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30 Times Hollywood Had Zero Clue What A Real Job Is Actually Like
The drama, the action, the explosions—movies have always been slightly, or even wildly different from reality in some ways or others. But even though a lot of popular movies do not provide an exact representation of what’s truly real, we still get a kick out of them, because of how we, as an audience, relate to the plot, the characters, and the various scenarios that occur. The distance between the audience’s perception of reality and the point of the film is usually big enough for us to escape that reality for the duration of the running time, if not longer, or it is smaller—in which case we do heavily relate to what’s on the screen.
On the other hand, there are scenarios where, on an individual or group basis, we will be annoyingly detached from the fictional narrative at hand, because we know that it is a bit too far from our reality. One such example would be people with a certain job or profession watching a movie and thinking that it’s not how their job is done at all. A user on Reddit asked a question that very much relates to this—what movies get wrong about different kinds of jobs that real people do. Here at Bored Panda, we have collected 30 of some of the more interesting responses. Scroll down to view the whole list, upvote the posts you perhaps relate to and leave a comment!
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#1
Truck Drivers
Truck driver here. When an air line gets cut or broken, the truck loses air and the brakes f*****g engage. The truck will stop. It will not lose its brakes like you see in the movies.
It could be argued that, a lot of the time, the professions we do not have much direct contact with will not be well understood, and that counts for movie makers as well. People behind movies aren't always going to have deep knowledge about doctors, engineers or lawyers, and even if they have access to people from those professions that can consult them, the end result will still likely be changed for the cinematic or dramatic effect. So it could be said that it's not the movie maker's intention to deceive us when it comes to what people really do with their professions, but that's rather the by-product of trying to make the movie as concise and interesting as possible.
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#2
Welders
Whenever I see someone welding in a movie I always notice how they aren’t wearing anything to cover the skin on their arms or body. That’s how you get serious arc burn that’s like a super bad sunburn. Hurts like h**l.
#3
Car Mechanics
Car mechanics usually don't lie on a little board beneath the car. They lift the car over their head using hydraulic elevators.
It could be said, though, that some movies don't even try to be realistic with their portrayals of various jobs, to the point where even people unrelated to the profession might cringe a little. For example, the way software development or hacking in movies is shown brings out not fascination, but rather a laugh, as the "hackers" or "programmers" on the screen assemble 3D shapes, smash their keyboards and type out gibberish.
#4
Restaurant Cooks
As a restaurant cook/food handler. I have never done nasty stuff to someone's food, no one does. Even real a*****e customers that everyone doesn't like, their food is just food. Your server might let it sit around while they ignore you for treating them like a dog. But no one is spitting in your food in a real kitchen.
#5
Taxi Drivers
Taxi driver for 2 and a half years. No one has ever asked me to follow that car :(
I'd say that one big drawback of inaccurate portrayal of jobs in movies is that it gives a skewed perspective on those professions to people that might actually be interested in working in those fields. From kids to adults, movies will commonly show either the most exciting or the dullest parts of a certain job, when in reality, elements of both can be found in pretty much any line of work. Police officers have to do paperwork, lawyers don't scream at the top of their lungs in the courtroom, and builders aren't just background characters who just walk around pretending to build stuff.
#6
Working With Horses
I work with horses. Movie horses are always snorting, neighing, grunting, nickering, or otherwise making noise practically every time they move. In reality, horses aren’t that noisy. They don’t snort or squeal every time they change gaits. I can count on one hand the number of times my own horse has neighed, and he was just screaming for his friends who he couldn’t see over the hill and who wouldn’t answer him.
#7
IT Professionals
I.T. I don’t know everything. I can’t hack. If I don’t know the answer from experience I use google. But I do wear cargo shorts every day so they got that right.
All in all, as with some things, movies probably aren't the best resource for helping you pick out the job of your dreams. That being said, it doesn't mean they don't entertain and bring us laughter and joy, even if some things are portrayed completely wrong.
#8
Scientists
In sci-fi movies when they rig up a massive, complex experiment and it works the first time.
#9
Medical Professionals
If you stop CPR to pound on the patients shoulders, yell at them to "come back goddammit", and give 'em a kiss, they'll probably die.
#10
Mental Health Technicians
Mental Health Technician here. We do NOT like giving injections unless absolutely necessary. Too much paperwork. Also, most of us aren't complete controlling a******s that ignore or abuse patients. Everyone I work with is kind, patient, and respectful of our patients.
#11
Bomb Technicians
I’m a bomb tech, we will blow up 20 robots before we send the most junior guy down to cut the red wire.
#12
Lawyers
Being a lawyer is 3 months of paperwork and research and one day of trial... and we don’t yell at or intimidate witnesses - if I did what you see in movies I’d be disbarred pretty quickly.
#13
HVAC Engineers
You are definitely not, ever, going to roam around the building through the ductwork.
#14
IT Professionals
Coding takes a really f*****g long time. I don't care how much of a genius you are. Whacking out 10k lines of code, debugging, testing, setting up environments to make sure it all works the way you want it takes ages.
#15
Bookstore Managers
Bookshop manager. I haven’t actually read all the books in my shop, nor do I know the personal history of every single author. However, there’s a decent chance I can find you that book you want that you don’t remember the name of but it’s blue.
#16
Camera Operators
I am a cameraman, and yeah, I got the shot, so don't keep asking me if I got the shot because it is my job to get the shot and I got the [darn] shot.
#17
Bar Musicians
Bar musician. We're not all depressed and hoping some big talent scout from a label shows up. Some us enjoy playing in bars.
#18
Archivists
Fun fact, archivists do not wear white gloves all the time like the movies show, especially not when handling paper documents since they can do more harm than good. I'm looking at you, National Treasure.
#19
Blackjack Dealers
That blackjack dealers have no personality. We live off tips. Even if you lose, we still try to entertain. Every famous casino movie show the dealer on the casinos side. We don’t want the house to win, we make money when you make money.
#20
Wildlife Biologists
I'm a wildlife biologist. "Tranquilizers" (which is an incorrect term for the immobilizing agents we use) do NOT work immediately like movies make people believe. If drugged for the correct dose and depending on the drug you use, an animal can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to be completely immobilized if administered IM. Simply darting an animal and expecting them to drop right then and there just simply does not happen.
#21
Forensic Scientists
Almost everything about forensic science is sped up/made up technology in the movies. Gives a jury a really unrealistic set of expectations.
#22
Emergency Medical Technicians
EMTs never run into the Emergency Room. When we do visit the ER, we usually slowly walk in with a 450lb dialysis patient or intoxicated college student on the stretcher.
#23
Librarians
Probably one of the last things you will do in a library as a librarian is read books.
#25
Soldiers
The Army. It isn't always about shooting and blowing stuff up in the Middle East. We actually garden (Get off SgtMaj's grass!), sweep the motorpool, and do janitorial services around our work area.
#26
Jail Personnel
When I worked at the jail people would be a******s and they wouldn’t be given a phone call. They would argue about how we legally have to do it and we would have to explain to them that we actually don’t.
#27
Firefighters
All fire/ems calls are not major incidents. Usually it’s the call because Grandma fell again. Also most of the calls on those shows would actually deplete an entire county’s (or more) resources.
#28
Wedding Planners
A wedding planner. I don’t walk around with a headset 24/7, nor do I “cue” violins to play at a precise moment. That’s things that have already been determined prior to the big day. I trust my staff knows what they should and need to be doing. That includes my “contracted” staff.
#29
Police Officers
Movies always act like police officers never have to do paperwork and aren’t reprehensible for the damage they cause.
#30
Fashion Designers
That fashion designers make money. Better income to work for someone else and have them slap their name on it. My friends call me a “ghost designer” because I described it as “ghost writing, but with clothes”.
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