Analysis of Ethics in Film - Office Space
The movie Office Space is about a man named Peter Gibbons who works for a company called Initech. He doesn't like working there, and really doesn't like his boss. He goes to see a hypnotherapist who dies while Peter is still hypnotized. As a result, Peter has a carefree attitude and just does what he wants to. Two of Peter's friends who work for Initech are going to be laid off, so Peter comes up with a plan to release a virus into Initech's system that will put money into their bank accounts.
The ethical issue in this film is planting a virus into a computer system that will put money in their own account. Another ethical issue is workplace principles. The boss does not tell one man that he no longer works there, and continues to let him work there even though he doesn't receive a paycheck. The man does not know that he does not actually work there. Also, Peter, who does not do much work and who skips work a lot, does not get laid off. Instead, people who actually do work are the ones who get laid off. Those who do nothing are rewarded more than those who do something.
The media does not play a role in this film.
I think this film does realistically portray ethical issues. It is not uncommon for an employee who is about to get laid off to "get back" at the company, whether it is by releasing a virus like the guys in this movie did, or something else. I do not think someone would deliberately not tell an employee that he or she has been fired/layed off. So that part of the movie was unrealistic.
This film might make people think they can do something like the three guys in this movie did and release a virus or something to get money put into their accounts. In reality though, people could actually do this. They were scared that they would get caught, and Peter was even going to turn himself in because he didn't want to go to prison. So this shows that there are consequences for releasing a virus like that. Even though they didn't get caught, if the building had not burned down they would have been caught and would've had to go to prison.
Law enforcement was not present in this film.
The ethical issue in this film is planting a virus into a computer system that will put money in their own account. Another ethical issue is workplace principles. The boss does not tell one man that he no longer works there, and continues to let him work there even though he doesn't receive a paycheck. The man does not know that he does not actually work there. Also, Peter, who does not do much work and who skips work a lot, does not get laid off. Instead, people who actually do work are the ones who get laid off. Those who do nothing are rewarded more than those who do something.
The media does not play a role in this film.
I think this film does realistically portray ethical issues. It is not uncommon for an employee who is about to get laid off to "get back" at the company, whether it is by releasing a virus like the guys in this movie did, or something else. I do not think someone would deliberately not tell an employee that he or she has been fired/layed off. So that part of the movie was unrealistic.
This film might make people think they can do something like the three guys in this movie did and release a virus or something to get money put into their accounts. In reality though, people could actually do this. They were scared that they would get caught, and Peter was even going to turn himself in because he didn't want to go to prison. So this shows that there are consequences for releasing a virus like that. Even though they didn't get caught, if the building had not burned down they would have been caught and would've had to go to prison.
Law enforcement was not present in this film.
posted by Emily @ 4:48 PM
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