The Office: A Dystopian Workplace

Despite its undercurrent of warmth and optimism, The Office (US) went to some pretty dystopian places in its explorations of the workplace--which were really just reflections of the boring dystopia of our reality.

In this episode, we look at how The Office fits within the context of Workplace Dystopian media, works such as Superstore, Office Space, Sorry to Bother You, and Silicon Valley. We also place The Office head-to-head with the most popular workplace dystopia on TV right now, Severance.

Our discussion delves into how corporate companies like Dunder Mifflin and Lumon, and those in other workplace dystopian media, use tactics like Diversity Day or "waffle parties" to present a veneer of benevolence to distract workers from how terrible their jobs actually are.

But, you know, in a fun way.

We also introduce our new segment for this series: The Finer Things Club! We discuss E. M. Forster's novel A Room with a View. It's very exclusive.

Further Reading:

Corporate Erin on TikTok

Defining a Boring Dystopia

Comparing the workplaces in The Office and Severance