Watching a good movie or TV show is all about the drama, of course. No one wants to watch a lawyer file mountains of paperwork or see a surgeon come across their TV without a scalpel in their hand and an intern on their arm. However, I can only imagine how frustrating it could be when your life's work is being portrayed totally inaccurately.
So, a while back, people shared examples of the ways movies and TV shows portrayed their careers incorrectly, which, of course, prompted even more people to voice their frustrations. Here's what they had to say:
1. "Any show involving teachers. You don’t just leave the classroom to go do anything (that’s grounds for a directive and firing); we get 17 minutes for lunch because we’re transporting kids, and most of us work on the weekends. Also, most of us don’t eat in the teacher's lounge. At my school, it’s too far away from the cafeteria."
2. "That working at a fairground is all fun, games, and free rides. It's standing in the sun for hours on end, dealing with nasty customers, learning to fix rides, the stress of watching children, and dealing with angry parents who are mad you kicked their kid off a ride for acting dangerously. It's not an easy job at all!"
3. "Courtroom clerk. Not to be confused with the court reporter or stenographer who takes down every word said in a hearing. I do everything else: official minutes, impanel juries, process warrants, mark, catalog, and take care of exhibits. I also swear in witnesses. I’m basically the judge’s right-hand person."
4. "I’ve been a firefighter for 25 years. I’ve never seen a working fire where the visibility was so clear that you could see more than a foot in front of you, yet in movies we can see across an entire warehouse. It doesn't work that way, people!"
5. "I’ve worked in public libraries for just shy of 40 years. Whenever someone is shelving books in a library or bookstore in a movie or TV show, there’s always a nice empty spot on the shelf just waiting for that book to come back and be shelved!"
6. "Social worker here. No, I don’t spend my day taking away people’s children. I’ve never even worked in child welfare. I spend my day writing case notes and filing reports. That’s 90% of my day. The other 10% is responding to emails."
7. "I work in HR, and we are not obsessed with firing people or getting people in trouble. If anything, we have seen it all. All. We’re legit there to help you."
8. "As a stay-at-home mom, our kids aren't always sleeping; we don't have a nanny or someone who magically babysits our kids on a whim all day. We're rarely wearing anything even slightly considered chic."
"We are tired, haggard, and surrounded by kids all day long. Oh, and we don't live in mansions that are perfectly decorated and drive white SUVs. Say it with me, MINIVANS and stains!"
9. "I work for a mortgage company, and the biggest thing I've noticed is the way everything is oversimplified if someone wants to get banking information from other people on some company computer. First of all, I'm behind two different doors that need keycards to get through. Then my computer is always locked or logged off if I'm not directly sitting there."
10. "Programmers are always shown to be uber-nerds with bad clothes, bad hair, bad hygiene, and no social skills. I've worked in the business for 30+ years. I've met maybe two people like that. The other few thousand people I've known or worked with look, act, and ARE just like anyone else out there in the world."
11. "As an ultrasound technician, you won't believe the number of times they show a kidney when it’s supposed to be a baby, or the mom is just finding out she's pregnant and the baby is 38 weeks on the screen."
12. "I’m a writer. 98.532% of my time is spent pantsless, braless, and staring out a window, working out a scene in my head. It looks like I’m doing nothing at all. Honestly, I probably look slightly unhinged. According to Hollywood, I should be biting a pencil while squinting at the keyboard I’m assaulting with the 'hunt and peck' typing method."
13. "I’m a commercial interior designer. I probably spend 10% of my time picking finishes. The rest of it is either in meetings, behind the computer, putting together construction documents, answering submittals, RFIs, or issuing ASIs."
14. "Political campaigns. They always show everyone in the campaign office in suits with matching office furniture, and it's just a municipal election. Every campaign and field office I've been in has mismatched and makeshift furniture, and everyone's dressed comfortably."
And finally, this person added their own entry to the list of "ways women's abilities are misunderstood and misrepresented":
15. "I was a gestational surrogate. In the movies, they always pick a surrogate because she’s young and so she must be good at growing babies. In reality, what you want is a tested and functioning uterus and a woman who is done having kids for herself."
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.