Work and Its Discontents: The Corporate Workplace Film

If social mobility is the cornerstone of the edifice of success, work is the basic building block. At its simplest, the American idea of success conflates the attainment of success with vocational achievement. Lacking an aristocracy, American culture exalts the notion of a meritocracy, entry into which is gained by hard work and professional prowess. In our most beloved popular culture narratives, successful characters aren’t born at the top of the world; they climb to the pinnacle, rung by professional rung. Work is the primary measure of self-worth, in the contemporary American mind, and the material goods that are the signifiers of success are the just rewards for one’s labor and the visible evidence of one’s diligence and superiority.1