Office Space

Office Space is a 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge, loosely based on his 1991 animated short film of the same name. It pokes fun at work life in a typical software company during the 1990s by portraying individuals who are entirely fed up with their jobs. The movie was filmed in both Austin and Dallas, Texas. Although the setting is not stated explicitly, a reference to Las Colinas, Texas, implies that the setting is the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Fan Reaction

Besides being an often spot-on parody of the work environment typical of many corporations (especially those that are highly technical), the movie is notable for introducing several phrases into the office vernacular. Examples of these are the "TPS report" (a satirical example of the type of mindless paperwork done in the modern office), "pound-me-in-the-ass prison", and the term "PC Load Letter" (an actual laser printer message indicating the printer must be loaded with letter-sized paper) as a catch-all for any nonsensical error message. The Initech company name is sometimes used as a placeholder for a PHB-driven company. When Peter forgets to include a cover sheet on his TPS report, he is berated repeatedly, "Did you get that memo?", another catchphrase introduced by the movie. Also memorable is the string of non-sensical profanities uttered by Naidu's "Samir" character (who, in the story line, hails from Saudi Arabia). Most notable among these is, "mother shitter, son of a ass." The Michael Bolton character also introduced to a mass audience the classic profanity, "ass clown."

Related Topics:
TPS report - Mindless paperwork - Pound-me-in-the-ass prison - PC Load Letter - PHB

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Additionally, the film popularized red Swingline staplers. At the time, Swingline did not offer such a product (the one used in the movie was a regular black stapler painted red), but demand related to the movie's release caused Swingline to offer it for sale on its web site.

Related Topics:
Swingline - Stapler

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The movie is famous for its "Office Machine Beat-Up Scene", in which Peter, Samir and Michael take out their frustrations on a printer prone to breaking down. The scene appealed to many workers who are frustrated by unreliable technology, and led to the phrase "Office Space-style" as a term for destroying equipment in this style, e.g. "My computer had so many problems last night, I wanted to go beat it up Office Space style..." or "I wanted to go 'Office Space' on that printer." Movie fans noticed that this scene is a visual reference to a violent episode in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas.

Related Topics:
Martin Scorsese - Goodfellas

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