As I sit in my bed, feeling a little under the weather and sorry for myself, I think about what I can watch to cheer me up. Usually, that means something light-hearted.
I’ve tried a few movies and series recently, a few that are worthy and weighty. “The Brutalist”. “The Outrun”. I enjoyed “The Beast In Me”. “Pluribus” was great but a little slow if I’m honest. But yeah, there are all a bit heavy, so it’s time to go back to some classics.
Local Hero is a classic. A tale of hope and humour, avarice and greed and a satirical look at what it means to be someone living in a beautiful part of the world. Just because the villagers of Ferness live in a beautiful place doesn’t mean they have food on their table. Life is tough. If an oil company set up shop in your town, wouldn’t you like a piece of the action?
This is the situation the people of Sandport face in Human Software when the American shipping conglomerate Gerbach arrives in their town. While it may cause consternation among the elders, it’s also an opportunity for the townspeople to build wealth. Is that wrong?
As someone who grew up in Sandwich in Kent, I recognised the mixed feelings of those who have an opportunity against those who resist change or want to protect what is theirs and the environment.
Ambition or a Lack of It
Mike Judge’s “Office Space” sees Peter Gibbons taking the role of a frustrated and unmotivated programmer working for a software company where it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’ve covered your ass sufficiently to make it look like you’re doing something worthwhile.
To say that this wasn’t an inspiration to some of my characters, namely, of course, my very own Peter (of course) Watchett, the cynical but always right admin. Kyle and Grant, perhaps, who would always be off making things out of pieces of network equipment that find their way off the premises.
In Office Space, the consultants (Bob and Bob) are scary – a management hail-mary to the future of work. In Human Software, the consultants aren’t grizzled middle-aged experts, but rather young, enthusiastic but inexperienced neophytes who have enough aptitude to learn on the job.
Human Software is a dissection of both what happens in the modern workplace and what happens in the local community. That’s why I see it as a blend between Gene Kim’s “The Phoenix Project” meets Mike Judge’s “Office Space” in Bill Forsyth’s “Local Hero”. It’s a satire on modern IT systems and the ways corporate life can screw you up as much as on the way we are still focussed on what is best for us and our families when push comes to shove against the environment.
I wrote Human Software because I love these works and wanted to say something about how we treat each other at work. Do I need another reason?