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

I have never seen my profession depicted in a film, tv show or a book. Not once. It’s a shame - I’d love to see what they’d have me doing.

@GinJeanie

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! 😳

They also had a donkey which I don't recall from my school days

@StCharlotte - my primary school had two donkeys (called Samson and Delilah). They lived in the old outdoor toilet block.

Breaking Bad wouldn't have happened because he wouldn't have been able to nick all of the stuff from the prep room as I would have been guarding it

The Firm

Love Actually. The PM runs the country with one civil servant and a few housekeeping staff, one of whom seems to do nothing but bring him biscuits. Agree the Thick of It is much more realistic.

@AlCalavicci

Almost all programs that have a bar / pub in them depict the bar staff as either Man / woman haters or will jump on anything with a pulse.

Soaps are particular bad at making it look like bar staff wipe the same bit of bar all the time but never anywhere else .

Other customers help out if someone is getting stroppy , nope they are suddenly very interested it their phone / news paper / pint

They give away free drinks to mates

kicking out time everyone goes without making a fuss

People rarely finish there drinks

I could go on for quite a while here !

Fantastically put and don't start me on Emmerdale 😂😂

House of Cards all day long 😯

I work in IT, specifically information systems /infosec.

1. See that thing where hackers have the screen reflecting lines of code on their faces? That's not how ICU screens work.

1. Hackers are, admittedly, becoming ever more sophisticated and humans are really rubbish at generating complex passwords, but it does generally take longer than ten minutes for a teenager to break into a complex system.

I've never seen my job portrayed in TV, book or film! I'm a veterinary nurse. I wonder how the vets in Emerdale cope without a RVN. I honestly can't believe that they are setting up their own equipment, running their own lab tests, monitoring their own inpatients, monitoring their own anaesthetics, plus the million other jobs RVNs do

@Katefoster yeah they just keep Jane on reception but she can come and set up for an implant at a moments notice

DH is an artist, the most accurate depiction of his working life is the fast show sketch. The rest of it, generally pretty unrealistic, there is a distinct lack of wealthy patrons, and glamorous champagne fueled gallery openings in real life.

Do you mean the sketch where everything is fine, until he has to use the black paint? That's a firm favourite in this arty household, it gets trotted out regularly.

@Watto1

The cliche of the average-looking admin person suddenly becoming stunningly beautiful when she takes her bun down and removes her glasses. She then spends the rest of the film running around with the hero without her glasses on. I’m average looking with my hair up or down and if I ran about without my glasses on I’d be forever falling over as I wouldn’t be able to see!

Or the cliche of the female scientist. Always bespectacled and with hair pulled back in tight bun.

I have to admit here that W1A is actually pretty accurate...

Dramas set in schools - and the latest Teacher Recruitment ad- always show the teachers leaving at the same time as the kids. Doesn't happen.

@Wbeezer

Do you mean the sketch where everything is fine, until he has to use the black paint? That's a firm favourite in this arty household, it gets trotted out regularly.

That's the one!

@ShortBacknSides

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

You mean you don’t have leather elbow patches on all of your jackets? Or even wear corduroy trousers?

@JaniceBattersby

I’m a reporter. I’ve never once seen a realistic depiction of my job on any drama. In 20 years on the job I’ve never once been involved in any kind of ‘media scrum’ or shafted anyone for kicks.

There was once a little speech by the newspaper editor in Broadchurch that came slightly close to describing the plight of local newspapers.

I get you Janice Spent my early career on a regional, and very rural, paper. It was me, female in my early 20s, and three crabby middle aged men who when they weren’t fighting over the biscuits - I was beloved because I always brought chocolate hob nobs on my week, and not “Mariettias like that cheap bastard Tom” - were basically just going between the courts, council meetings and openings. A ‘media scrum’ constituted who was going to get lucky enough to cover the mart on Tuesdays because then you could expense your lunch.

Our anonymous “tips” came from people who were either attempting to dob in their neighbours for things we couldn’t possibly report on, eg: “you might be interested to know Billy Rourke bought that plot with CASH” or themselves. “Just thought you should know Jim Doyle from Bog End Nowhere’s bull won best of show last week at Never Heard Of It Fair”. That’s great sir, very nice of you to let us know on his behalf! May I ask to whom am I speaking? Do you have a phone number I can call to confirm? “Ah now, don’t be worrying about that, just stick in for next week” 😂

The glamour! I loved it actually. Eventually moved into press relations for semi-state bodies. W1A resonated deeply.

The fact that my job doesn't appear to exist. My workplace is often featured in tv and films but never my role.

This reminds me of a game we used to play sometimes in a previous workplace. We would imagine our office to be a TV series or movie and then choose who was going to play each of us.

@StCharlotte

The fact that my job doesn't appear to exist. My workplace is often featured in tv and films but never my role.

Same

Ambulances do not sit around with the back doors open and the patient/hero/whatever sitting on the back steps wrapped in a silver blanket sipping a Nice Cup Of Tea while explaining the plot to their junior, less bright sidekick.

Casualty, shockingly awful depiction of health care professionals. My parents use to watch it, drove me bonkers!

Anything hacking/computer.
People furiously tapping on keyboard and then boom - their in + cool graphics on screen.
In truth it’s type to run something. Go for cofeee while it runs. Come back and trawl through huge log file.
Realise you needed to run something else. Start it and go for another coffee
And repeat 😂

Also no you cannot just hack into something and get all that data in readable form 😂 by pressing one button

Ha ha CastawayQueen yes I was going to post something like this. The number of times a nerdy computer programmer (usually young and male) clacks a few keys and lo and behold all is revealed and access granted.

I remember a few years ago watching some disaster movie (can't remember the name unfortunately) but something important was programmed to happen and had to be stopped and one of the assembled said "Let me through, I am a computer programmer". Cue DH and I rolling on the floor laughing. It became a jokey catch phrase for us for a while