According to Webster’s New Medical Dictionary, "passive-aggressive" was coined by US Military doctors in WWII, who encountered soldiers resisting orders through "stubbornness, sullenness, procrastination, and intentional inefficiency" — and probably leaving lots of mean little notes!
No situation provokes more passive-aggressive behavior than sharing space, as the folks at passiveaggressivenotes.com have shown with their clever web tribute to these bizarre communications. For your reading pleasure, I’ve compiled a handy list of movies about passive-aggressive roommates interspersed with helpful tips on upping your p-a game.
7. Single White Female
Single White Female finds the line between passive-aggressive and psychopath — and crosses it! Starring Jessica Lundy, Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, this thriller will make your roommates seem like Mother Teresa.
Try It At Home
Invite your roommate out to a movie as a peace offering, then send text messages the entire time. If they ask you to stop, tell them it’s an emergency.
6. Three Men and a Baby
This movie has all that 80s bachelor charm you’ve been craving: Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenberg. You know you love watching all hell break loose when a baby shows up on their doorstep.
Try It At Home
Alphabetize all your movies by director’s last name. When your roommates inevitably fail to file the movies correctly, leave notes on their pillows.
5. Threesome
A college administrative error rooms two men with a woman named Alex. Like Three’s Company, only reversed, this somewhat far-fetched flick has some priceless low-brow dialogue, and a fight over who’s been eating all the yogurt!
Try It At Home
Don’t just turn off the TV, unplug it. If you’re asked about it, suddenly remember: “Oh, yeah, I was vacuuming/dusting/watering the plants and the cord was in the way.” Apologize profusely, then do it again in about a week.
4. The Nanny Diaries
Finding herself unemployed after college, an unsuspecting young woman opts for the job of an uptown Manhattan nanny, but working for Mrs. X (Laura Linney) is enough to make her move back to New Jersey — almost. Hilarious ‘sad-but-true’ scenes capture full-on nanny passive-aggression in action.
Try It At Home
When in doubt, hide the remote.
3. The Apartment
The Apartment is another great movie starring Jack Lemmon alongside a young Shirley MacLaine. When an insurance administrator tries to climb the corporate ladder, he uses his apartment as collatoral, but things get out of hand. Don’t miss the timeless scene with Lemmon straining spaghetti with a tennis racket.
Try It At Home
Put dead batteries in the remote control. Feign ignorance.
2. Rope
Hitchcock’s classic murder flick Rope puts the aggressive back in passive-aggressive when two men murder their roommate then invite his family over for dinner, while the body is still in the apartment. Starring Jimmy Stewart.
Try It At Home
Arrange a special movie night with your roommates, then check out a scratched up movie from the public library. Make sure the movie you pick has a very suspenseful plot, such as The Bourne Supremacy. Don’t forget popcorn to build up the anti-climax.
1. The Odd Couple
Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple is the passive-aggressive roommate movie for all time. The best line is perhaps when Oscar (Jack Lemmon) tells off Felix (Walter Matthau) for leaving mean little notes: “You leave little notes on my pillow! I told you a-hundred-fifty-eight times I cannot stand little notes on my pillow. ‘We are all out of cornflakes. F.U.’ Took me three hours to figure out ‘F.U.’ was Felix Ungar.”
Try It At Home
Send back your roommates' Netflix picks as soon as they arrive. If they ask, feign ignorance.
