As you probably know by now, me and Allie met while working together as event managers, a career that we both have aspirations to continue (for our sins!). So while discussing our career plans over a in depth text conversation we (as usual) made ourselves laugh hysterically and decided we should write a blog post about it! This is how the conversation went:
Jenna: The events jobs in Birmingham are poop, all the good work is in London! Allie: That's true. Jenna: Ditch Colin, I'll ditch the house and we'll get a flat in London (Sorry Colin!) Jenna: Nooooooo don't do that I like Colin Allie: Haha! Leave me behind then Jenna: Noooooooo Allie: Aww fanks Allie: Stuff this anyway, lets move to the States Allie: work the Oscars instead Jenna: YES! Meet you at the airport in an hour! Sell the cars for rent money! haha! Allie: I'm already f*"*ing here Allie: TICKET PLEASE. No excuse me Domhnall you need to come down this carpet. Be with you in a moment Mr Issac. Jenna: Mr DiCaprio, this way please Allie: hahahahahahahaha Jenna: I'm making this into to blog post TODAY!!
We need help!!
Thought maybe I should throw some movie related stuff into this (you know to make it relevant!!). So here are my favourite work related movies:
If I ever thought I could be a PA or an assistant then I swiftly changed my mind after this film. Meryl Streep for such a likeable person is truly terrifying, I would sweat through 12 shirts a day if I had to work for her. This was also my first experience of Emily Blunt and I still quote her today "I eat nothing for days and when I think I'm going to pass out I eat a cube of cheese" haha!
I can't believe I waited so long to watch this movie, it is exactly what office life is like. Doesn't everyone's office have a Milton? (although my colleagues would tell me that I am particularly protective of my stapler!). The scene in the field when they smash up the printer pops into my head everytime the sodding printer at work flashes the word 'error' at me!!
Ok maybe I can't relate to this one so much, I've had some bad bosses in my time but none of them have ever hit on me, nor have I tried to kill any of them. However, I do love this movie (maybe not as much as Allie I freaking LOVE this movie), its really funny and most people can relate to it in one way or another (hopefully not the murderous way!).
For whatever reason, IMDB has been telling me for months that I need to watch Office Space. It's been one of those films that I really wanted to watch and kept on putting off for no real reason. I work in an office myself so really appreciate office comedy, and it's got Jennifer Aniston in, one of my favourite actresses! As you've probably gathered, I got round to watching it in the end...
Office Space tells the story of Peter Gibbons and his colleagues, who don't enjoy their jobs at all. Management have hired some consultants to downsize the company. Peter is also having problems at home; his girlfriend is cheating on him but convinces him to go to therapy to talk through his issues. In a strange turn of events, Peter actually gets a promotion, and learns that his two closest friends are going to be fired. Together, they hatch a scheme to infect the company's computers with a virus that will pilfer funds from the business to their own bank account.
To be honest, straight after watching this, I wasn't that impressed. It was funny, sure, but it didn't make me laugh out loud, and as Jenna will tell you, I'm easily amused. There was one particular scene that just tickled me and I couldn't stop laughing, this one:
That's just a short clip unfortunately, but it's enough to give you the gist of what's going on. As someone who works in a city but lives on the outskirts, I really connected with that scene!
The more I think about Office Space, the more I actually like it. There's a lot of office comedy out right now, and with TV Shows like The Office and films like Horrible Bosses, Office Space is sort of sadly forgotten. I can understand why it had such amazing reviews when it came out though, I won't argue with those. I actually don't think this has been forgotten, in fact after watching it I found I finally understood a shed load of memes that I didn't understand before, here are a few of my favourites:
I really enjoyed this film, it was well written and funny and still rings true to offices today. I think compared to some 90's comedy films, it has aged well. The smashing of the printer scene had me in stitches, I have spent so many hours daydreaming about destroying the printer (particularly the one in my current office that sounds like it is trying to make contact with an alien species every time you print something!). One liners keep the pace up and Milton's (Stephen Root) sillier character keep it from being too serious.
I wouldn't say that this film is timeless, but there are certain jokes and themes that still ring true to this day. The rage you feel about the printer absolutely, and how protective you get over stationary for sure! Thankfully my boss isn't quite as bad as Lumbergh. I fully agree, my stationery is my life, I have lost 6 staplers since travelling abroad for work and it's starting to make me very twitchy, if people ask to borrow it now I follow them around until I get it back :-) I come across like Milton 'I believe you have my stapler' haha!
This is only a must watch for office workers I would say, anyone else just wouldn't connect with it enough to find it funny.
I would happily watch this again, if only for Stephen Root, who is by far the highlight of this film. Would have been a 7 if not for him.
