by Robert Scocchi
| Published
Mike Judge Office space is one of those popular films that has staying power because of how bitingly it mocks corporate culture through its satire. Anyone who's ever had to stagnate in a shirt and tie (and properly creased pants) just to sit in a windowless room full of cubicles shouldn't suspend much disbelief when Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) steals a printer from Initech so he can… On standing litters in the middle of an empty field with his co-workers after they found out they were going to be laid off from their jobs. But the one Office space A plot point I've never heard anyone talk about concerns “The Bobs”, and how Peter's initial encounter with them wasn't just to air a bunch of petty grievances while justifying his lack of engagement as an employee, but rather an accurate representation of how companies at Initech's level operate in a inefficient.
Moreover, the Bobs – who are so deceptively intelligent that they seem like complete idiots – are 100 percent correct in their assessment that Peter Gibbons is a “straight shooter with upper management written all over him.”
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Office Space introduces us to Bob Slydell (John C. McGinley) and Bob Porter (Paul Willson), known to Peter as “The Bobs”, as two consultants brought in by Initech to help make Initech's day-to-day operations more functional. Efficiently while maximizing profits (read: laying off a lot of people). It doesn't take long until Tom Smikowski (Richard Riehl) “jumps to conclusions” that he's going to lose his job, which puts Michael Bolton (David Herrmann, not the pop singer) and Samir Naginanagar (Ajay Naidu) on edge because they're hard workers and are willing to cut back. Their heads and doing hard work as programmers for fear of losing their jobs as well.
Having worked in middle management as an auditor for a company that actually processes TPS reports (which stands for Transaction Processing Summary, by the way), I developed a new appreciation for The Bobs in… Office space After living the worst five years of my professional life. Consultants like The Bobs are not a work of fiction, and are hired by real companies for the sole purpose of downsizing operations in order to cut costs and appease shareholders.
Peter's mental state
Peter's character arches in Office space It's simple: He has a session with a hypnotherapist named Dr. Swanson (Michael McShane), who puts him in a trance that makes him not care about his job anymore. Dr. Swanson has a heart attack and dies while Peter is in a state of complete bliss, meaning this is the version of Peter who meets The Bobs and sets up the rest of the events Office spaces Conspiracy in motion.
No longer afraid of losing his job, Peter quits work, only to return when he needs to retrieve his personal items from his cabin, not yet realizing how difficult it is to unconsciously attach them to the man.
Walk us through a typical day
When Peter first met The Bobs in Office spaceMichael and Samir are certain that he will be fired immediately for shirking work, and there is no compelling reason to believe otherwise. When the Bobs ask Peter to walk them through a typical day at Initech, Peter's rant, which comes from a completely careless place with no real motive other than to be an idiot, actually indicates every incompetence the two consultants look for in order to do their own jobs.
On the surface, Peter enjoys making fun of the counselors, and that's all he's doing in his mind. However, the summary of his daily life tells The Bobs so much that they practically jump across the table to shake his hand and give him a promotion when he's done. If you go through every point Peter mentioned Office spaceIt's no wonder Bob's team likes Peter's attitude, as aloof as he may seem.
Peter comes in 15 minutes late every day, entering through the side door so no one will call him. He got away with it, which tells The Bobs that managers like Bill Lomberg (Gary Cole), they do not monitor their employees, and they avoid work themselves.
Peter “sits at his desk” and does “about 15 minutes of real, actual work”, which also goes unnoticed by upper management; He is still on the payroll and has job security. Peter may be exaggerating how little he's working to get a promotion from The Bobs, but he's actually inadvertently telling them that his entire department isn't essential to Initech's day-to-day operations, leading to both Michael and Samir being laid off.
Explaining that if he “works hard and Initech ships a few more units, he won't see an extra dime,” Peter tells The Bobs in so many words that there is no incentive program in place, such as bonuses or commissions, to aggressively reward workers for going the extra mile.
Salary redundancy
At this point in Peter's tumultuous saga Office spacehe still hasn't delivered the finishing blow, which comes in the form of telling The Bobs that he has eight different bosses. As soon as Peter drops this bomb, Bob Slidell's jaw drops, and he leans forward to get more information. Again, in Peter's mind, he's just complaining about why he hates working at Initech because it's micromanaged to unimaginable levels, but to The Bobs he's just pointed out a massive pay raise.
Remember, the only reason Initech hired efficiency experts was so they could properly downsize the company and get rid of non-essential workers. Although it was never explicitly stated, the consultants immediately put Bill Lomberg in the hot seat and asked him how much time each week he spent reviewing TPS reports because they wanted to know if his job was necessary after sitting down with Peter.
In other words, Peter is completely unaware that he did all of The Bobs' work for them, which is why they were so eager to promote him and give him stock options even though everyone thinks he's the next employee to get the axe. Even if Peter gets a big promotion, it's a net gain for Initech because they could potentially lay off a number of highly paid executives without even losing what they bring to the table.
The Bobs know this, and their intelligence becomes apparent when they're still exploiting their consulting contract with Initech into the third act, even after Peter has given them all the information they'll need to wrap things up and move on to the next gig.
The subtle genius of office space
You don't need to be an office drone to fully enjoy it Office spacebut getting inside knowledge on how real-life Bobs operate in the corporate world will increase your enjoyment by a significant margin. On the surface, The Bobs can be enjoyed as useful idiots who want to promote a hothead who hates his job, which is both insulting to his co-workers and inherently funny. The Bobs, on the other hand, are a lot smarter than they let on, as they base every business decision they make for the rest of the film on Peter's invaluable information that came from a place of petty frustration.
As of this writing, you can stream Office space He is a holo.
