Pretty much universally, any reference to the profession of accounting in literature, TV or film uses it as a metaphor for stultifying dullness and numbness of the soul. Usually in conjunction with some kind of anal-retentive, super-organized neat-freak personality on display, or one of extreme meekness and knuckling under petty authority (or both).
Just in the past long weekend alone, I’ve come across:
[ul][li]A character in the Terry Pratchett book Night Watch who is liberated from his role as an accountant and becomes a watchman[/li][li]A Monty Python sketch where an accountant goes to career counseling, and is crestfallen when told all tests indicat that he is ideal for a career in accounting[/li][li]The scene in the movie version of the musical version of The Producers where the office Leo Bloom works in (the accountant) is a room full of soul-killing boredom[/li][li]The “pilot” episode of the cartoon version of The Tick, where Arthur leaves his job as an accountant to become a superhero’s sidekick after his individualism in wearing his “bunny suit” (“it’s a moth suit!”) to work is complained about by “the other accountants” (a nameless bunch of conformists)[/li][/ul]
Are there any depictions of accountancy that anybody can think of that is not making use of this common perception?
And for all the real accountants reading this thread… How do you feel about all of this?