The Backrooms Aesthetics of Severance and the Alienated Office Worker

Authors : Doğa Çöl

Pages : 389-406

Doi:10.56133/intermedia.1630140

View : 34 | Download : 34

Publication Date : 2025-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This paper explores how the Apple Original Series Severance employs the aesthetics of backrooms and liminal spaces to critique modern office work and the alienation experienced by white-collar employees. Drawing from online liminal aesthetics, video games and theoretical perspectives on capitalism, the show presents a dystopian corporate environment where workers are psychologically and physically severed from their personal identities. Using the poetics of David Bordwell and neoformalist analysis of Kristin Thompson, the study examines Severance’s classical yet subversive narrative structure, its use of restricted narration, and its manipulation of space and time to enhance thematic depth. The paper further explores the show’s visual style, characterized by corporate minimalism, cassette futurism, and geometric compositions that reinforce the sterility and dehumanization of the workplace. Beyond its aesthetic and formal properties, Severance functions as a critique of late-stage capitalism, workplace alienation and ideological control. By severing employees’ identities, the show literalizes the compartmentalization demanded by corporate culture, reflecting the real-world erosion of work-life boundaries. The show’s depiction of arbitrary labor, hierarchical secrecy, and corporate propaganda parallels historical critiques of capitalist labor structures while offering a stark vision of a workforce deprived of agency. Ultimately, the paper argues that Severance is not only a stylistic exercise in liminal mystery but also a powerful cultural reflection on contemporary labor conditions. Its engagement, with both narrative and visual elements, underscores a broader social anxiety about the meaninglessness of work, the psychological toll of corporate control, and the possibility of resistance in an era of pervasive economic alienation.
Keywords : stil, liminal alan, backrooms, meme estetiği, geç aşama kapitalizm, kurumsal distopya

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