The film "Office Space" in based on a company called Initech, a cubicle-styled software development company. The premise of the movie is to show the typical unmotivated, unsatisfied American worker with a comedic, fictional twist. .
1. The tagline of this film is "work sucks." Describe some of the workers' coping mechanisms and resistance strategies both inside and outside of the workplace (make sure to reference at least five). The tagline of this film is "work sucks". There is no message behind this to decode, it simply means that the main characters do not like their jobs. Therefore, many of the employees are lacking a job satisfaction, so they have no choice but to look for coping mechanisms. A coping mechanism is some sort of way that someone may relieve their internal and external stress. The films main character, Peter Gibbons, has several. Near the start of the film Peter is talking with some of his coworkers by the photocopier, they are discussing how they feel about Initech. Peter says that you should imagine winning a million dollars, and whatever you would do with your free time is the career you should obtain. For example, he says if you would fix old cars with your free time, you should become an auto mechanic. Another example of a coping mechanism used by Peter is hypnotherapy. His girlfriend at the time suggested he try this as a way to cope with his stress of work, in order to save their relationship. He asks the hypnotist if he can be hypnotized to think he had been fishing all day as opposed to being at work. These methods allow Peter to cope with his job by imagining himself elsewhere. .
Another character, Milton, is very anxious and set in his routines. The boss, Lumbergh, is constantly asking Milton to switch desks. This clearly puts him outside of his comfort zone. At the beginning of the movie Peter asks Milton to turn his radio down, and Milton refuses.