Root: ‘Office Space’ Taps Universal Frustration with Workplace

by Seth Michaels, Oct 16, 2009

Stephen Root

At Union City, Chris Garlock of the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Council speaks with Stephen Root, who’s in town for Saturday’s D.C. Labor Film Fest showing of “Office Space,” the 1999 funny-because-it’s-true comedy about a demeaning workplace.

With the economic crisis making workers who have jobs feel more and more at the mercy of their employers, Root says, “Office Space” is as relevant as ever, even on its 10th anniversary:

It’s the underbelly of America. Everywhere there are cubicles and people just like the characters in the movie. We’ve all been there, or know someone who has.

Just like in the movie, everybody’s afraid of losing their jobs. And there are a lot less jobs out there now.

Root’s character in the film, Milton, absorbs abuse from management until the theft of his stapler finally pushes him over the edge. In a culture where too many workers feel powerless in the workplace, Root says, that frustration is something everyone can identify with:

There’s a Milton wherever you go. He’s a completely universal character.

Root has been on both sides of the comedy of workplace frustration: he also played an arbitrary, all-powerful corporate boss in the sitcom “News Radio.”

Gary Cole, the actor who plays Milton’s boss Lumbergh in “Office Space,” is also in town for the anniversary showing and speaks with Working America about workplaces, having a union and why the film “took on a life of its own” long after it first appeared in theaters.

For more information on Root and the D.C. Labor Film Festival, visit Union City.

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