Whistleblowers, Nervous Breakdowns and TPS Reports

I have no idea how you feel about your job. Some people live the dream every day by being doctors, lawyers, marine biologists, or celebrity chefs, while others wake up with a pit of dread in the morning as the alarm clock wrenches them from the sweet release of dreams of a different life. The only thing I know for sure about this life is that, more than money, more than a career, the only real, quantifiable commodity is time. All of us are on a timer, and few of us will, when we reach the end, marvel about how happy we were to spend so much of our most finite resource away from those we love or what brings us the most joy.

That’s why Labor Day feels like such an unsung holiday to me. The bitter irony of it is that it exists to recognize the American labor movement, yet it’s a Federal holiday that lots of Americans outside of unions find themselves working anyway. So, whether you have a lovely weekend or even if it’s just another Monday for you, here are a few movies to watch for Labor Day that hopefully capture your feelings for the holiday.

“Office Space” (1999)- The best comedy ever made about deciding that you’re done caring about your horrible job and the freedom that epiphany comes with. Still one of the funniest movies ever made that somehow only manages to get funnier as time marches on. This movie is a quarter of a century old and is as prophetic as ever.

For Workers Who Are: sick and tired of their dead-end office jobs and want to reinvent themselves.

“Silkwood” (1983)- With an all-time classic performance from Meryl Streep, direction from the legendary Mike Nichols and a script co-written by the also legendary Nora Ephron, “Silkwood” tells the true story of Karen Silkwood, a whistleblower and labor union activist who was murdered over her discovery that the fuel fabrication corporation she worked for was cutting corners to pad its bottom line. The movie that taught me that a shareholder will always be
more important than a worker.

For Employees Who: care more about human welfare over a profit margin, but know their corporate overlords are inhuman.

“Modern Times” (1936)- Charlie Chaplin is a stressed-out factory worker who, over 87 minutes, has a nervous breakdown, accidentally gets coked up and attends a communist demonstration, discovers he prefers jail over a life on the outside, throws a brick at a cop and so very much more. Fearless and decades ahead of its time, this is Chaplin’s unsung masterpiece.

For Workers Who: appreciate the absurdities of a life as a cog in a very big machine.

“9 to 5” (1980)- One of the first movies in history to show that a company powered by sexist and mediocre men would work better if run by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton.

Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton in 9 to 5 — “9 to 5” is goofy perfection. *Fox*

This movie is goofy and profoundly unrealistic, but it critiqued sexism and the gender pay gap long before anyone else was doing it.

For Co-workers Who: realize that sometimes the job itself isn’t remotely as important as the people you meet along the way.

“Clerks” (1994)- Gleefully profane and a work of slyly empathetic humanity, “Clerks” not only deconstructed what it was like to work at a terrible job that pushes back against lower-middle class aspirations, but gave an entire generation the courage to try and do better than Dante, Randal and the lost souls they interact with at the Quick Stop.

For Clerks Who Are: not even supposed to be here today.

“Harlan County USA” (1976)- An electrifying documentary filmed by Barbara Kopple over four years as she followed the miners at Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Kentucky, as they went on strike against the Duke Power Company. She followed the miners and their families as they fought for safer working conditions and decent wages (among many other things) and several of whom were murdered for their attempts. If you haven’t seen this, it will change your life when you do.

Hopefully, all of you have enough free time over Labor Day to at least catch one of these movies across the long weekend. Is there one you have planned to watch? No matter what…remember your time is precious and you deserve to be valued!

This article appears in the Source August 28, 2025.