hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
Such a great movie, and so quotable. Also, my apartment exterior looked scarily like Peter’s.
posted by gmatom at 3:13 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
And I had a friend who worked at Apple’s support center just east of I-35, next door to a single story office complex where they were filming (I think the in-office scenes). They didn’t know anything about the movie other than the name, and that Jennifer Aniston was in it. I don’t know if they ever saw her, but there was a buzz that everyone at Apple was hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
Such a great movie, and so quotable. Also, my apartment exterior looked scarily like Peter’s.
posted by gmatom at 3:13 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
I thought it was funny that they screwed up the programming so badly, like they weren't as great at their jobs as they thought. And that Peter went to another soul destroying job. Like everyone in the movie got their comeuppance. Also so quotable. I always repeat "the ratio of people to cake is too big" at any office party.
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:43 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:43 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
The second, I think, of the instant classics of the move and TV annus mirabilis that was 1999. (The first being The Sopranos which premiered in January.) Unlike The Sopranos and a bunch of the other things that came out there, I couldn't persuade anyone that Office Space was pure genius, for years.
posted by MattD at 3:44 PM on February 19
posted by MattD at 3:44 PM on February 19
the poster for the movie shoulda been a destroyed printer with the 'PC LOAD LETTER' error displayed through a cracked LCD. maybe with a baseball bat resting nearby. not saying it would have done 'titanic' numbers, but people would Know.
<shakes head in ptsd>
posted by logicpunk at 4:29 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
<shakes head in ptsd>
posted by logicpunk at 4:29 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
Almost every day is Hawaiian Shirt Day when one regularly plays Tourist on Nethack...
posted by jim in austin at 4:45 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 4:45 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
I have bought exactly two DVDs in my life: Jurassic Park, which I bought to test a 5.1 system in 2005; and Office Space, because it is the maybe the most true movie ever made.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:38 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by uncleozzy at 5:38 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
Never worked in any traditional "office" type jobs, so I first saw this film in, 2008? after I moved across the country for lvoe ( gonna leave that typo, seems fitting). I got a job with a big company, doing food stuff, but...ooof.
The film was truly resonant; the pettiness and infighting were all there even though it wasn't about spreadsheets and meetings. The actual performance of work had nothing to do with the company mission; it was about worshipping the founder, the regional manger, and the store manager. It had loads of in-house buzzwords and practices.
posted by winesong at 5:48 PM on February 19
The film was truly resonant; the pettiness and infighting were all there even though it wasn't about spreadsheets and meetings. The actual performance of work had nothing to do with the company mission; it was about worshipping the founder, the regional manger, and the store manager. It had loads of in-house buzzwords and practices.
posted by winesong at 5:48 PM on February 19
David Herman (Michael Bolton) does a perfect Kermit scrunch in the movie.
posted by credulous at 5:53 PM on February 19
posted by credulous at 5:53 PM on February 19
I remember those little miniature Red swingline staplers. pulling back the top piece to load the staplers you could fold down the staple pad and have it look like a phaser.
And you can flip the foot open and now it's a TOS communicator!
posted by Ickster at 5:59 PM on February 19
And you can flip the foot open and now it's a TOS communicator!
posted by Ickster at 5:59 PM on February 19
THIS IS A FUCK!!!!!!!!
Also: Office Space with bunnies!
posted by gtrwolf at 6:09 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
Also: Office Space with bunnies!
posted by gtrwolf at 6:09 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]
I think it's worth remembering that the biggest model for highly successful office comedy at the time was Dilbert (which was not at that time widely recognized as vile but in retrospect always contained problematic elements and attitudes that time only magnified.)
Dilbert is in hell, because nothing ever changes. Or maybe it has, because Scott "plannedchaos" Adams has moved it behind a paywall, and who'd want to pay to take a look at what is likely even crappier crap? In Office Space, things change, and even if Peter ends up shoveling burnt remnants of Initech into a dumpster, at least no one asks him if he has a case of the Mondays. ("I do believe that'd get your ass kicked.")
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:23 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
Dilbert is in hell, because nothing ever changes. Or maybe it has, because Scott "plannedchaos" Adams has moved it behind a paywall, and who'd want to pay to take a look at what is likely even crappier crap? In Office Space, things change, and even if Peter ends up shoveling burnt remnants of Initech into a dumpster, at least no one asks him if he has a case of the Mondays. ("I do believe that'd get your ass kicked.")
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:23 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
One of the coworkers at my first professional job gave me the VHS tape of this when he was left (which he quit for his own mental health). I'd seen it before, of course, he was an incredibly supportive person at that job, which was toxic (it was a small daily paper and we were all underpaid 20somethings). I think it was just his way of saying "you're better than this and we both know it."
I also had a job with an extremely awful boss who thought "weird" bowties were a personality (if you're in the DC area, you know the type) and liked bringing up his red Swingline stapler, like he was somehow Milton when he was really Lumbergh in reality. His misunderstanding the world was exhausting, especially since he seemed to work very little but liked to tell me how much he was working. He also got paid three times as much as I did. (He also wanted to fire me but I did too good of a job that he could never find an excuse.)
posted by edencosmic at 6:44 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
I also had a job with an extremely awful boss who thought "weird" bowties were a personality (if you're in the DC area, you know the type) and liked bringing up his red Swingline stapler, like he was somehow Milton when he was really Lumbergh in reality. His misunderstanding the world was exhausting, especially since he seemed to work very little but liked to tell me how much he was working. He also got paid three times as much as I did. (He also wanted to fire me but I did too good of a job that he could never find an excuse.)
posted by edencosmic at 6:44 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
So I just moved to Australia a few months ago and only 2 of my coworkers have even heard of it and only one has seen it (and appropriately reviewed it as "absolutely brilliant"). Now everyone knows they need to watch this movie. Thus, my contribution to cultural exchange.
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:56 PM on February 19 [8 favorites]
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:56 PM on February 19 [8 favorites]
Doing the Lord's work down under, LizBoBiz!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:10 PM on February 19
posted by wenestvedt at 7:10 PM on February 19
I was at the dentist, and she said, "why don't you go ahead and rinse," and all I could think about was Gary Cole in suspenders holding a coffee cup.
In my role as a team lead, I try never to fail to preface any request with "just go ahead and..." So far few have remarked on it.
posted by Gelatin at 4:43 AM on February 20
In my role as a team lead, I try never to fail to preface any request with "just go ahead and..." So far few have remarked on it.
posted by Gelatin at 4:43 AM on February 20
MetaFilter: Yes I'm shallow, with an air of pretention.
posted by Gelatin at 4:59 AM on February 20 [3 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 4:59 AM on February 20 [3 favorites]
Last comment, I promise.
Fun fact: Years ago I was in a Twitch stream of a Star Wars: Edge of the Empire campaign, and I played a protocol droid whose character hook was "C-3PO except he got the same treatment as the guy from Office Space."
C-3PO: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1
C-3TP ("Setup"): Oh, hey, that looks dangerous. And fun.
posted by Gelatin at 5:09 AM on February 20
Fun fact: Years ago I was in a Twitch stream of a Star Wars: Edge of the Empire campaign, and I played a protocol droid whose character hook was "C-3PO except he got the same treatment as the guy from Office Space."
C-3PO: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1
C-3TP ("Setup"): Oh, hey, that looks dangerous. And fun.
posted by Gelatin at 5:09 AM on February 20
While infinitely quotable, "PC load letter? What the fuck does that mean?" is a line and delivery that speaks to my soul.
A point about this movie's universal appeal: I saw it when it came out cinemas in Finland with my dad and he thought it was hilarious and highly accurate to his experience of workplaces.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:17 AM on February 20 [3 favorites]
A point about this movie's universal appeal: I saw it when it came out cinemas in Finland with my dad and he thought it was hilarious and highly accurate to his experience of workplaces.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:17 AM on February 20 [3 favorites]
I watched it last night with my 14 and 17-year-old sons, and they both enjoyed the movie. It also put the fear of working in an office into them. They kept asking me if my office job was really like that.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:24 AM on February 20 [2 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:24 AM on February 20 [2 favorites]
Pair it with The Brady Bunch Movie for Gary Cole at his peak, and imagine that the Brady family is Lumbergh's secret life
posted by credulous at 8:32 AM on February 20 [4 favorites]
posted by credulous at 8:32 AM on February 20 [4 favorites]
What makes "Office Space" an enduring classic is that it is a film so obviously made by someone who had spent time in the trenches. So often work/office scenes in TV & movies, with their typical "WE NEED TO LAND THE JOHNSON ACCOUNT!" nonsense, exposes that the writers have never spent a day working a typical white collar office job. Even "The Office", which I generally really enjoyed otherwise, left a lot to be desired when dealing with the actual work elements of the show.
Office Space got the subtle things right: the endless gatherings for soulless birthday celebrations in the breakroom, equipment that never works right and is never fixed making it hard to do your job, useless consultants brought in at exorbitant costs for efficiency and improvements who bring neither (this was an endless source of frustration at my last job - we never had the budget for this, that, or the other but seemingly had an overflowing budget to hire consultants). Even parts that could seem hyperbolic ring true. For years I thought the bit about the TPS reports was over the top satire. Then at my most recent job I sat in an overly long, divisive, hot-tempered meeting involving much of the company's most senior management about how we should format trip reports that led to much anger and hurt feelings and I realized I was actually living in Office Space.
I remember how comforting this movie was when I first saw it and I still feel this way every time I watch it. It is that sense that "Somebody out there gets it".
posted by The Gooch at 9:23 AM on February 20 [5 favorites]
Office Space got the subtle things right: the endless gatherings for soulless birthday celebrations in the breakroom, equipment that never works right and is never fixed making it hard to do your job, useless consultants brought in at exorbitant costs for efficiency and improvements who bring neither (this was an endless source of frustration at my last job - we never had the budget for this, that, or the other but seemingly had an overflowing budget to hire consultants). Even parts that could seem hyperbolic ring true. For years I thought the bit about the TPS reports was over the top satire. Then at my most recent job I sat in an overly long, divisive, hot-tempered meeting involving much of the company's most senior management about how we should format trip reports that led to much anger and hurt feelings and I realized I was actually living in Office Space.
I remember how comforting this movie was when I first saw it and I still feel this way every time I watch it. It is that sense that "Somebody out there gets it".
posted by The Gooch at 9:23 AM on February 20 [5 favorites]
I have seen this movie many times, but each time, I winced with each laugh. I would tell friends "it's a little too real."
posted by emjaybee at 9:53 AM on February 20 [2 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 9:53 AM on February 20 [2 favorites]
I think it's worth remembering that the biggest model for highly successful office comedy at the time was Dilbert (which was not at that time widely recognized as vile but in retrospect always contained problematic elements and attitudes that time only magnified.)
Scott Adams is pretty vile and one could certainly see signs of him being a crank of some variety by the mid 90s, especially if one read any of his extra-Dilbert writing, I am not sure that I buy this “in retrospect” as far as the decade of Dilbert comics that proceeded Office Space.
And while I’d take Judge’s body of work over Adams’ any day, he unquestionably has some Problematic entries in there.
posted by atoxyl at 10:03 AM on February 20
Scott Adams is pretty vile and one could certainly see signs of him being a crank of some variety by the mid 90s, especially if one read any of his extra-Dilbert writing, I am not sure that I buy this “in retrospect” as far as the decade of Dilbert comics that proceeded Office Space.
And while I’d take Judge’s body of work over Adams’ any day, he unquestionably has some Problematic entries in there.
posted by atoxyl at 10:03 AM on February 20
There are activist investors circling my company right now, doing the things activist investors do. They have gotten two of their people onto the board and are "evaluating" my division.
We've started calling them "The Bobs."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:21 AM on February 20 [5 favorites]
We've started calling them "The Bobs."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:21 AM on February 20 [5 favorites]
"The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care. "
Love the Bobs
posted by Windopaene at 11:17 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]
Love the Bobs
posted by Windopaene at 11:17 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]
And now, from the grassy knoll, a second activist investor group. I shit you not.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:34 AM on February 20 [6 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:34 AM on February 20 [6 favorites]
Mod note: Look, we do want to express ourselves, ok? We just don't need 37 pieces of flair to do it, we'll just add this post to the Sidebar and Best of blog and call it a day.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:42 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:42 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]
I'm going to need you to add the "OfficeSpace" tag to this post. That would be great, mmmkay? Thaaanks!
posted by Pronoiac at 1:58 PM on February 22
posted by Pronoiac at 1:58 PM on February 22
25 years ago I was saving the world from Y2K. I drove a pretty white pickup, wore nice jeans and boots, shirts with a collar but not a tie. I looked like A Citizen, cops called me sir, I was in the gym 3 times a week, blowing my hearing out listening to Nirvana, it was comical when some kid in the gym could not get it to compute that some Eddie Bauer looking fuck was trashing his ears with Kurt's screaming howls of pain and joy. I loaded ammo for my .44 magnum revolver and 9mm pistol, was at the range every week -- I'm a dead shot with that .44, the bullets stuffed with so much powder it's like setting off an M80 except moreso, it's lots of fun. Clinton was President, when Project For New American Century came calling he smiled nicely and showed those pieces of dog-shit the door. Gasoline was 00.87 a gallon, I was making bank on Y2K, times were good. This is the place where I'm supposed to complain that Austin isn't Austin anymore but the entire point of Austin is that it isn't Austin anymore and never has been nor ever will be, and that is it's strength but we're all supposed to look all frowny and gaseous and pretend different.
I didn't see Office Space. It seems that I ought to.
posted by dancestoblue at 10:23 PM on February 22 [3 favorites]
I didn't see Office Space. It seems that I ought to.
posted by dancestoblue at 10:23 PM on February 22 [3 favorites]
“He's a straight shooter with upper management written all over him!”
posted by ec2y at 12:54 AM on February 27
posted by ec2y at 12:54 AM on February 27
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They took that sucker to an auto detailer.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:51 AM on February 19 [42 favorites]