A while back there was a thread on things movies and television get wrong about your profession. I’d like to know what movies or TV shows get it right.
In my profession (newspaper reporting) “All the President’s Men” is the gold standard. Its portrayal of how tedious the reporting process can be (like knocking on 100 doors to get one person to say anything of interest to you) is spot on.
I was also pleasantly surprised by “Marley and Me.” It was one of those movies that my wife dragged me to, and judging from the previews I thought it was going to be a stereotypical romantic comedy, but with dog jokes. I really didn’t know about John Grogan (the newspaper columnist whose book inspired the movie) before seeing it and wasn’t even aware the film was about journalism.
Many movies about my profession fall into what I call the “Friends”-syndrome - they portray young journalists as overly hip, living way above their means in big apartments, hanging out in nice bars and sipping expensive cocktails every night.
But Marlee and Me got a lot of things right about the sort of a lifestyle a twenty-something journalist in a mid-sized market would be expected to lead - small house in a somewhat shady neighborhood, driving around a beater, hoping for that big break that’ll catapult them into one of the big nationally-renowned metro papers.
The only thing that bothered me is when his boss offered to double salary. Granted, that was in the '90s, before my time, but in today’s cash-strapped newsrooms Grogan would be lucky to get a five percent raise.
The final season of “The Wire” got a lot of things right about the newspaper business, especially in its portrayal of the douchebag managers who are all too happy to let kissasses run roughshod. But the Templeton storyline was a little overblown. I felt that in a real newsroom he probably would have been confronted earlier especially after his editor caught him lying redhanded. Still, fabricating material is about the worst thing you can accuse a journalist of doing, and it’s not a charge you make lightly.
Some parts of it are just spot on perfect. The rest is garbage, of course, but there are moments…
There’s an old episode of The Wonder Years where Kevin goes to work with his dad. While he’s there his dad attempts to explain exactly what he does all day at NORCOM. Makes a lot of calls and fills out a lot of forms.
That pretty accurately portrays my profession.
Ì find that most Judd Apatow movies accurately represent my life, up until the point where the protagonist stops smoking weed and hooks up with a smokin’ hot lady.
The Office (British version) probably comes closest to some of my previous jobs but I’ve never seen a TV show or film centering around admin work for a charity. Pity, there’s high drama and comedy gold to be had.
silenus - which part of Teachers most accurately portrays real teaching life? Is it the times where you all go down the pub, get pissed and talk about who you’d most like to shag? 
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
Usually movie-makers have no idea what librarians do. Even a movie that’s obviously done some research of the subject like Party Girl, since the main character works in a library, has a pretty superficial view of library work.
The one that seems most true to me is Whisper of the Heart. The central character (Shizuku Tsukishima) uses the library a lot, and a lot of the plot revolves around books that she borrows from the school library; we see a bit of her school librarian Kosaka-sensei; and Shizuku’s father also works in a library. It’s from the users’ point of view, but it rings more true than most movie treatment of librarians.
As a long, long time newspaperman. The one that gets it right for me is “Park Row,” and I think the original (Pat O’Brian, Adolph Monjue [sp]) “Front Page” comes pretty close.
But you’ve got to remember I started (at 12) when there were manual typewriters in the newsroom and actual hot led in the pressroom. BKReporter If you have not seen “Park Row”, you should.
I am eagerly following this thread because I’ve never seen any movie or TV show get librarianship right.
Buffy came closest.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll check it out.
The film Waiting… pretty much spot-on reflected all my years of working in low-end restaurants. Irritating manager, foul language and constant immature games - it was all there.
At the same end, Clerks did a pretty good job of what it was like to work at a grocery store. Right down to the milk maids and the inane conversations with coworkers right in front of customers.
All the places I worked at were very professionally run (even pizza delivery).
I’ve been a teacher more than anything else, and I’d say The Class (Entre Les Murs in the original French) is the most realistic depiction of a classroom I’ve ever seen in popular media. It’s not representative of all classes by any means, and French social interactions are different than those elsewhere, but it really got the subtle joys and frustration of the profession.
For some reason, my thrilling profession (engineering) doesn’t make it into too many movies or TV shows. But Dilbert (which, yes, was a short-lived TV show) did a pretty credible job of portraying it like it is…TRM
A movie that accurately portrayed my profession, theoretical physics, would be phenomenally boring. The main characters would be shown sitting at a desk, thinking. Occasionally writing something down. Then, at the movie’s thrilling climax, they would go to a computer and the audience would wait with bated breath to see if the output of the simulation would accord with the hypothesis. Exciting!
To my knowledge, no such movie has been made. Real Genius wasn’t a bad description of undergrad physics research, especially if you subtract the douchebagginess of Prof. Douchebag.
But mathematics, as a profession, looks very similar to outsiders. So, how did you like A Beautiful Mind?
Unfortunately I have not seen it. If I have time tonight I’ll watch it and report back.
Actually, I’ve known several profs who were barely restrained versions of Dr. Hathaway. I knew several "Kent"s, too, as well as a double Ph.D. who worked in the Chemistry glass lab who could have passed for Lazlo. Speaking of Real Genius, I’ll point out that most of the jargon was actually technically consistent with cutting edge laser technology of the day (even if the laser itself and some of the other science was exaggerated) and the lab actually looked like a university research lab with lashed-together equipment and junk piled in the corners. No professor would have a research lab staffed with only undergraduate seniors and one incoming freshman. And however much of a genius Mitch might be, he’s still going to be cleaning optics, post-processing data, and otherwise earning his chops before getting to actually play a major role. Still, a pretty fair rendition of university life at an engineering and science school.
There is no t.v. show that really accurately portrays my profession, but The Pentagon Wars comes close sometimes, especially when the board of generals keeps shifting the requirements for the Bradley FV over and over, turning it from a fast troop transport to a heavily armed but grossly underarmored monstrosity. Jones: Where am I supposed to put the extra ammo?
Col. Robert Laurel Smith: I don’t know.
Jones: You’ve already got 30,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, now he wants to add 30-millimeter shells?
Col. Robert Laurel Smith: The general wants his ammo.
Jones: He can’t have his ammo, not unless he runs alongside this thing carrying it.
That’s about right.
The 2000 film The Dish, while dramatized, is a pretty accurate representation of the mundanities and petty egos of technical operations.
Stranger