Filming Postbourgeois Suburbia: Office Space and the New American Suburb

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Title: Filming Postbourgeois Suburbia: Office Space and the New American Suburb
Identifier: fac_pubs/4
Date: 6/1/2009
Abstract: The article examines how the depiction of American suburbia in motion pictures illustrates the physical, cultural, and demographic changes in modern suburban society. Particular attention is paid to the portrayal of the suburban landscape in the 1999 film "Office Space," written and directed by Mike Judge. The "polymorphous" landscape of "Office Space" shows single family homes along side office parks, apartments, restaurants and retail spaces. How the film introduces new sources of angst and oppression to contemporary suburbia is assessed. It is suggested that the film highlights the fact that the suburbs Americans actually live in are fundamentally different from the ones that once dominated the cultural imagination.
Publisher: Wiley
Language: eng
Type: Text
department or school name within institution: Geography
Source: Journal of Popular Culture
volume: 42
issue: 3
page start: 497
page end: 514
note: NOTICE: Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version of this document can be found online at Journal of Popular Culture, published by Wiley Blackwell. Copyright restrictions may apply. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2009.00692.x
Bibliographic Citation: Huston, S. (2009). Filming postbourgeois suburbia: office space and the new American suburb. Journal Of Popular Culture, 42(3), 497-514. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2009.00692.x
Creator: Shaun Huston