"Bad News" Pokes Fun at Workaholics Ebony Bellamy Sidesplitting and surprisingly accurate, Bad News shows what happens when people allow their jobs to consume their lives. We're all guilty of occasionally thinking about work when we're off the clock or letting something related to work ruin our day. But, normally we are able to separate our work lives from our personal lives. For the group of friends in this comedic film, they are unable to relinquish their work personas and this has affected everything from the way they interact with each other to the marriage of one of the friends. Set in a bar, the three friends should be using this time to relax. Instead their entire interaction resembles that of a news story. Beginning with David, he calls his friend Mark to let him know he is waiting for him at the bar. But, he relays this information as if he is on-air reporting a breaking news story. Mark informs David that his bus has been delayed and proceeds to interview bystanders to figure out how far away from the bar he is. They continue on like this and reply to each other's responses the same way newscasters do when one of them is in the studio and the other is on scene reporting a story. Unfortunately, their conversation never enters the world of normalcy and only gets …show more content…
Sitting across from each other at a table, their body language resembles that of an interviewer and their guest. David asks his first question and holds a menu in his hands as if it's his list of questions for the interview. While Mark responses, David nods his head and looks intrigued by the answers he is getting. Mark, on the other hand, sits with his hands folded and refers to himself in third person. He tells David about his home life as if he is reporting a story about someone else. Their entire conversation is outrageous and their over-the-top facial expressions and voices make their conversation even funnier to
Firstly, he commands her to stop “talking to any … guys” (September 18). David’s fear of Anita’s demeanor instigating the students “[to take] [her] away from him” (September 18) makes his actions justifiable; hence, Anita forgives him. However, the second incident regarding Joyce and Debbie exposes his desire for segregation. Whether his fear of Joyce and Debbie “[introducing] [Anita] to other guys that will break [them] up” (October 8), justifies his demands, his second command for Anita, “to quit the basketball team” (October 8) validates his insecurity. By isolating Anita, David presents himself as her only trustworthy and legitimate “friend.” Worst of all, everyone has regards for David, even Anita’s parents. In fact, “[they] really like David” (October 8). Consequently, Anita cannot quit the relationship without the repercussions that would ensue. Everyone would side with David and blame Anita for his future suicide. David’s positive attributes blind everyone from his abusive and controlling nature; therefore, dismissing him as the problem. The driving force of David’s social manipulation stems from his insecurity of the
As if being the father of two children and a dedicated husband were not enough, Victor Terhune has to balance his family life with his job. Victor currently works as a Technical representative for the sales department at Weastec in Dublin, Ohio. Though work holds him back from doing some of the things that he would like to be doing, like spending more time with his wife and sons, this is a common theme for many workers today in a relationship with their desire to be with their families. Victor strives to get resolution to this by making time by driving home right after work and focusing on that quality time with his family.
In The Influencing Machine, Gladstone argues that the media focuses on putting out news that remotely threatens viewers. In the text she states, “emphasizing bad news is good business…world [seems] more dangerous…actually is.” It is good business considering that it keeps the audience on their toes and makes them think about what is going on. When you visit news sites or look at news stations
Studs Terkel published a nonfiction Working which consists many interviews among different people’s descriptions of their jobs. Through this book, Terkel demonstrates the meaning of work to different people and how their work experiences shape their attitudes about their lives. Among these interviewers, Maggie Holmes is a domestic while Dave Bender is a factory owner. Although their wages are different, Maggie Holmes and Dave Bender’s attitudes about their works are contradictory. People who love their works are passionate and happy about their lives and express less complain than those people who do not like their jobs.
Tim Kreider’s “The ‘Busy’ Trap” from The New York Times (June 30, 2012) explores the different worlds of both, the busy and the free. His article evaluates and persuades the American working class to stop for a second and reassess their constantly busy lifestyles. His knowledge comes from his own and other’s life experiences. Relating on a personal level, Kreider encourages his audience to recognize that being busy may make them feel important, but they are sacrificing all their valuable time life has given them. In fact, he influences them to think about how much stress their work is, and how it most likely won’t amount to anything. He does this through logos, providing personal anecdotes and common knowledge; ethos, demonstrating that he
Previous generations have a strong belief of keeping work and home life separate; that work is for work and home is for play (Rampell, 2011, para 21). Today’s professionals do not seem to abide by similar beliefs, constantly crossing the borders of one into the other. While many recognize this as an issue that could result in employees being less productive, it has actually resulted in them accepting that their work may run late into the evening or even into the weekend. I agree with this completely in that I grew up being taught that business is business and personal is personal; you leave your home life at the door. But now times have changed, and my weekends are no longer dedicated to my home life, but for work, because I attend classes during the week. Also, in my line of work in the Allied Health industry, it is a requirement to work off hours. Long gone are the days of working nine to five, Monday through Friday; technology and the demand of wanting affairs done and done as soon as possible, has made it so the “work week” is now 24-7. “Jon Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard Institute of Politics, said, ‘Some experts also believe that today’s young people are better at quickly switching from one task to another, given their exposure to so many stimuli during their childhood and adolescence’” (Rampbell,
Currently, human beings are thinking more on the line of they need work in order to make a living. For that reason, work has become meaningless, disagreeable, and unnatural. Many view work as a way to obtain money and not a meaningful human activity that one does for themselves. The author states that there are two reactions of the alienated and profoundly unsatisfactory character of the modern industrial work. One being the ideal of complete laziness and the other, hostility towards work. Fromm believes the reason why people have animosity regarding work is due to their unconscious mind. Subconsciously, a person has “a deep-seated, hostility towards work and all that is connected to it” says Fromm. I believe what Fromm is saying to be true, after all I witness it everyday. Millions of people each day goes to a work which they are dissatisfied with and that can negatively impact their attitude
The very tiresome and grueling yet somehow satisfying manic-speed of life today has undeniable repercussions. There is the satisfaction of being busy towards the point where doing nothing seems to be a punishment instead of a reward. Then, there is the frustration of not being busy enough, constantly looking for more things to do, constantly looking and never finding what it is that makes one contented, this will then most likely lead to “Emotional Distress” (ED) (Carr 1). Howie Carr’s piece “Take $2000 and Call Me in the Morning” argues the misuse of ED as a gateway to money. At first glance, his work could be considered as a credible and humorous piece. However, applying Donna Woolfolk Cross’s strategies in “Propaganda: How Not To Be Bamboozled” show that Carr’s composition
The very tiresome and grueling yet somehow satisfying manic-speed of life today has undeniable repercussions. There is the satisfaction of being busy to the point where doing nothing seems to be a punishment instead of a reward. Then, there is the frustration of not being busy enough, constantly looking for more things to do, inevitably leading to “Emotional Distress” (ED) (Carr 1). People live in a constant battle between these two, not knowing how fine the line actually is. Howie Carr’s piece “Take $2000 and Call Me in the Morning” argues the misuse of ED as a gateway to money. At first glance, his work could be considered as a credible and humorous piece. However, applying Donna Woolfolk Cross’s strategies in “Propaganda: How Not To Be Bamboozled”
Through life, one must make choices in their personal and professional lives in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Through the plays Bull, Waste, Little Eyolf, The Homecoming, and the musical Kinky Boots, it is evident that creating a distinction between one’s personal and one’s professional life is essential to living a healthy life. When one’s personal life and professional life overlap completely, trouble ensues.
The inability to achieve “work-life balance” has become a major focus for workplace equality activists. When this topic is brought about it is primarily used to describe how woman cannot have a work and home life but instead are forced to choose. Richard Dorment took on this point of interest from a different perspective in his article “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All” published with esquire. Going against the normal trend he describes how women are not the only ones put into the same sacrificial situations, but instead that men and women alike struggle to balance work and home. Dorment opens up by saying “And the truth is as shocking as it is obvious: No one can have it all.” In doing so Richard Dorment throws out the notion that one
Tim Kreider, an American freelance writer living in the New York City (NYC) area, published an essay in 2012 called “The Busy Trap.” He proposed that people who proclaim that they are “Crazy busy” do so in a proud way as if to complain but responses come in admiration or to fill a void of emptiness by remaining busy. Kreider generally caters his argument to a specific working audience, dare I say possibly elite career professionals, by arguing that no one has time to spend together because they choose to sound important to others by saying that they are busy. The author seems to claim that being busy is a choice of whether people work to live or live to work, moreover, he believes that people need to
“Office Space” is a comedy movie of a man who desperately hates his job and his boss. The movie begins with Peter Gibbon’s daily life story at Initech. At work, Peter has to deal with his indifferent boss, Bill Lumbergh, who doesn’t want to listen to his employee’s feedbacks. Lumbergh seems to be an ignorant and arrogant man who dictates his employee and doesn’t want to be blamed at all. Moreover, Lumbergh asks his employee to come to work on weekend. The atmosphere in the office is getting more intense after Lumbergh announced that Initech is bringing in consultants to increase the efficiency of the company. Peter was very frustrated with everything in the office and he felt that his life even more miserable with each passing day at work. The following day, he decided to come to see a hypnotherapist in order to help him to have more positive outlook on life. Before the hypnotherapist finishes his hypnotic therapy on Peter, he has a heart attack unexpectedly and then dies. However, Peter was still under the influence of hypnosis and fails to come back to his normal state. The next day, Peter sleeps all day long – he actually supposed to come to work – and ignores all calls from his boss. On Monday, Peter comes to the office to have an interview with the consultants. Here, still under the influence of hypnosis, Peter blatantly tells everything he felt about the company. He even tells the interviewers that he only stare at his desk – looks like he is working – for hours to spend his time at work. In the end of the interview, Peter says that actually he is not lazy, but he has a problem with motivation. Peter has eight different bosses who will come by if Peter makes mistakes, so the only motivation that Peter has is not to be hassle...
Colin’s best, and only friend, was Hassan Harbish. Hassan is funny, lazy, and obsessed with Judge Judy. Colin and Hassan’s friendship consisted of Hassan always being the voice and Colin always had been the brains. However, after his last break up with Katherine number nineteen Colin became depressed. All he wanted to do was lay around and feel sorry for himself. Therefore, Hassan had to step in to commiserate with Colin, and he decided that Colin needed to get his mind straight again and forget all of his past relationships. To do so, Hassan suggested they both go on a road trip, and after persuading their parents for permis...
One of the most common reasons for high levels of stress in families today, is caused by dissatisfaction and/or tension in the workplace. People have often heard the addage “Leave your Job at the Office”, but how many are capable of just turning things off, when they leave for the day? Not many, and becau...