Office Space Essay

Not everyone absolutely hates their job, but for those that do, writer-director Mike Judge created something that might make your day a little less dull. Office space is a cult movie by all definitions, it was released in 1999 and only grossed around 4 million dollars, however a few years later this 90’s workplace satire made it to Fox’s top 20 best-selling DVDs. The film was based on the Milton cartoons created for Saturday night live in the early 1990’s. Milton, based on a coworker Judge had, later evolved into the despised boss, Lumbergh. Although the film had a rocky start, with a little workplace comedy, it has become relatable to desk workers all over America.
Office Space stars Ron Livingston as Peter, a man in his late 20’s who is more than dissatisfied with life. Not only does he have issues with his girlfriend, but he absolutely loathes his job at Intitech. The movie starts on a Monday, and apparently Peter has a case of the Monday’s. He is nagged by multiple bosses because he forgot the cover on the TPS reports and listens to an overly excited woman direct callers on the phone in the cubicle next to him. With the persuasion of his so called girlfriend, Peter is hypnotized, and as the hypnotist has a massive heart attack, Peter is left in a careless state. He stops showing up for work and answering his phone when his hated supervisor, Bill Lumbergh, calls to remind him to be at work to spend more time with his new girlfriend played by Jennifer Aniston. Surprisingly, he ends up with a promotion from the very guys that are laying off his office buddies, Michael Bolton and Samir. Mike is a rapper obsessed computer programmer, as well as Samir, who has a temper shorter than a fuse. The three attempt to make a virus to steal money from the company, when their plan takes a turn for the worse, ending with the building going up in flames.
Much of the film takes place in the corporate area of a town we don’t really learn much about. Other than the restaurants across the endless parking lots that the gang travels to, we don’t find out much about the type of area that the characters are living in. Possibly this is because Mike Judge wanted us to have a sense of wonder about the setting, or maybe he wanted us to focus on the context of the movie itself rather than where everything was taking place. Mike Judge said in an article, “"There were a lot of people who wanted me to set this movie in Wall Street, but I wanted it very unglamorous, the kind of bleak work situation like I was in.” We do see the bleak work situation—the office. The office is nothing but cubicles lined up from wall to wall, with the exception of the one office we see in the film belonging to Lumbergh.
Judge uses a great variety of characters in this film to portray the real life of working in an office. Our main character Peter, played by Ron Livingston, is the everyday office worker in America. He goes to work simply to make money and could care less about the work he is even getting done. When setting down for an interview with the Bobs, two men in charge of downsizing Intitech, Peter tells them, “I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.” I’m sure many of us could say the same thing today, however none of us have the courage to stand up for ourselves like that for the fear of losing our jobs.
Peter’s friends Mike and Samir are played by two very

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