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Film offers comic cultural take but falls short
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“OFFICE Space” is a movie that despite some flaws has had amazing staying power because it strikes a nerve in the zeitgeist.
This isn’t the first time “Office Space” auteur Mike Judge accomplished that mercurial feat: In the mid-1990s he made TV cartoon “Beavis and Butt-head.” That show featured vignettes of the titular idiotic but mostly harmless duo as they navigated the 1990s curious mix of grunge insolence, apathy and pop positivity.
They defined what it meant to be true slackers, with absent authority figures and an aimless youth. Although it can only be implied, “Office Space” is what happens if that sort of suburban youth submitted to gentrification, got a community college education and settled into a lower middle-class adult life.
And once again, Judge strikes a nerve.
“Office Space” nails the sort of forced positivity in modern culture, which is only that much more grating in contrast to the actual drudgery of the daily grind.
Numerous examples of this are done perfectly, and perhaps most famously are the pieces of “flair” that the Jennifer Aniston-played character is forced to wear at her thankless job as a server in a restaurant.
The flair — buttons and the like attached to her work uniform — are meant to be little tokens of personal, positive expression. However, with a horrible job, and the regimentation of forced expression, they symbolize a mocking absurdity.
These sort of details are all over “Office Space” and are magnificent. How they are strung together is the problem.
The movie’s plot is loose and fairly uninspiring. Ron Livingston’s everyman has a change of heart after being hypnotized. Doesn’t that sound pretty silly? With any movie, you might overlook one absurdity. However things don’t end there.
He and his buddies decide to steal from their company in a plot they admit is lifted from the movie “Superman III.” It’s a mocking point, but ultimately self-effacing.
Finally, the biggest problem is a philosophical one. Without giving too much away, “Office Space” ends with a rejection of values. In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener,” which offers a similar plot to “Office Space,” this ends in tragedy. Here, things are much rosier. Should they be?
Nevertheless, “Office Space” offers flawless vignettes of modern work culture that define their place and time. If only they were connected more effectively.
(Brian Offenther is a Shanghai-based DJ/freelancer.)
‘Office Space’ (1999)
• Where to see it: Dada, 115 Xingfu Rd (near Fahuazhen Rd)
• When to see it: July 8, 9pm
• Price: Free
• What to see: Ron Livingston plays a guy with a mind numbing cubicle job alongside a variety of anti-social coworkers and a condescending boss. After possibly being hypnotized at the behest of his girlfriend, he turns over a new philosophy: He stops caring. “Office Space” is a modern-day cult classic.
• Brian’s score: 8/10
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