# Any fiction about hyper-competent family people who slowly discover the value of work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112 "2016-07-17T10:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/1 "2016-07-17T10:31:58Z")
It’s a common trope in romantic comedies of the hyper-competent career gal who has no time for love (if female) or the high powered business executive who mends his relationship with his wife/ex-wife and children (if male). In both cases, the protagonist discovers that if they just let down their hair a little and worry less about their professional life, they will receive a spiritual awakening and romantic success. In it, work is essentially treated as a McGuffin style obstacle to be overcome. Does there exist any fiction which inverts this relationship and treats work seriously and people’s personal lives as the obstacle? Where it starts off with someone in a great relationship but on the verge of being fired because they have no time for work but they slowly learn to compromise and discover a universe of career satisfaction? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/2 "2016-07-17T11:22:35Z")
Well, there’s Breaking Bad… ---
**Author:** ![Melisande](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dec6dc/32.png) [@Melisande](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melisande)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/3 "2016-07-17T12:03:23Z")
Mrs. Doubtfire ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/4 "2016-07-17T12:22:25Z")
A Few Good Men. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/5 "2016-07-17T12:41:24Z")
So there’s this guy who has a loving wife, and kids who adore him, and friends who think the world of him – because he made choices that kept the career he wanted out of reach, and he’s now on the brink of ruin due to a crisis at his dead-end job; he really should’ve personally handled a particular task instead of leaving it to a bungler. Anyhow, he has a spiritual awakening when he realizes the importance of keeping local businesses afloat, and of helping people in his community make sensible investments; and he returns, flush with career satisfaction, to face the work-related consequences; except there _aren’t_ any, because everyone he’s helped to make plenty of money has already bailed him out; because It’s A Wonderful Life. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/6 "2016-07-17T12:49:20Z")
To a certain extent, there’s _Big Daddy_. Adam Sandler (I’m not going to bother looking up his character’s name) had to “grow up” and take a real job as part of his character growth in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/7 "2016-07-17T12:58:09Z")
I wouldn’t say DIE HARD does it for John McClane, but I’d say it does for Al Powell. Man, that movie was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/8 "2016-07-17T13:04:39Z")
In the movie **Whiplash** , the young drummer gets a love interest (played by Supergirl!), whom he basically ditches so he can focus on being his best and facing off against JK Simmons’ teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/9 "2016-07-17T13:15:41Z")
When you think about it, Heracles kind of fits, in a perverse sort of way. He murders his family in a fit of Hera-induced madness, then wins all his glory through the labors that he has to do as penance. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/10 "2016-07-17T13:47:24Z")
LEGALLY BLONDE deserves mention. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/11 "2016-07-17T16:01:48Z")
It’s based on a true story, but the 2015 film _Joy_ is about a lower-income woman who’s largely holding her dysfunctional family together. She goes on to become a successful businesswoman after inventing a self-wringing mop. Her grandmother is supportive, but for the most part the rest of her family is pretty awful and does more harm than good. Joy triumphs when she takes greater control of her business, and in the end is very wealthy and seems happy and fulfilled. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/12 "2016-07-17T16:08:32Z")
The film _Hobson’s Choice_ hits some of your points. A woman decides she doesn’t want to be under her father’s thumb anymore, domestically and professionally. She picks out the best of her father’s workers, pretty much orders him to marry her, and they set up a business in competition with her father and father’s family. She’s decidedly unromantic and unsentimental. The new business succeeds, mostly due to how driven she is towards business and success. Her new husband is rescued from the life that otherwise would have been his - boarder in a crappy family’s house and wed to the crappy family’s daughter, and probable poverty and ignorance for life. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/13 "2016-07-17T16:11:20Z")
Some of the “failure to launch” type movies might tangentially fall into this category. George Clooney’s character on “Oh Brother where Art Thou?” goes from con man to kinda-sorta job holding family man. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/14 "2016-07-17T16:14:24Z")
It’s maybe not exactly what the OP describes, but the first movie I thought of was [An Unmarried Woman](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078444/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_51), a 70s flick starring Jill Clayburgh. Clayburgh starts out as a perfectly contented, married housewife/socialite whose husband abruptly divorces her for a younger woman. She then spends the movie “finding herself” - getting out of the house and getting a job, etc. By the end of the movie, she’s met some new guy and he wants her to marry him and become his stay-at-home wife. She decides not to, preferring to keep her job and her independence. While it seems really dated now, in 1978 it was apparently a HUGE deal that Clayburgh’s character opted to keep her job rather than get married again. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/15 "2016-07-17T18:09:56Z")
The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher is sort of like that - it’s a wonderful book written in 1924 about a family where the husband finds fulfillment as a house husband and the wife finds fulfillment working in a department store. So, one out of the two protagonists. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/16 "2016-07-17T18:37:57Z")
In WORKING GIRL, our heroine starts off (a) with friends who throw her a birthday party and Alec Baldwin getting ready to propose to her, and (b) getting fired from yet another entry-level job. She admittedly then spends a good chunk of the movie trading up to Harrison Ford – but as per the title, that’s secondary to her _killing_ it in the corporate world of mergers and acquisitions with her knowledge of business law. (Think back to that ending: is Ford there, even in the _background,_ looking handsome? Hell, no; it’s just Melanie Griffith in her newly-earned office, gazing at the New York skyline as triumphant-and-almost-religious music swells.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/17 "2016-07-17T19:06:51Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > **Any fiction about hyper-competent family people who slowly discover the value of work?** When I saw the thread title, I thought surely we were talking about variations on The Swiss Family Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/18 "2016-07-17T19:27:30Z")
Not quite the same thing, but Leo McGarry on _The West Wing_ concludes that his work as White House Chief of Staff is more important to him, and to the country, than his marriage. Hearing that, his neglected wife leaves him. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/19 "2016-07-17T19:51:14Z")
I would say _Pvt. Benjamin_ might fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/20 "2016-07-17T21:01:37Z")
In the Scorsese version of _Cape Fear_, Max Cady learned the value of reading and studying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112.md?page=2)