Laughter In The Film 'Office Space'

Comedy is often used as a method of escape. It separates us from reality which at times, can become quite overwhelming, especially in a work environment. After a long day of hard work we seek out a method of relaxation. Theories of laughter have proved to be very effective. Superiority theory, incongruity theory and the relief theory. All of those terms come to one conclusion; laughter is a safety net and is it the best way to relieve stress. Aristotle, 384-322BC – laughter is a form of derision (Nicomachean Ethics) [2]. Work problems can be very tiring, especially in the world of constant competition where every single person what’s to climb up the ladder of success. Comedies based on work environment concentrate on issues that people may

A comedic representation of work and the characters which it captures, defines the politics of the workplace itself. It concentrates on the representation of human behaviours and interactions. Whereas the politics of difference is shown over the struggles of justice and equality of different social groups within the film, as I mentioned before Peter experiences work related struggles every day to the point where he decides that getting fired would be a better idea over his daily routine at work, the comedy element within the film is the corporate humour of things becoming ‘upside down and his carelessness working out for the better. Both narratives of my choice, are produced in a society of business, they represent a society that seems to be constantly stuck to routine and constant work, their lives are based around work it seems that even when they are not at work especially in the ‘Working Girl’, they are still

I have decided to choose those two narratives in particular because I think that they are a great medium for exploration of the political differences within the workplace. Exploring of the politics of difference captures a lot of struggles that people deal with on the daily basis in their own working environment. In particular when the struggles are being represented in a comic way on the screen people feel as if they belong somewhere and it can be a subject of laughter. Loyalty is also seen within both films which also is an addition to this subject of matter because when though comedy represents the working environment in this manner it doesn’t mean that it has to be a place of hatred. Comedy eases the sense of this hatred giving an audience a reason to laugh at those problems but also maybe motivating them not to give up because it will get better. Both films are creatively inspiring about the banality of the workplace often the phrase ‘work sucks’ is used on the daily basis but this doesn’t mean that each story doesn’t bring something new and inspiring into life. If anything the exploration of the politics of difference in both narrative texts sends out a strong message to the audience, perhaps the audience feels blessed for not having the worst boss in the entire world that steals