Support NeoGAF

[Stinkles]

Chimney sweep.

That shit was pretty lethal and not something to be romanticized about in books and shows based around the 18th century era.

Kids were cheaper than long poles.

 

[Green Mamba]

I worked as a delivery driver for a year and not once did a customer proposition me for sex instead of money.

 

[shawnbuddy]

I worked as a delivery driver for a year and not once did a customer proposition me for sex instead of money.

They didn't call up and ask for a pizza with "extra sausage?"

 

[Cat Party]

Chimney sweep.

That shit was pretty lethal and not something to be romanticized about in books and shows based around the 18th century era.

Also, being a caveman was not all fun and games like you see in movies. Very dangerous. Getting stuck in a glacier and then thawing out in early 90s SoCal is not something to romanticize.

 

[cj_iwakura]

hacking is my favorite

I've heard the hilarious depictions of hacking in media are often deliberate.

 

[kai3345]

filmmaking, ironically

 

[Dash_Riprock]

From what a friend told me, working at MI6 is basically a boring office job 99.9% of the time. If James Bond was real, the vast majority at his time would be spent at a desk writing reports and explaining why he caused so much collateral and killed/slept with so many women while on the job.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Masseuse

I have to imagine media has made that job miserable

 

[MattKeil]

I've heard the hilarious depictions of hacking in media are often deliberate.

Yeah there's kind of a competition between writers on shows with computer stuff to see who can get the most ridiculous nonsense on the air. The fact that it annoys people who know how ridiculous it is tends to be bonus points.

 

[Famassu]

Every. Single. Profession. Just so long as we don't go full-blown idiotic, I don't see anything too bad in spicing things up for drama since most professions depicted in TV shows & movies are really boring 99,999% of the time. Just understand it's fiction and go with the flow. ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[Chuck Norris]

All of them. A more interesting question would be which films get a profession right, which ones show us what it's really like, because the vast majority of portrayals of all professions are simplistic and often just wrong.

Mad Men pretty much nailed advertising in the later seasons. Maybe not Drapers perspective so much, but Peggy's life shows a pretty great representation of the long hours, repetitive and hard to nail creative process. And it does a good job showing how u have an agency lives and dies by client decisions

 

[itwasTuesday]

TV school janitors seem to be accurate a lot of the time.

 

[KiwiLannister]

Engineering is probably up there, but it's shamefully under represented in media. I'm not talking about software or design engineering, I'm talking about large scale engineering consulting. The thing is, it is one of the most interesting fields out there, the job involves massive complex projects and tons of travel, and yet they seem to be unaware it even exists.

 

[Peccavi]

Accounting generally doesn't involve gun fights.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Pretty much all medical staff.

Repeat after me, you cannot defibrillate in case of an asystolie.

 

[Kayhan]

Scientists.

Fuck you we are not the nerdy sidekick we get all the girls

 

[echoshifting]

All of them. A more interesting question would be which films get a profession right, which ones show us what it's really like, because the vast majority of portrayals of all professions are simplistic and often just wrong.

Yeah I can't resist pondering this question instead (sorry op). I don't blame writers though - unless it's REALLY bad - because it's usually convenient shorthand that most of the audience won't notice. But I always think it's neat when they go the other way, like with My Cousin Vinnie.

Another good one is Arrival which is just loaded with meticulous details. I am not a quantum physicist, but I have read that most/all of the advanced equations shown in the film are not only real, but relevant to the plot. That is so cool.

 

[LifEndz]

Lawyers.

Bingo. It's not nearly as glamorous as works of fiction makes it out to be.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Cop

 

[captainpat]

Please tell me P5 got shit for this

 

[Kor of Memory]

The military...

All of it.

I've seen Staff Sergeants flying Air Force One. FYI, some Staff Sergeants barely have the credentials to be a shift manager at McDonalds. Let alone the idea of an Enlisted (not an officer) be piloting anything.*

I've seen Captains lead super advanced spec ops teams... Capts are usually fresh out of school and have little to no experience and practically no time with their "team" for bonding or forming any kind of team synergy.

I've seen Colonels that look waaaaayyyy younger than they possibly could be. Not that Colonels have an age requirement, but because of the necessary time in. Because of the other requirements, 20+ years is pretty normal. And since being an officer requires a college education, you probably aren't starting your time in service until you are about 24. So maybe Colonel at 44 if you are a fucking prodigy or something.

Everything in the military is lowest bidder. Everything. The only time I ever saw modern equipment in the military was when one of my civilian co workers brought in a new coffee machine.

*

Spoiler

I realize the irony by pointing this out because my time in the military was a statistical anomoly, being that I was enlisted and also a pilot.

 

[Santiako]

I always love how the same cops investigate the crime scene, do all the lab work, do the autopsy, interrogate the perps, lead raids and dangerous operations, go undercover, etc

 

[TeamLeftMatch]

I always like how when media portray scientists, they often have one regular guy point out what's wrong with their experiment, or if the experiment would go wrong they would show how bad it was. Like are scientists that stupid that they would not know about the very obvious problem with their experiment or something.

 

[thoseAREmySHOES]

Just about any professional in the US court/law enforcement system. I understand why, though, as no one would want to watch any montage of people doing paperwork.

 

[Fuchsdh]

I've yet to see an accurate portrayal of law enforcement, like, ever.

In books, plenty. But I can't think of a show that ever did it consistently. There was a crime writer who used to do recaps of episodes of Castle, pointing out what was real or not with the episodes, and by the end of the series he mostly just broke down. Terrible ME dialogue and total ignorance of how police jurisdiction would work were usually the big culprits.

Masseuse

I have to imagine media has made that job miserable

Media doesn't help, but massage has long had connections with prostitution that make it a pain for legitimate practitioners. I have a family member who does massage therapy and there are massive amounts of laws and licensing requirements required by a lot of states because they basically start with the assumption you're a sex worker and you have to prove otherwise.

 

[broncobuster]

In books, plenty. But I can't think of a show that ever did it consistently. There was a crime writer who used to do recaps of episodes of Castle, pointing out what was real or not with the episodes, and by the end of the series he mostly just broke down. Terrible ME dialogue and total ignorance of how police jurisdiction would work were usually the big culprits.

The Wire is the closest you'd find on TV.

 

[afternoon delight]

Pretty much all medical staff.

Repeat after me, you cannot defibrillate in case of an asystolie.

If people screaming "GIMME FIVE CCS DIFIBRUYOL STAT!" while lots of beeping and wheels whirring around on floors is wrong I don't want to be right.

 

[HStallion]

The Wire is the closest you'd find on TV.

The Wire is probably the best at it. I believe its actually used in some criminal justice programs and such. I do remember where I was watching a clip where actual drug dealers were watching the Wire and mentioning what was accurate and wasn't accurate. Needless to say they couldn't believe a dude like Omar would be alive for so long especially as a gay man.

 

[zulux21]

I'm going to stretch a bit and say professional gamer as tv shows drive me nuts when it comes to people playing games.


lets just button mash on the controller randomly.

better yet... lets add a second player for co op but continue to show the same footage of a single person running around.

 

[Kinyou]

Please tell me P5 got shit for this

Looks like that trolling montage from South Park

 

[falconxcrunner09]

Crime Scene Investigators, Police officers etc. Anything along those lines.

 

[Apzu]

Scientists in general, I would love to have just one of those miraculous equipment that gives you all the answers. Also the samples are almost non existent, most fiction work with a ridiculous low amount of samples. Heck, trying to do anything with hair in real life demands lots and lots of hair, not just a single strand of it.

But to be fair, I guess there are flaws in most professions in fiction.

Chimney sweep.

That shit was pretty lethal and not something to be romanticized about in books and shows based around the 18th century era.

Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee!
A sweep is as lucky
As lucky can be

 

[TAJ]

Masseuse

I have to imagine media has made that job miserable

Is it really media? 'Cause the stories I've heard from co-workers say otherwise.

 

[rrs]

plumbing is a legit trade where someone does years of training to make sure pipes work fine and are installed while not angering the mytholoigcal beasts of building codes, not a punchline to a buttcrack joke

 

[Aureon]

All of them. A more interesting question would be which films get a profession right, which ones show us what it's really like, because the vast majority of portrayals of all professions are simplistic and often just wrong.

Let's see...
Mr Robot for hacking
Shirobako for animation

 

[AlexMeloche]

Architects or designers.

 

[Savitar]

Scientist, definitely.

Specialize in one field?! Are you crazy, they know the fields, all of them!

They can do everything.

 

[Kid Ying]

Scientists.

Fuck you we are not the nerdy sidekick we get all the girls

Yeah!... Sometimes.

It depends where the "cool" guys are. There are some fields that are more nerdy than others.

Either way, none of them are like movie science. Sometimes it's a shame. Sucks hard to wait weeks for some data.

 

[tanooki27]

Kids were cheaper than long poles.

i was told they were lucky as lucky can be!

 

[Cymbal Head]

Probably all of--

All of them.

--shit

 

[Oersted]

IT Hacking.
Exception made for Mr. Robot and a handful of others, it gets really, really, really, really stupid.

I think Matrix 1 and 2 got it right

Spoiler

There wasn't any hacking in the third one if I recall correctly

 

[sarcastor]

Video game makers... The only thing they kind of get right is the offices are decorated with lots of toys and memorabilia.

Yeah Grandma's Boy was like 10000% inaccurate. Some guy made a game using a xbox OG console by himself and didn't have it backed up anywhere.

hacking is my favorite

I've never met a hacker but I'm sure they're not as handsome as Hugh Jackman, Johnny Lee Miller or Angelina Jolie. Or are they...

 

[demosthenes]

Mental health.

 

[capitalCORN]

From experience, nursing and cooking.

 

[Sanjuro]

Pizza Delivery.

 

[Lys Skygge]

Apparently one thing Hot Fuzz gets right is the amount of paper work police are required to do. Otherwise, I don't think it's a very accurate depiction of being a cop haha.

 

[Laekon]

The military...

All of it.

I've seen Staff Sergeants flying Air Force One. FYI, some Staff Sergeants barely have the credentials to be a shift manager at McDonalds. Let alone the idea of an Enlisted (not an officer) be piloting anything.*

I've seen Captains lead super advanced spec ops teams... Capts are usually fresh out of school and have little to no experience and practically no time with their "team" for bonding or forming any kind of team synergy.

I've seen Colonels that look waaaaayyyy younger than they possibly could be. Not that Colonels have an age requirement, but because of the necessary time in. Because of the other requirements, 20+ years is pretty normal. And since being an officer requires a college education, you probably aren't starting your time in service until you are about 24. So maybe Colonel at 44 if you are a fucking prodigy or something.

Everything in the military is lowest bidder. Everything. The only time I ever saw modern equipment in the military was when one of my civilian co workers brought in a new coffee machine.

*

Spoiler

I realize the irony by pointing this out because my time in the military was a statistical anomoly, being that I was enlisted and also a pilot.

No there not. In the Marines and Army it's the 3rd officer rank and lead companies with 3 to 4 other officers below them in combat units.

All medical shows are pretty much crap. No way Nurse Jackie took hour lunches while working in the ED. Except for in the labor and delivery areas most hospitals don't have rooms for the staff to sleep and there ain't nobody having sex during a shift.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

All of them. A more interesting question would be which films get a profession right, which ones show us what it's really like, because the vast majority of portrayals of all professions are simplistic and often just wrong.

Not a film, but E.R. was lauded for its correct depiction of hospital work and certain parts were shown at medschools to students.

 

[capitalCORN]

Not a film, but E.R. was lauded for its correct depiction of hospital work and certain parts were shown at medschools to students.

Never watched E.R. But were doctors performing defibrillations?

 

[Vincent Alexander]

As a psychotherapist, then number of shows that still take influence from Freud-era practices (Particularly with a fainting couch facing away from the therapist) is surprising.

The only noticeable exception coming to mind is the Always Sunny episode where the gang crashes Dee's therapy session. Even then, they're all let into the office at once & are immediately seen individually afterwards (Granted, an argument could be made for this being a "family session" & the gang has a history of barging into offices unscheduled by tying up whoever's at the front desk, so...).

There has to be more accurate portrayals, though. Since Foolkiller was explicitly stated to be a psychotherapist I picked that series up, but then his origin was explained through an inappropriately long instance of self-disclosure... Plus the fact he kills his clients is a wee bit inaccurate. Just a bit.

Have you ever watched In Treatment from HBO? I am only 5 or 6 episodes in, but curious what your take is on it's accuracy.

Fun fact, My Cousin Vinnie is considered one of the best illustrations of an actual trial and is even shown to law students

People might not believe this, but it is true.

Whaaaat? That is kind of cool.