Steven Brence
10-08-2009, 11:29 AM
1. What is so offensive about “a case of the Mondays”, Hawaiian shirt day at Initech, Michael Bolton (the singer, not the character), the “flair” at Chotchkies, etc.? Is the film suggesting that there is something common to these?
2. Why does Stan (Chotchkies manager) keep hassling Joanna about her flair even though she is wearing the required amount? What does he really want from her when he suggests that she should want to “express” herself?
3. Why do all of Peter’s eight bosses tell him that he needs to put a cover sheet on his TPS reports, despite the fact that he has already been repeatedly told, and even after he has informed them that he simply forgot? Why do they still apparently waste their time?
4. Why does Michael roll up his window, lock his door, and turn down his favored rap music when the African-American man walks by his car selling flowers? What does this say about his relationship to the gangster and adventurer imagery he surrounds himself with?
5. Why do all of the characters’ apartments not only look the same, but look strikingly similar to the Initech office?
6. What does it say about Peter that he never previously had an answer to the question as to what he would do if he had a million dollars, and that he ultimately settles upon just affirming that lack of an answer by determining that he wants to do “nothing”? Does he have any interests at all, besides first Anne, then Joanna, and “Kung Fu”, a television show about a man trying to find himself in an unfamiliar land? What do you imagine he and Joanna talk about when they’re alone? Sure, how much they hate their jobs, but what else, “Kung Fu”?
7. Although Peter Gibbons expresses the ardent desire to “do nothing,” isn’t he already effectively doing nothing, as evidenced by his admission to the Bobs that he only does 15 minutes of actual work per week? If that is the case, and he is getting what he wants, why is he so miserable? Should he want to do nothing? Should we?
8. Isn’t the judge in Peter’s own dreams, who accuses him of having lived a “trite and meaningless life”, correct in that judgment? To what degree would that judgment, in so far as we might identify with Peter and his desires, also apply to us?
9. Should we really hate Bill Lumbergh, or just feel sorry for him? He is, after all, at the Initech office all weekend too and appears to have little else to do besides things like needlessly reminding those below him to put cover sheets on their TPS reports.
10. When the red stapler is taken from Milton, what is actually taken from him? Does he get that back at the end?
11. Did Tom Smykowski really get lucky by being nearly crushed by a drunk driver, as he and others in the film seem to think? Why do they think that’s the case?
12. Does Peter’s adoption of a blue-collar job at the end suggest a happy ending? Has he really escaped office space? Is his new role model, Lawrence, happy?
13. How should we feel about this key bit of dialogue?:
JOANNA: Peter, most people don't like their jobs. But you go out there and find something that makes you happy.
PETER: Yeah. I may never be happy with my job. But if I could be with you, I
think that I could be happy with my life. But if you could give it another shot, I promise, Joanna -
JOANNA: Oh shut up.
Should we give up all hope for fulfilling work and just find someone with whom we can complain and watch “Kung Fu”?
2. Why does Stan (Chotchkies manager) keep hassling Joanna about her flair even though she is wearing the required amount? What does he really want from her when he suggests that she should want to “express” herself?
3. Why do all of Peter’s eight bosses tell him that he needs to put a cover sheet on his TPS reports, despite the fact that he has already been repeatedly told, and even after he has informed them that he simply forgot? Why do they still apparently waste their time?
4. Why does Michael roll up his window, lock his door, and turn down his favored rap music when the African-American man walks by his car selling flowers? What does this say about his relationship to the gangster and adventurer imagery he surrounds himself with?
5. Why do all of the characters’ apartments not only look the same, but look strikingly similar to the Initech office?
6. What does it say about Peter that he never previously had an answer to the question as to what he would do if he had a million dollars, and that he ultimately settles upon just affirming that lack of an answer by determining that he wants to do “nothing”? Does he have any interests at all, besides first Anne, then Joanna, and “Kung Fu”, a television show about a man trying to find himself in an unfamiliar land? What do you imagine he and Joanna talk about when they’re alone? Sure, how much they hate their jobs, but what else, “Kung Fu”?
7. Although Peter Gibbons expresses the ardent desire to “do nothing,” isn’t he already effectively doing nothing, as evidenced by his admission to the Bobs that he only does 15 minutes of actual work per week? If that is the case, and he is getting what he wants, why is he so miserable? Should he want to do nothing? Should we?
8. Isn’t the judge in Peter’s own dreams, who accuses him of having lived a “trite and meaningless life”, correct in that judgment? To what degree would that judgment, in so far as we might identify with Peter and his desires, also apply to us?
9. Should we really hate Bill Lumbergh, or just feel sorry for him? He is, after all, at the Initech office all weekend too and appears to have little else to do besides things like needlessly reminding those below him to put cover sheets on their TPS reports.
10. When the red stapler is taken from Milton, what is actually taken from him? Does he get that back at the end?
11. Did Tom Smykowski really get lucky by being nearly crushed by a drunk driver, as he and others in the film seem to think? Why do they think that’s the case?
12. Does Peter’s adoption of a blue-collar job at the end suggest a happy ending? Has he really escaped office space? Is his new role model, Lawrence, happy?
13. How should we feel about this key bit of dialogue?:
JOANNA: Peter, most people don't like their jobs. But you go out there and find something that makes you happy.
PETER: Yeah. I may never be happy with my job. But if I could be with you, I
think that I could be happy with my life. But if you could give it another shot, I promise, Joanna -
JOANNA: Oh shut up.
Should we give up all hope for fulfilling work and just find someone with whom we can complain and watch “Kung Fu”?