To ask what's the least realistic depiction of your job in a film, tv show or book?

[ZoinksRun]

I'm always watching things and thinking 'I bet that job isn't like that.' People in my job on tv are always dim, well dressed (immaculate hair, nails, shoes) and never look stressed which is very unrealistic! They do all seem to have 'ie' or 'y' ending names which to be honest is pretty accurate

Any show that shows a therapist sat in a nice room with flowers, tissues and some kind of relaxation gadget on the table, with their client laid or sat on a comfy settee.

Try being an NHS therapist. Crammed into a room big enough for a mouse with peeling grey walls, boiling hot or freezing cold, perched on a chair with wheels 🤣

As a theatre nurse, nearly all of them tbh.

@OhWhyNot

I used to work as a therapist. I never sat down in a client session with a pen and paper to jot things down

Oh I do this every single session! I’m a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist so it’s pretty much mandatory!

Me too.

The worst is where they show psychiatrists performing therapies.

Ambulance worker - Medical shows with romance/chemistry at work? Nah! I am a sweaty, tired, hungry mess during a 12 hour shift that romance is a million miles from my mind, in fact i am more interested in where i can go pee and get a cup of tea!
(Also shocking an asystole (flatline) pt will not magically bring someone back, they definitely wont sit up and declare their love for the gorgeous/handsome young heroic Dr!)

Lots (I'm a lawyer), but being interested in fashion as I am, the overtly sexy clothes that women lawyers wear in some US TV shows amuse me no end. Tight fitting skirts and dresses, low cut blouses, sky high heels, etc. Not realistic at all, but fun to watch, (especially in my guilty pleasure Suits).

Speech therapist here. I wish I spent my time helping a king to get over his stammer by swearing, but the reality is a bit different. Although there is still swearing (from me).

I’m a professor. Just about every single representation of an academic in film or television is total bollocks.

@mayaknew

Me too.

The worst is where they show psychiatrists performing therapies.

This should have quoted the post about working in mental health 🤦🏻‍♀️

GP here. The lunchtime soap Doctors bears absolutely no resemblance to my job. Empty waiting rooms. Home visits to people who clearly are able to leave the house

I worked in the travel industry, prior to retirement, for many, many years.

Please don't get me started on just how inaccurately this is portrayed on tv. 🙄. Worst of it is that Joe Public believes what they see on Coronation Street etc. and truly think they can just hand over an airline ticket to someone else.

This example is just one of hundreds. Why on earth don't scriptwriters do proper research? 🙄🙄🙄

I work in HR, which is not the most glamorous profession anyway I know, but DH finds it hilarious that HR people in films/TV are always depicted as so uptight and frumpy. Possibly not too far from the truth in my case 😂

DH is a corporate law solicitor and although he would like to imagine he’s like a character from suits, I’m pretty sure the reality is a lot more mundane.

I'm a lawyer, I work in litigation, the only realistic part of Ally McBeal was the amount of coffee they drank.

I used to be a teacher. Media depictions vary from loved and respected (e.g. Dead Poets Society) to feckless and lazy (e.g. Bad Education). I’ve never seen anything on tv that depicts reality. Teachers working a 70 hour week, no time for their own family, having nervous breakdowns, being insulted, spat at, having chairs thrown at them, not being able to take a lunch break or even go for a wee, being expected to work unpaid overtime, having to give pupils worksheets and crap lessons because they don’t have time to prepare proper lessons and in most cases aren’t paid for the time it takes to prepare them.

The stupid "Nativity" films. The number of safeguarding breaches would have got all the staff sacked, especially the ridiculous Mr Poppy or whatever his name is. Also that no one seems bothered about hitting National Curriculum targets, enduring observations or learning walks or sit there after the kids have gone home filling in spreadsheets of pupil progress data. Mind you, there are a lot of films/TV shows set in primary schools which are equally ridiculous.

*although I HAVE taken kids to music festivals where staff from rival schools have clearly been prepared to do anything to win...

I'm a teacher. Teachers on TV never do plenaries and can never time manage their lessons. The bell always rings and the kids all pile out while the teacher is shouting their homework at them over the din. Maybe its different in secondary (I'm primary).

Mate is a club DJ. He's never done drugs, doesn't have booth groupies and only drinks tea!

Teachers with Andrew Lincoln always looked like a lot of fun. Would love to hole up in the pub of an evening, doing a bit of pissed tick 'n' flick with my best mates/colleagues. Am assuming they didn't have work scrutinies from SLT or Ofsted! 😳

Ricky Gervais inaccuracy depicted care homes in both After Life and Derek. Nice easy clients that would never get care home funding in real life. No personal care seems to be required.

Silicon Valley and software development. It's funny, and accurate is some ways, but totally totally not representative of my experience (which also includes working in silicon valley)

According to my many medical professional pals, at no time has anyone ever working a crash cart announced to the room "We're losing him!". Apparently on TV it's extremely motivating

@WeatherForecast - mind you, I once went to (private) counselling for a few weeks - and it was in a lovely setting, sofa, flowers, tissues etc.

I paid for it though..

Thanks to you, etc.

@Chicchicchicchiclana

I had a job similar to Bridget Jones. Lol at being able to afford that Borough Market flat on that level of salary, even in the 1990s. Absolutely impossible.

Me too.. well I worked in TV but it certainly wasn't straight into crew and reporting. It was a year of making tea and being spoken to like sh*t before the next tiny rung! Pay just about covered my Oyster card.

DH is Army. They are always depicted running around fields with rifles or in trucks etc. Always dirty and with cam cream.

Reality... he rarely leaves the office. If it does, its to go to meetings in other offices.

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