Working an office job has its perks, but in the world of Office Space, the offices at Initech are an existential hell scape rife with faulty printers, mumbling Miltons, and of course Lumbergh. While Mike Judge’s 1999 soirée into office life may be a little hyperbolic, there’s a lot to the movie that rings true to office culture to this day, which leads us to believe that he’s had to have had some firsthand experience filing TPS reports at some point in his career before hitting it big. Listen, we’re not saying all office jobs are like this, but Office Space’s cult following tells us that there is some truth to the office comedy that we all know and love.
Useless Reports That Are Processed For the Sake of Being Processed
Corporate redundancies are simply a fact of life. Peter Gibbons knows this, and he absolutely hates filing TPS reports– especially since that memo came out telling him about the new required cover page that needs to accompany them. What’s implied, however, is that these reports are generated on the computer and sent off to accounting, but they still need to be printed off and shoved through the corporate pipeline for review. Peter said it himself; this work is automated, and in a given week he probably only actually does 15 minutes of real actual work in between long periods of “spacing out.”
The Painful Bureaucracy of Having Eight Bosses
When Peter sits down with “the Bobs” for his evaluation, he makes it clear that he’s sick of having eight different bosses. And the Bobs light up like a Christmas tree. Sure, Peter just proudly confessed to showing up and doing the bare minimum, but the Bobs were hired by Initech to help trim some of the financial fat that’s keeping profits down, which immediately leads them to review Lumbergh about whether he’s motivating his workers. Think about it, what does eight bosses mean? It means eight high salaries for positions that are clearly overlapping in reach and authority. The unspoken reason behind giving Peter a promotion is that he just saved his company a load of money by flippantly complaining about being bothered by his superiors whenever he makes a small mistake.
The Desire to Absolutely Annihilate a Malfunctioning Printer
Technology is our friend… until it isn’t. Is there anything more satisfying than watching Peter, Michael, and Samir beat the ever-living heck out of the printer that has been the bane of their existence since the opening office scene? The paper tray is loaded correctly, the spools are lined up, the network is fine– heck, Michael and Samir are some of the best programmers at Initech, but they still can’t get the damn thing to work! After orchestrating digital fraud (inspired by Superman III), Peter confesses to his newly laid off friends that he got them a going away present. The combination of Michael and Samir’s grief from getting laid-off, years of pent-up aggression towards the always malfunctioning device, and a killer gangster rap soundtrack leads to an epic Sopranos-style beat-down at an undisclosed location. In other words, the infamous printer scene from Office Space helped the film secure its legacy as one of the best workplace comedies.
Feeling Trapped in a Job That's Unfulfilling
At the heart of Office Space is the existential dread of “day in, day out.” Peter describes it as every day being worse than the day before it, therefore making every single day the worst day of his life. It’s easy to fall into this trap, especially when you’re going to the same place every day because you’re stuck in a dead-end career. The reason the audience roots for Peter eventually resorting to white collar crime is because it’s a sick form of wish fulfillment that is satisfying to watch. It’s even better when Milton finally burns down the entire Initech office over a number of perceived slights, namely Lumbergh taking his red Swingline stapler away.
Corporate Downsizing
We mentioned that the Bobs were hired to help Initech downsize, and the unfortunate reality is that this really happens. Roles get centralized, and companies merge. Merging leads to an oversaturated talent pool, and then employees get laid off to get rid of redundancies. This rings all too true in 2023, as we see record layoffs and companies that were once thought to be too big to fail going belly up. Office Space sums up Peter’s grief during his first interview with the Bobs when he flatly says, “Good luck with your layoffs, all right? I hope your firings go really well.” The humor from this scene comes from the fact that everybody knows what the Bobs are there for, but nobody wants to say it, especially to their faces.
The Dreaded Morning Commute
There’s not much to say about this. When the lane you switch over immediately comes to a grinding halt, and the old man using his walker on the sidewalk is moving faster than you, the urge to leave your vehicle and go home like Michael Douglas in Falling Down is all too real. It’s not so bad if you have a decent stereo, but one could only listen to so many podcasts throughout the week! If you have a friend who has a long daily commute, just give them $20– they’re having a bad time.
The cynical view of office culture in Office Space rings true in 2023 just as much as it did back in 1999 when it was released. Sure, there are more hybrid jobs these days, but it’s safe to say that everybody has their own Lumbergh to bear, which is why the film still has such a huge cult following.