I feel like so much of what our generation was sold about work was a scam. It seems to be true for friends across all industries at the moment, including like scientists in biotech who thought scientific research was the safe and sensible option. They still face layoff cycles oddly reminiscent of what I’ve heard Hollywood screenwriting careers look like.
This! I’m a doctor in the UK and even today we’re seeing General Practitioners faced with the threat of redundancy. I feel like our millennial upbringing of idolising education and traditional success has sadly become a curse.
Totally agree! WORK WON’T LOVE YOU BACK by Sarah Jaffe (who is on here Substack, not sure how to tag from my phone) provides a great overview of the historical forces that have contributed to this.
Currently studying medicine but I write on the side. My career aspirations for most of my life had been geared towards being a scientist, a doctor, or a journalist, which are all the jobs of the "superhero's girlfriend" trope in the movies and shows i consumed much of growing up. now i discover that all three of these are terribly bad career paths to make enough money for anything!
love being a seventeen year old aspiring journalist and seeing nothing but doom and gloom shrouding the reputation of the profession 🙏 but i’m continuing to dream on regardless! love this piece :)
If it helps, it was all doom and gloom when I started out too but it's possible to find a way - even if it looks a bit different to what you once thought it might be x
I, too, fell victim to Carrie Bradshaw etc al, heading into the world hell bent on becoming a writer, only to find getting a foot in the door near on impossible, before settling in marketing. Carrie has a lot to answer for.
So funny. It got me and my other half (both graphic designers) wondering how our profession would be shown in a female lead: she rushes around all day, then circles a bit of clipart on her tablet and it whoooshes and the design job is done!
Thanks for writing this. I often wonder what the modern office room com would even look like in a world filled with remote work and Slack/Teams messages.
Nothing gives me more glee that bitching about And Just Like That (obviously watched all of it). The podcast bit was a real low point, in a sea of low points. I definitely wanted to be a journalist because of Carrie Bradshaw!
For anyone launching in the 80s our romcom journo-lifestyle inspiration was Meg Ryan as Sally in When Harry Met Sally. And we mustn't forget about Lois Lane! 😊
So many greats over the years : Marlo Thomas - That Girl (recently bought the t-shirt), and of course the notorious Murphy Brown (love). Sad to see them go and replaced by the horrid / disturbing "And Just Like That".....not many women are like that. Not an ounce of reality in that show just pandering. Sadly Nora Ephron left us , who in fact gave us joy with a glimmer of hope.
Well. I got into grad school to study journalism in 2012. Next year, I got my first internship and omg. It was like the world had fallen right into my head. When I found out that cultural journalism now was basically a big buzzfeed rip out, well, it didn’t sit well in my young head. My I could’ve worked it out if a could have a stable job — ops, no, it wasn’t an option. Wanna work as a journalist in culture? Good luck with freelancing. In 2019, I finally gave up. But it all was a long sad ride.
This is going to sound completely woo-woo, but I was able to successfully quit my vaping habit by listening to YouTube stop-smoking hypnosis videos while I slept. I turned them on my phone, flipped the phone over, and played them nightly for a week. This was over 3 years ago, and I haven't touched my nic vape since. I didn't even feel bad throwing it away, whereas before, my hand would twitch and tingle if I couldn't find it. I've smoked a handful of cigarettes socially over the course of this 3 years, but the cravings are now totally gone.
My childhood dream of pursing a career in journalism, and now my grown up job in marketing/PR is 100% influenced by Romcoms. Was definitely misled but I still feel kinda iconic.
I feel like so much of what our generation was sold about work was a scam. It seems to be true for friends across all industries at the moment, including like scientists in biotech who thought scientific research was the safe and sensible option. They still face layoff cycles oddly reminiscent of what I’ve heard Hollywood screenwriting careers look like.
This! I’m a doctor in the UK and even today we’re seeing General Practitioners faced with the threat of redundancy. I feel like our millennial upbringing of idolising education and traditional success has sadly become a curse.
Totally agree! WORK WON’T LOVE YOU BACK by Sarah Jaffe (who is on here Substack, not sure how to tag from my phone) provides a great overview of the historical forces that have contributed to this.
So interesting, I’ll definitely be having a read!
Currently studying medicine but I write on the side. My career aspirations for most of my life had been geared towards being a scientist, a doctor, or a journalist, which are all the jobs of the "superhero's girlfriend" trope in the movies and shows i consumed much of growing up. now i discover that all three of these are terribly bad career paths to make enough money for anything!
So true. I remember the rom coms and how much I wanted to be a journalist like the main characters. I am now in my 30s and still think about them...
love being a seventeen year old aspiring journalist and seeing nothing but doom and gloom shrouding the reputation of the profession 🙏 but i’m continuing to dream on regardless! love this piece :)
If it helps, it was all doom and gloom when I started out too but it's possible to find a way - even if it looks a bit different to what you once thought it might be x
I, too, fell victim to Carrie Bradshaw etc al, heading into the world hell bent on becoming a writer, only to find getting a foot in the door near on impossible, before settling in marketing. Carrie has a lot to answer for.
Ps. Players was awful, but I sort of loved it?
Definitely worse romcom offenders out there than Players!
Most of them made by netflix 😂
So funny. It got me and my other half (both graphic designers) wondering how our profession would be shown in a female lead: she rushes around all day, then circles a bit of clipart on her tablet and it whoooshes and the design job is done!
Thanks for writing this. I often wonder what the modern office room com would even look like in a world filled with remote work and Slack/Teams messages.
Nothing gives me more glee that bitching about And Just Like That (obviously watched all of it). The podcast bit was a real low point, in a sea of low points. I definitely wanted to be a journalist because of Carrie Bradshaw!
Hate watching AJLT is truly one of my greatest pleasures. Roll on season 3!
Brown Sugar mentioned! 🙂↕️
Fun discussion - thank you for this context.
For anyone launching in the 80s our romcom journo-lifestyle inspiration was Meg Ryan as Sally in When Harry Met Sally. And we mustn't forget about Lois Lane! 😊
Aspired to Carrie but more likely to be Miranda’s fifth assistant, once removed!
Birkenstocks are the new Manolos! 😍
So many greats over the years : Marlo Thomas - That Girl (recently bought the t-shirt), and of course the notorious Murphy Brown (love). Sad to see them go and replaced by the horrid / disturbing "And Just Like That".....not many women are like that. Not an ounce of reality in that show just pandering. Sadly Nora Ephron left us , who in fact gave us joy with a glimmer of hope.
Well. I got into grad school to study journalism in 2012. Next year, I got my first internship and omg. It was like the world had fallen right into my head. When I found out that cultural journalism now was basically a big buzzfeed rip out, well, it didn’t sit well in my young head. My I could’ve worked it out if a could have a stable job — ops, no, it wasn’t an option. Wanna work as a journalist in culture? Good luck with freelancing. In 2019, I finally gave up. But it all was a long sad ride.
Kitchen cuties totally tracks. Even We Love in Time (more romdram but whatever) has Florence Pugh’s character cracking a few eggs.
This is going to sound completely woo-woo, but I was able to successfully quit my vaping habit by listening to YouTube stop-smoking hypnosis videos while I slept. I turned them on my phone, flipped the phone over, and played them nightly for a week. This was over 3 years ago, and I haven't touched my nic vape since. I didn't even feel bad throwing it away, whereas before, my hand would twitch and tingle if I couldn't find it. I've smoked a handful of cigarettes socially over the course of this 3 years, but the cravings are now totally gone.
Never heard of these before! Thanks for sharing
My childhood dream of pursing a career in journalism, and now my grown up job in marketing/PR is 100% influenced by Romcoms. Was definitely misled but I still feel kinda iconic.