Narcissism In Office Space

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Being self-centered isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact it could be argued that a little bit of narcissism is what helps ensure our personal survival in both a physical and societal sense. There are, of course, exceptions to this idea, especially when it puts others at risk, such as in the movie Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999). Within the movie we see the protagonist, Peter, take self absorption to a concerning level when he ignores the possible consequences of actions in various situations. The overarching example of this being the fact that he’s simply concerned about taking money from the company he dislikes, rather the effect it will have on his friends who were recently fired. It could be argued that he even went as far as to manipulate …show more content…
Peter was focused simply on getting petty revenge, on a job which he seemed to deem below himself. The aforementioned event is only one of many times in which we see just how self absorption ruin lives and relationships. To further expand on this point, there are many times in which Peter’s own vanity gets in the middle of his romantic relationships, he believes he is the only person unsatisfied with his job, and doesn’t even believe other’s aren’t unhappy either until his girlfriend, Joanna, tells him so, “Peter, most people don't like their jobs. But you go out there and find something that makes you happy.” Peter is so dangerously self-centered, that he doesn’t even consider the idea that other people struggle with problems just like he does. While we’re supposed to see Peter as an empathetic character, Office Space still does a fantastic job of showing how man’s own narcissism can be found in anyone, even characters we’re supposed to relate to, and just how dangerous this level of self absorption can