The 1994 film Swimming with Sharks follows a young assistant Guy who takes a job working for abusive Hollywood mogul Buddy Ackerman. Buddy verbally, physically, and emotionally torments his employees. Though Guy is initially eager to learn the movie business, Buddy's mistreatment takes a psychological and emotional toll on Guy. After reaching a breaking point, Guy decides to get revenge by subjecting Buddy to the same abuse.

1. Swimming with Sharks (1994)
Swimming with Sharks (1994) is the story of a young, ambitious Hollywood executive Guy (Frank
Whaley) who gets a job as a personal assistant to a Hollywood movie mogul Buddy Ackerman (Kevin
Spacey). Guy is fresh out of school and looks forward to working with Buddy to learn the movie
business. Unfortunately, Buddy turns out to be an abusive boss who treats his employees like slaves,
abuses them verbally, physically, and emotionally, and publicly humiliates them. Buddy’s behavior is so
abusive that it not only affects Guy psychologically and emotionally, it also has a tremendous impact on
his relationship with Dawn (Michelle Forbes0, a young movie producer. Finally, when Guy has had
enough, he takes matters in his own hands and decides to show Buddy how it feels to be abused and
humiliated.
This movie is about abusive workplace behavior. The fact that it is set in Hollywood, the dream
destination of many young people, makes it an interesting watch! It shows many behaviors that abusive
supervisors use against their employees. The scene where Guy needs to go to the bathroom but Buddy
does not let him go certainly takes abusive supervision to a whole different level. When Guy complains
about the way he is treated, Buddy is dismissive of him. Buddy’s attitude towards Guy’s complaints is
that he just has to learn how to be tough and take it like a man, if he wants to succeed.Just as in the
movie, it is not uncommon for abusive supervision to lead to workplace violence.
This movie discuss about abusive supervision, deviant work place behavior, human resource
management, and organizational behavior.

2. Influential, abrasive and tyrannical movie mogul and film producer Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey)
verbally abused his newly-hired, naive and gullible young assistant/writer Guy (Frank Whaley), a recent
college graduate, even remaining belligerent when he was bound and Guy sought "payback time." Buddy
revealed how he had made it to the top by putting up with tyrants, and suffering the senseless rape and
death of his wife:
You think you know it all, don't you? You're 25 years old. You're a baby. You don't know s--t. Look, I can
appreciate this. I was young too, I felt just like you. Hated authority, hated all my bosses, thought they
were full of shit. Look, it's like they say, 'If you're not a rebel by the age of 20, you got no heart, but if you
haven't turned establishment by 30, you've got no brains.' Because there are no story-book romances, no
fairy-tale endings. So before you run out and change the world, ask yourself, 'What do you really want?'...
You were getting complacent, ungrateful, complete and total job burnout, and don't think I didn't notice.
You just didn't give a s--t anymore. Draggin' your feet everywhere, telling everybody you were doing my
job. That you were running the show. That without you, I was nothing. Yeah, people tell me things.
So don't come preaching to me about your ideas of what's fair. You're no martyr here. You're no hero.
You're just a f--kin' hypocrite. You're just like any other punk kid out there, lookin' for a way in, any way in,
and you need me... Because I earned it. What, you think someone just handed me this job? I've handled
the phones. I've juggled the bimbos. I've-I've put up with the tyrants, the yellers, the screamers. I've done
more than you can even imagine in that small mind of yours. I paid my dues...and I spent ten. Dammit -
it's my turn to be selfish. It's my turn. See, that's the trouble with your f--kin' MTV, microwave-dinner
generation. You all want it now. You think you deserve it just because you want it? It doesn't work like
that. You have to earn it. You have to take it. You have to make it yours. But first, Guy, you need to
decide what it is you really want...
What life? What life? I gave you life. Before me, you were nothing. Before me, you were an inkspot, and
now you're playing in the majors. I made you. You will always be Guy from Buddy Ackerman's office. You
wanna go back to your s--tty little existence? Go ahead, leave. There's the door. No one's stopping you.
You could have left any day, but you stayed. So let's forget the Dudley-damn-do-right-crap. Because out
here, it's kill your parents, f--k your friends, and have a nice day!...
Look, I don't make the rules. I play by them. What, your job is unfair to you? Grow up, way it goes. People
use you? Life's unfair? Grow up, way it goes. Your girlfriend doesn't love you? Tough s--t, way it goes.
Your wife gets raped and shot, and they leave their unfinished beers...(weeping) their, their stinking long-
necks just lying there on the ground? - So be it. Way it goes...
All right, Guy, come on, let's finish this. Give it to me. Show me what you're made of. Show me what
you've learned. Don't let me down, son. Everything I've taught you comes down to this. This is the only
way that you can hope to survive. Because life is not a movie. Everyone lies. Good guys lose. And love
does not conquer all. So let's do this thing. Let's finish it...Do it! Come on, do it now!