# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/21 "2016-07-18T00:43:25Z")
Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty in “Lost in America” run the gamut: they quit their high-powered jobs to get in touch with themselves, then they have a horrible time with that and they get back in touch with their high-powered jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/22 "2016-07-18T01:27:03Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > 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. OK - I read that as Hercules, and thought of the Disney movie. The spoiler was kind of a shock. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/23 "2016-07-18T02:45:11Z")
_Stripes_, where a bunch of disorganized slackers turn themselves into an effective fighting force. In oddly parallel subplots, both _Sabrina_ and _Splash_ had ne’er do well younger brothers step up and take charge so their all business older brothers could fall in love and be happy. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/24 "2016-07-18T03:40:01Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > OK - I read that as Hercules, and thought of the Disney movie. The spoiler was kind of a shock. Does he not murder his family in the Disney movie? How do you make a movie about Hercules where he doesn’t murder his family? That’s what starts the whole narrative arc. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/25 "2016-07-18T04:04:10Z")
**Lorenzo’s Oil** sort of fits into this mold. It’s the true (or trueish) story of a man whose child comes down with a rare disorder. Spoilery description: He becomes highly focused on researching the disease and ends up coming up with a working hypothesis for the cause of the disease and a cure. (Though, unfortunately, his cure only works on those who have not already been debilitated by the disease.) His work ends up saving or improving the lives of many children, even if not his own. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/26 "2016-07-18T04:30:32Z")
[Coming to America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_to_America) [Uptown Girls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Girls) [Maid to Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maid_to_Order) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/27 "2016-07-18T04:59:39Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Does he not murder his family in the Disney movie? How do you make a movie about Hercules where he doesn’t murder his family? That’s what starts the whole narrative arc. How do you make a movie about the Hunchback of Notre Dame where Esmeralda isn’t hanged and the Hunchback doesn’t die of grief? ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/28 "2016-07-18T08:01:22Z")
_His Girl Friday_: the Rosalind Russell character starts off the movie eager to get married and leave journalism only to discover that she is in fact a “newspaperman”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/29 "2016-07-18T10:09:46Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > 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. I think you are generous calling her a love interest. He only goes out with her once to eat pizza. I loved the fact that he was as big a dick, and just as driven, as Fletcher. And his last conversation with Nicole is very fitting. So I guess although it is very brief it does qualify as maybe a “love” interest. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/30 "2016-07-18T11:35:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How do you make a movie about the Hunchback of Notre Dame where Esmeralda isn’t hanged and the Hunchback doesn’t die of grief? You shouldn’t! But that’s just the ending. You can always tack on a happy ending to a story.The whole killing his family thing is at the beginning of Hercules’s arc. Why’s he go on the labors in the Disney movie? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/31 "2016-07-18T11:47:54Z")
Atlas Shrugged Gung Ho Identity Thief - Justin Bateman’s character is a family man who joins a startup financial services firm where his competency and hard work are appreciated. He just has to resolve the issue of having his identity stolen. My Big Fat Greek Wedding Unfinished Business - Vince Vaugn is trying to get his startup off the ground. This is 40 - has a plot line where Paul Rudd is trying to get his business in order. In Good Company - Dennis Quaid is dealing with having a younger boss (who is dating his daughter played by Scarlett Johannsson) along with all sorts of other political BS at a job he is very good at. It all works out though. Erin Brockovich The problem with finding examples is that outside of Ayn Rand, focusing on your career often does come into conflict with your family life. And when push comes to shove, most audiences don’t care about the dad who misses his daughter’s recital so he can kill it in that big presentation. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. Technically, Sonny (Sandler) had to “grow up” to take responsibility for the kid. But we are shown that once he did that and all the legal red tape was resolved, he took responsibilities in other areas of his life with his girlfriend, friends and went back to be a lawyer (where he is shown as being competent). ---
**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 18, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/32 "2016-07-18T16:47:18Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > …Why’s he go on the labors in the Disney movie? He’s a hero, and people come ask him to fight monsters or solve problems which are bothering them. He never murders anyone, either while temporarily mad or otherwise. Come on, it’s Disney! I remember enjoying the film, but it never pretends to be true to the ancient Greek myths. ---
**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 18, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/33 "2016-07-18T17:31:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > He’s a hero, and people come ask him to fight monsters or solve problems which are bothering them. He never murders anyone, either while temporarily mad or otherwise. Come on, it’s Disney! They also throw in the bit where just Being That Strong and Being A Bit Clumsy means that folks are maybe going to give him the threat-or-menace look unless he’s gotten his image out there as a do-gooder who punches out monsters – in which case he instead gets cheering crowds and autograph seekers and product endorsements. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/34 "2016-07-18T18:20:06Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > You shouldn’t! But that’s just the ending. You can always tack on a happy ending to a story.The whole killing his family thing is at the beginning of Hercules’s arc. Why’s he go on the labors in the Disney movie? To learn what it means to be a true hero so he can regain the godhood stolen by Hades (shutup, we know) and return to Mt. Olympus. And they’re not really labors. He just kills lots of monsters that sometimes match up with the myths. Although strictly speaking, the love interest is Megara so you could call it the pre-quel, as it were. (Minus the hiccup that Hera is very clearly Hercules’ mother in the film and so probably isn’t interested in cursing him with madness.) edit: > [@Zsofia](#): > > 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. I love this book. It’s just fantastic and continues to speak to modern families and relationships in a way that not many books approaching their centennial birthday do anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/35 "2016-07-18T18:22:32Z")
I feel like a lot of these examples may be no-selling the “hyper-competent family people” part of the OP… or, maybe not. Also, on a related note, may I ask what “hyper-competent family people” actually means in this context? ---
**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 18, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/36 "2016-07-18T18:59:00Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > To learn what it means to be a true hero so he can regain the godhood stolen by Hades (shutup, we know) and return to Mt. Olympus. And they’re not really labors. He just kills lots of monsters that sometimes match up with the myths. > > Although strictly speaking, the love interest is Megara so you could call it the pre-quel, as it were. (Minus the hiccup that Hera is very clearly Hercules’ mother in the film and so probably isn’t interested in cursing him with madness.) Holy moly. Is there anything in the story they didn’t make a mess of? At least they keep some variation of the ending, right? Where Herc dies gruesomely, only to be deus ex machina-ed off to Mount Olympus, to become a god? That’s already kind of a tacked-on happy ending. Sounds like it would be right up Disney’s alley. _googles_ Oh. I see. They didn’t. I think I need a drink right now. A very large, very stiff drink. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/37 "2016-07-18T20:14:02Z")
Hook. Toss the cell phone and spend time with your family, you get to be Peter Pan. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/38 "2016-07-18T20:22:17Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Holy moly. Is there anything in the story they didn’t make a mess of? > > At least they keep some variation of the ending, right? Where Herc dies gruesomely, only to be deus ex machina-ed off to Mount Olympus, to become a god? That’s already kind of a tacked-on happy ending. Sounds like it would be right up Disney’s alley. > > _googles_ > > Oh. I see. They didn’t. I think I need a drink right now. A very large, very stiff drink. The movie was cute and funny, though. And I loved Megara and wished they had more of her. Very not stereotypical Disney Princess. “I’m a damsel, I’m in distress, I can handle myself.” And Hades was hysterical. “What, is my hair out?” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/39 "2016-07-18T21:05:01Z")
Agreed, it’s probably my favorite of the Disney films and Megara was a hoot. It’s just not very focused on being traditional. ---
**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 18, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/40 "2016-07-18T22:18:55Z")
Also agreed. All the voice acting was good (don’t forget Danny DeVito as Phil, Trainer to the Gods). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112.md?page=3)