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Movies | Philosophy
‘Office Space’ and Bullshit Jobs
At a certain point in ‘Office Space’ Peter (our POV character) walks into the titular office and attends a meeting with consultants who are evaluating the firm and its efficiency. The consultants are trying to get a feel of how the employees spend their day at work, and Peter gladly details his regular workday for them.
A workday for Peter consists of him always coming into work 15 minutes late, and using the side door to avoid being seen by his boss. Then he spaces out for an hour at the start of each day, and for another hour after lunch. When prodded about what he does exactly during the day, Peter says something truly fascinating. He says that he spends most of his day making it seem like he is working, when in reality he isn’t working. Then he follows it up with this: “I’d say in a given week, I probably do about 15 minutes of real actual work”. The consultants are shocked and confused and ask for clarification and so Peter begins to explain TPS reports, and the scene jump-fades to the end of the meeting.
The TPS reports form a symbolic through-line of the film’s themes on the mundanity and soul-crushing nature of office work. At the start of the film, Bill Lumbergh — one of Peter’s many bosses — comes over and tells him that he needs to put the cover sheets on the new TPS reports, Peter says that he forgot, Bill asks him if he got the memo, Peter says that he did, and Bill reminds him once more that he needs to make sure to put the cover sheets on the new TPS reports.
Then, Dom — another of Peter’s bosses — talks to him about the covers on the TPS reports. He then asks Peter if he got the memo. Peter says he got the memo, and Dom repeats that they are putting new cover sheets on the TPS reports and reminds him to do that — again. Dom then leaves, after which Peter’s work phone rings and he is asked on the phone if he has the memo about the cover sheets for the TPS reports. After this whole ordeal, he says that he wants to leave and a colleague makes fun of him for “having the case of the Mondays”. This upsets Peter and so he decides to get coffee with his friends, at the end of which, before they need to go back to work, they ask him about the TPS reports, once more and again.
