Metropolis

Next time you want to complain about work, just remember how bad the “employees” in Fritz Lang’s science fiction classic Metropolis have it. They work like slaves in an underground civilization at the will of their wealthy overlords. The only entertainment they get is the occasional herky-jerky robot girl dance.

The Apartment

This movie will probably seem a bit truer to the real workplace experience than Metropolis. No robot girls here, just an environment in which getting ahead is more important than being a decent human being. In the case of CC Baxter, this means giving over the keys to his apartment to his bosses so they can use it to have sex with women who aren’t their wives. As if that wasn’t enough, Baxter’s in love with the elevator girl who’s in a toxic relationship with his horrible, sleazy (and married) boss. Bad work environment!

2001: A Space Odyssey

Traveling from Earth to the moon to various other points in space may be easy in 2001, but it’s still a pain in the ass. The toilet has a set of instructions with like 12 steps, and the “food” can all be drunk through a straw. Oh, and your boss is a homicidal computer with a creepy glowing red eye. Murdering your boss would be justified, in this case.