Office Gangster (Blog Entry 10)

Music and movies are two of my favorite things, so I was super excited to write about this week’s post! There are some songs that truly make the scene in a movie, “Damn It Feels Good To Be Gangster” by Geto Boys from Office Space (1999) is definitely one of those songs. If you have been living under a rock and haven’t seen Office Space, it’s about a guy named Peter Gibbons, who is miserable and absolutely hates his job at a software company called Initech. He tried hypnotherapy to change his outlook and the therapist died in the middle of the session. This song plays after his hypnotherapy incident. Peter’s attitude has shifted and he starts to do as he pleases, enjoying every moment.

From parking in a reserved spot, wearing flip-flops, removing door handles and cube walls, tearing down signs, skipping work to go fishing and then gutting the fish on those dreaded TPS reports, I feel the song captures his emotions perfectly. The first line of the song, “Damn it feels good to be a gangsta,” might as well be Peter’s motto. He doesn’t care what his bosses think, he is living how he wants to live.

Office Space has a handful of great hip hop scenes. “Damn It Feels Good To Be Gangster” is my favorite but I have to post the fax machine scene as well with “Still,” by Geto Boys. This scene comes shortly after both of Peter’s friends find out they are getting fired due to downsizing. The juxtaposition with both songs is that they are white collar office employees, not living in the ghetto or actually killing anyone. Instead, they are “killing” a fax machine that they all hate so much. I love how they’re all dancing afterwards, it’s as if they are listening to the song themselves. Enjoy!