Life, Jobs & Money In Your 20s: What Movies & TV Get Wrong (& Right!)

Hollywood loves to pump out stories about struggling 20-something-year-olds trying to make it in the big city. And while sometimes it's super relatable (like One Day, Insecure, Broad City, Ugly Betty & more) other times it can start to feel totally unrealistic. On one hand this makes sense (movies and tv shows are meant to be entertainment after all!) But it can also make us feel like we're falling behind if we're not super successful in every way right out of the gate. So let’s take a closer look at what Hollywood gets wrong (and right!) in its depictions of 20-somethings on screen, why we’re drawn to these characters, and the financial and emotional reality of trying to make it on your own after college!
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:58 Struggling, quirky self-starters
01:44 Laughing to keep ourselves from crying
03:26 For some characters, the struggle isn't so real...
05:25 Why Girls was surprisingly realistic
06:45 Your first job won't always be your dream job
09:39 When the stories are super relatable
10:57 Broad City & One Day
13:17 We love shows that are realistic (but still enjoy some escapism!)
The Take was created by Debra Minoff & Susannah McCullough
This video was written by Stevie Lazarus, narrated by Charly Bivona, produced by Jessica Babineaux, and edited by Derek Little

[@thetake]

Next, check out our video taking a look at how much some of our favorite movie & tv makeovers, from the unrealistic to the surprisingly relatable, would really cost! Click to watch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6SanGOKnNqhqLM

[@Azulagirlboss]

As a Gen Z, we are struggling to stay within the class we were born into.

[@user-ss6wm9qv1k]

Sigh

[@abstractpixie3146]

That’s so ridiculously unfair 🥺

[@Harris.azj.97]

Here here

[@user-yh2pb4bj3e]

I'm trying to get out of the class I was born into.

[@mariamejawara]

​@@user-yh2pb4bj3e right, some of us are poor

[@shaylenwayne9284]

Honestly what's scarier imo is the main lead has a best friend, or group in these shows, they get into shenanigans and may be roommates etc. Realistically you're probably gonna be spending a lot of time alone cause assuming you have friends they're all trying not to die also.

[@user-dl8rt4rt6u]

I needed this reminder. I spent a lot of time secretly resenting my friendships because we didn't spend the same amount of time together as friendships on TV. It took me a while to realize "Oh wait....they are eating breakfast together. That's unrealistic"

[@_alanawalker]

Honestly

[@elinat2414]

So many films and tv shows about your 20s really push the idea that you need to make your passion into a career. It glorifies being in an indie band or a living as a struggling writer, just getting by with the promise that success is inevitable. When in reality, most creatives struggle with job insecurity for life. Also, tieing up your passions with the pressures of making money (and the boring, annoying parts that come with every paid job) is a sure fire way to lose passion very quickly. I do community theatre, and the people I meet that really want to make performing into a career, are the most stressed, miserable people I know, even though they are technically persuing their dreams. I wish it was more of a mainstream message to get a job that you're ok with doing, that pays well and gives you enough time/capacity to pursue your hobbies without the pressure of making money out of it.

[@nataliaalfonso2662]

Veeerrryyyy this

[@andreaslind6338]

I kinda blame the boomers for this, for many of the oeople who own our media companies, it realy was like that in their 20s. You could make a living from your passion, as long as you had talent and a bit of grit, and a lot of them that took the safe boring route kinda regretted it. Their great mistake is assuming it is like that for us.

[@mariaskabardonis8353]

How I met your mother did that a little bit. You had Lily tell Ted to let go of the architecture dream and teach. He said being a professor was the best job he ever had. Lily enjoyed teaching and Marshall enjoyed Gmb for a time. They did eventually get jobs more related to their passions but it’s the only show that had the message that it’s okay to take the right now job when your dream job isen’t available

[@_alanawalker]

I tend to find jobs that I said I could see myself doing as a career. But every time, without fail, I ended up leaving said job because either I'm being bullied/harassed by older employees, working beyond my job requirements with no raise, or the job itself is extremely stressful.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

The problem lies with the lack of vacancies and disregard for freshers. My entry level job can’t be 5 years of experience.

[@qazmko22]

When that happened in tech in the early 2000s, my friend had a buddy that had a startup, and they would lie to employers who called: "Yes, my friend DID have 5 years experience in an Operating System that had only been out for 6 months".

[@PokhrajRoy.]

@@qazmko22 I need professional liars around me so bad

[@rhyscooper3693]

I am admitted to practice law which takes about 7 years in my country and I thought would be the end of these difficulties, but unfortunately even being a junior lawyer job is paid a low income (1.5x minimum wage) and many of them all for 3 years of post admission experience in the specific area of law. It's ridiculous!

[@nataliaalfonso2662]

Why does no one know classes, internships, college and high school projects that are relevant…..are all experience

[@BlackXSunlight]

@@qazmko22 one of my professors was rejected for a position because he didn't have 10 years of experience in a coding language that was only 4-years-old at the time and that HE helped invent.

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

"Did you just come up with a fun euphemism to describe us not being able to survive off of one job?" & "There is nothing 'hip' or 'cool' about having to work *multiple jobs* because your 9-5 doesn't pay you a SUSTAINABLE SALARY." . Bless you. Yes. This, 100% . Timestamps : 1:17 & 1:26

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

P. S. I am really feeling Stevie's writing and Charly's narration for this video. I feel very seen, having the sucktastic reality not only ackowledged, but aggressively-sarcastically acknowledged, as it deserves to be.

[@crystalcausey2681]

I definitely felt like a failure around the age of 28 when I wasn't at the career level of my counterparts in movies and TV. Definitely felt duped on the expectations.

[@trinaq]

Please cover the "Friends Rent Control" trope, wherein characters somehow manage to live in lavish dwellings, despite working low income salary jobs.

[@greyLeicester]

You are a little too late 😅

[@Peecamarke]

Isn’t that what they’re covering now?

[@2FINE4YOUBABYGIRL]

“Movie and TV salaries make no sense” they made it already

[@nenigirl2960]

She already did lovely check in her most recent videos from a month or two ago

[@tomcat630]

Monica and Ross came from "old money" and could get family to help with rent. Same with Chandler, with rich mom book author and Rachel with rich dad. Joey maybe from well off blue collar dad? Phoebe had grandmother's apt. too. TV is not "real", get over it.

[@Genedide]

I’m glad we’re covering tropes again. I’ve missed the old The Take

[@doctordl7757]

Where have you been ? They've never stopped doing Troupes. Sure they have dissected topics on politics and cinema but they never gave up on Troupes.

[@vladakuzmenko915]

You know, I feel depressed because of "Friends" They spend all the time with their friends everyday and never feel lonely. At the same time, I'm the same age and don't have such opportunity at all! I see my best friends once every few month because now we all live in different cities or countries. I don't see other friends often either because we have full time job, they have families and live on the other side of the town. The lie of the "Friends" that they always will be there for you made me really unhappy nowadays... And this is why I can't watch this show anymore

[@darkOmenGo]

Same, I used to love this show but in my second time to rewatch I started feeling that terrible emptiness after finishing each episode. When a character gets bad experience or some kind of depression there is always someone else to support, not only in Friends it's a rule in pretty much all shows. In real life, a standart person with a few friends spents min 60% of their life alone. When I watch fleabag for the first time, and saw her being alone almost all the time. There is no supporter during her worst days, felt so real.

[@vladakuzmenko915]

@@darkOmenGo and this is why I like "The office" more now. In some ways it's much more realistic: you spend most of the day with irritating colleagues and (if you are like Michael) you might come home alone and just eat some food before going to sleep and then you have just another day

[@mariaskabardonis8353]

I do see my friends who live in the area once a week sometimes two so it’s possible. It’s hard to do a tv show with someone spending a lot of time by themselves unless your a really strong writer and have a creative take

[@JimmyJojoshabadoo]

I live in the same city as my friends and it sucks I might only see them a few times a year, but I make an effort to connect with them through social media.

[@draugn5823]

Yup, always strived for a friend group like in Friends but it always fell apart for different reasons. Now I go out as much as I can with friends I still have but they are usually in small groups of 2-3 due to them being different and meeting in different settings. I'm cool with colleagues but it's just not the same. I try to be grateful that I have them since I'd realized shows like Friends are not entirely realistic or are for a small portion of people, or people generally in years before their 20s

[@doctordl7757]

Now do one analyzing your 30s

[@sailorspills3025]

It’s about the same 😅

[@janellecharles7337]

They make it seem that life in your 20's will be glamourous when it isn't.....😒

[@emilycurtis4398]

Seriously. My mid30's are so much more fun. Not glamorous, just fun. I'm more confident and go to bed at a decent hour.

[@_alanawalker]

Yes, our 20s is ghetto.

[@elisehoyt4107]

THIS. I feel bitter and cheated after doing everything right, never did drugs, never drank, kept my head down and studied, went to college, and i have my degree. Yet i am STILL stuck doing menial service work and cannot even get an interview for ENTRY level work in my field. So yeah, i'm pissed because this isnt what i signed up for and worked so hard for. America lied to us and it isnt fair

[@trinaq]

It's true that your first job isn't necessarily going to be your dream job, since you need to have experience before you break out into the working world.

[@Peecamarke]

Yet no one wants to give you a job to start that experience smh 🤷🏿

[@Ashbrash1998]

And yet tou can't get the experience they want unless you get a chance to get it. And even then, they may not hire you because you have too much experience.

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

@Ashbrash1998 -- ^ This. . They don't want people to have "too much experience" because then said people will know they aren't being paid a fair wage. Oh, and supposedly because the employers worry about having to "train new 'experienced' employees out of bad habits" but let's be real, here; almost nobody bothers to train anyone nowadays. Not even into good or *necessary* habits, let alone out of bad ones.

[@BlackXSunlight]

5:19 I've been saying it for years, Lorelai's house is not at all unrealistic for the area and her income in '93. She was living rent-free in a garden shed for a decade, and had free childcare for Rory because the whole town raised that girl. It would've taken Lorelai realistically 3 years to save for a proper down payment on her house, and she did it in 8.

[@serebii666]

Yes! Kendra Gaylord did a good analysis of Lorelai's house v. the market reality of Connecticut, using the 06492 zip code to approximate Stars Hollow's location (i.e. Wallingford, Connecticut). Using the 1990 census, homes there sold between 100k and 200k, so Lorelai's down payment could have been as low as 5k, or at most 40k, and as a first-time home buyer, she likely qualified for some aid. Not to mention the fact that Stars hollow was a tiny town, with not many jobs - housing prices would not be very high due to the lack of demand. Even now, 30 years later, with high asset inflation, homes in that locality sell for 380-400k.

[@Peecamarke]

“Many of us dreamed of living in big city cause we watched these shows growing up or…” or actual were BORN in that big city, never watched those shows, but instead born into that environment and forces to navigate through it.

[@WhatDoesntkillYa]

Its fked up wanting to be JUST part of the middle class despite working several odd jobs and bringing home so little.

[@lucypreece7581]

I am nearly 26, have been working in low end entry level hospitality/retail/customer service jobs since the age of 19. I may live in my own flat but it's very basic and owned by the YMCA in England and is in a very rough neighbourhood. The 3 years I spent at college I hated and wasted because the courses I was pushed into doing by my self centered egotist of a mother were subjects I hated and that drained the life force from my soul. It is only now that I am figuring out what I actually want to do with my life as I enter the back half of my 20's and even then I know it's gonna be a hard battle with a lot of struggle. TV is good for escapism but it ain't reality.

[@reginafletcher8355]

I've had friendship coaching clients whose goal was to have a friend group like "Friends" or "Community", and I don't think people realize how much time and emotional bandwidth is often required to form and maintain such friend groups. On the one hand you see friends on TV banding together to mitigate financial adversity, which reflects some realism. On the other hand, the time required to bond with a larger group of people and form trust is challenging to do when you are working multiple jobs.

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

@reginafletcher8355 -- THIS! So often people think there's something wrong with them that their loved ones don't spend more time with them, and maybe there is, but it's just as likely there's nothing really wrong with them. It's just that no one has the time for anyone, even their own self-care, because, of among other, things how the huge disparity between wages and cost of living has us working non-stop. And it is *so draining!* There's little to nothing left in the emotional / mental gas tank for the few non-work hours we even have anymore.

[@tomcat630]

With "friends" it had a brother and sister as core, but still...

[@denedennie1516]

There is no such thing as a "dream job". My so called dream job almost killed me and burbed me up so bad i just quit.

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

Perhaps it's just me, but I watch most shows to escape from my actual life. I don't always want to see someone struggling all the time because I had to do that for nearly 20 years before the combination of finishing education and the blessing finding the right firm allowed me to pay bills on time and buy Kerrygold butter instead of the store brand. 🤗

[@jujuthelazy]

I agree, escapism is great. It's entertaining and distracts us from the stress and struggles of our daily lives! I think everyone needs it. I also need some realism too, just to know I am not alone and nothing is especially wrong with me. That's why I like watching different kind of shows : those which are pure escapism and highly unrealistic, and those who actually depicts life quite accurately. It's an interesting balance, although I watch more unrealistic stuff, because the realistic ones are just fewer!

[@JimmyJojoshabadoo]

These shows don't also really cover the statistics of the jobs sector. When I graduated college, the suburbs I lived in only had service jobs that barely paid above the state minimum wage, with townships allowing businesses to hire you for less than 10/hr in 2014, even with rent skyrocketing. Even when a major city raised theirs to $15, the suburbs in the same county at most would compete with $13. It also took me until my 30s to get my first writing gig, with a startup overseas. My 20s was so soul-crushing out of dealing menial jobs and being yelled at and berated, along with dealing racial favoritism with coworkers.

[@rtothec1234]

Hmm I’d much rather watch shows like Seinfeld or Fraisier than a hyperrealistic show about the grind. I’ve had enough of shows that try to show that the real world is cruel and working to survive sucks. I watch TV to escape, not wallow in the muck and the mire of reality. The knowledge that it is not rooted in reality does not sully my enjoyment of the show.

[@tylerhackner9731]

Most people can’t afford shit

[@Kyeuss]

I’m a male, and I love this channel and how balanced all the analysis is. One of my fav channels now!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

There’s a lot of rent discrimination in India if you choose to be single, happen to be Muslim or DBA+ and queer or all of the above.

[@annejohnson5875]

I worked multiple jobs in the 90's as a single mom and still couldn't make ends meet. This problem predates the coming of age of millenials and gen z.

[@spacepope87]

That's what people don't realize. Boomers fucked everything up. We've has this issue since Gen X.

[@andreaslind6338]

Sure...its just worse now.

[@batgurrl]

Renting, no less buying housing in NYC is ridiculously expensive for decades. These shows hightailed are far removed from reality. They never explained how Chandler paid his rent. In Girls, they moved them to Brooklyn, still too expensive to pay rent on with an interns salary. As I started meeting people in their 20s in the 1990s with college degrees, they all said they had multiple roommates, people they barely knew.

[@user-dl8rt4rt6u]

That's what made me finally leave NYC. I couldn't do the roommate thing anymore. When my friend who was going away for the summer offered to sublet his room to me for $1,005 I couldn't do it. I can't pay over 1,000 for a goddamn ROOM. I just can't lol

[@adrivoid5376]

Chandler came from money and had a high earning (but boring) job.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

6:56 I love when the narration gets too real. It’s hilarious because it’s true. My favourite thing to visit are Education Fairs. So much material easily available around you.

[@kathleenandrews8171]

This is such a good one! You can tell the narrator really feels this story. Probably exactly where she's at. I really appreciate these well-written, thought provoking essays.

[@donamariadubois2402]

Loving this content, thank you Take

[@rhyscooper3693]

This analysis was better than usual!

[@bookbrowboss4600]

Love your content someone who was comparing and wondering why it doesn’t look a certain way. At a certain time. Those after me need something like this!

[@kayleighdriessen]

Atleast living in the country makes life a whole lot less stressful for people of all ages. It just feels like modern cities are designed to milk money and energy out of it's working-class and give little back in return.

[@minimalistvlogger3467]

Exactly! And I've been realizing this myself. I think the goal is to find a smaller town that's affordable, where you can get a job that pays a livable wage, and have enough to do in the area to keep you entertained, whether that's parks, nature, or little shopping centers/town spaces

[@nomessnostress]

I'm so happy to have found your channel! This is so up my alley!

[@pikachick222]

I would like to see a video about the docuseries Quiet on Set

[@pikachick222]

There is a ton to unpack and tons of lessons to learn

[@La_br00tal_mija]

Haven’t watched yet but the thumbnail is like comparing apples and oranges. Elle Woods was the total embodiment of a RICH WHITE GIRL FROM VAN NUYS. She wasn’t an average Jane. She was well off and properly portrayed as such

[@ayameisastar]

The video says Elle woods is a fantasy take, or an outlier due to her privilege

[@La_br00tal_mija]

@@ayameisastar doesn’t make my statement any less true…

[@thebookkeeper8551]

Its not that Hollywood gets it wrong, they just forgot what it was like to hustle before working for the industry.

[@_alanawalker]

As a 26 year old who's on job #8, this is VERY reassuring that I'm not the only one struggling.

[@yourelovin]

would love to see your take on One Day in general!

[@FervidlyCurious]

Finally quality content ❤❤❤❤❤

[@Hopeisforever316]

I think for writers and artists, even if you are a part of a publishing deal. Most of these artists and writers work 9 to 5 jobs or warehouse jobs or at family businesses. Everyone has a different situation. Whether it is in music, paintings, writing, etc. .

[@charmainen8475]

0:44 ain't search party, that's pll

[@marksoberay2318]

Midwestern, plains, Texas have lots of towns to live comfortably w good jobs...these shows always take place in the worlds most competitive cities

[@mariaskabardonis8353]

Two Broke Girls did show money struggles in my opinion. Well Lorelai might have also had help from Mia as well for the house. If Lorelai did not meet Mia who hired her and then promoted then she would have gotten back to her parents. She had luck and financial cushion on her side Again I say it again stop making Tv shows in New York, LA,San Francisco. At least Stars Hollow is a made up town that you imagine has some cheaper prices in the 1990s.

[@Superboy7456]

love this subtle Netflix advertisement

[@PokhrajRoy.]

3:14 I wanted to be an assistant and work in fashion. In hindsight, it felt less Andy Sachs and more Annaleigh Ashford applying to be SJP’s assistant in ‘SATC: The Movie’.

[@bakerkawesa]

Where do people even find the energy and time to work 2 jobs? One job is draining enough.

[@majaborkowska8132]

It's about time everyone realizes that the system in which we were supposed to enter doesn't work anymore. "Getting a job" is not an answer anymore, we need to create our own jobs, our own job market, economy and system, based on the values that we hold. I see a lot of Gen Zers and Millennials doing it marvelously and it works in my life too. It's a new world guys, let's create it!

[@athletescollective4214]

Being in Tech and Finance (or law in the case if Elle Woods) isn't a privilege, it's a career choice that people make because it's more lucrative than working in fashion or media.

[@per-c8229]

True I was push into tech 'cause my parents said "Is the career that will pay the rent" not as a privilege, here where I live been able to pursue a career in art is seen as a privilege since that means your parents can afford to pay for the art supplies and the scholarship and your rent while you get a stable job. Tho sadly tech careers are so oversaturated that even that doesn't guarantied a stable or even well paid job.

[@athletescollective4214]

Fair point. @@per-c8229

[@Peecamarke]

Maybe so but the requirements to attain such positions can be seen as a privilege to many without a GED or college education or networking contacts attained through social relationships 🤷🏿

[@per-c8229]

@@Peecamarke Fair, tho I would argue that art careers need even more networking but I only have my artistic aunt (she is a really talented painter) as reference and my sister and myself as tech reference =) not much at all

[@rabenmacht3396]

Dude. I can't fucking stand this. Rather than saying, "Hey maybe the system and the world should change so that young people don't have to completely suffer for their entire youth", the video just goes, "Hey! It'll suck but at least it builds character!" Cool. I helped some people. I learned some things. I'm still starving and I don't get these years back.

[@lrike2250]

When I was young I always had this romantic view of the “big city”. Now I’m living in one and seriously considering going to somewhere more affordable even tho smaller and less cosmopolitan

[@sparklemotion8377]

I like how there's always an episode about saving the environment, yet taking the bus to school is considered a punishment. Watching American shows as a Dutch person is wild.

[@XanderShiller]

Looking to split a closet in NYC $5000 each. we can sleep sitting back to back and I already have a bucket. No windows to toss it out of but a bucket is still something in today's economy. I've been training myself to sleep hanging upside down like a vampire bc it's easier than LITERALLY FALLING asleep standing up.

[@samfilmkid]

Fuck “Friends”

[@kamsismith]

The job market is awful in real life. That's why a lot of movies and TV shows glamorize certain jobs as people’s escapism. Not everything needs to be taken too seriously as this channel has done multiple times. Not to say ignore social issues as they very much deserve to be addressed, but you're taking this way too seriously which is the reason why a lot of modern movies and shows suck because lecturing people is more important than telling a good story.

[@matt0044]

Well, it can be immersion breaking when writers show their age.

[@Thedarkknight2244]

The whole point of Gilmore girls is that it’s set in a small town. I’m surprised lorelies house would be that unrealistic for her to get as hotel manager

[@hueyandmo]

It's a Connecticut suburb, aka $$$$$

[@kitkatbar689]

The best film and TV have fully flushed out characters with authentic backstories whose upbringing informs their access to resources and how they would respond to a challenge. Loved how Girls flipped the SATC fantasy where Carrie is a part-time "writer" with a fabulous designer wardrobe, gorgeous brownstone, going out to eat every meal and drinks with the girls. Every generation has unique struggles and obviously, NYC in the '90s and early 2000s differs greatly from the city in the 2010s and later a la Broad City and Girls. It's interesting to see how Hannah Horvath who has had the privilege of being supported and bailed out by her parents responds to job changes and money problems vs Carrie who got written a check by Charlotte then Big helped her buy her apartment and that was the end of all her money problems. Sorry Gen X'ers and Boomers- we have it much worse today, inflation outpaced income gains a long time ago so we'll be struggling to afford housing and the basics while working full time

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

@kitkatbar689 -- "The best film and TV have fully flushed out characters with authentic backstories whose upbringing informs their access to resources and how they would respond to a challenge." . That's a perfect way to summarize it. A frequent problem in writing (professional or not) is that characters react as the plot needs, not how someone of their personal background would. That, and characters' speaking styles are too similar. Not like having the same accents, but using all the same phrases, slang and manner of speaking, like they all happen to be super witty and use "big words" even when they aren't all formally educated or from the same area or ethnic background. They all tebd to talk about the same things. They all have the same "voice" and you can't tell them apart from their dialogue. . Using Harry Potter as an example, one would easily be able to tell Hermione and Ron, or Snape and Hagrid apart from their dialogue and the way they react to things.

[@Angelic242]

If we watch tv to be reminded of reality what are we doing with our lives lmao 😂

[@greenseadream]

What's your take on disability in film?

[@michalpitowsky]

People in the US and perhaps also in the UN, travel far away from their family and friends for a job or a degree. Its a forign concept to me. You loose your social safty net that way, if something goes wrong, its up to you to handle it alone. Its also hard to try and start your own buisness if you dont have a comunity. So really I think people should prioritise their relationships, especialy since the reality of the American dream is so bleak.

[@bigsistahtips]

British shows are great to depict the human struggle.

[@LycanVisuals]

I thought I was gonna travel a lot in my 20's....didn't happen. Inflation is a bitch, most jobs offer shit pay, now working on my start up HOPING to escape the 9-5 even while being aware running a business is also very hard, still a loser...

[@Roggerrabb1t]

They weren’t squatting in Crashing. They were live-in guardians.

[@chinnyb4942]

Ehh, I watch these shows as an escape. I don't really care about it not being real life

[@GretaBensi]

me watching this from Berlin sending applications to jobs aaaa

[@tomcat630]

Message is "you are a nobody unless you live in NYC/LA" and get good rent through "connections"

[@tatjm7454]

Economical issues don't allow us to follow our dreams, that's why we are depressed or anxious.

[@laissxp]

oh to be 30, fucked, unemploied and living with my mom. A dream

[@tomcat630]

"Seinfeld" was 30s/40s not "20s". Also, the "friends" characters all came from "money". Joey and Phoebe rode the others coat tails.

[@Michelle-pn9xt]

Real life? Elle Woods was not poor, so she did not need to work at a fast food place. She was from an upper class family, so that is real life.

[@user-rz3tg4mb5g]

I am going to be a teacher someday, and I am going to teach those kids that sex is an act of generosity. It is not something you are entitled to just because a little girl walks into your vicinity. It is a privilege. And I am revoking yours.

[@hayekfriedman9078]

I'm GenX. One thing I've noticed about GenY and Z is the lack of work ethic. We came out of uni expecting to work 60 hours a week to build a career. And we expected gruelling hours for years if not decades while we also educated ourselves in expensive overseas universities. Today's kids have to leave work at 5pm because after 6 hours of concentration a day they're "wiped". I have no sympathy for or interest in the endless whining of these two generations. Their troubles are of their own making.

[@olayceesay20]

Gen z is literally more likely to work 2 jobs just to make ends meet what are you on my guy, the cost of living has gone up since you got out off uni. You don't know what you're talking about.

[@cleardarkness888]

@olayceesay20 Don't listen to hayekfriedman - Gen X is now late middle age and life is A LOT easier for us. Life will be easier for you, too, when you reach the same age. Do yourself a favour and learn how to manage your finances now, even if (especially if!!) they are low. Time is on your side.

[@godnoble]

The thing that distinguished millennials from X was supposed to be that they came of age knowing the American Dream was a lie.

[@cesira8163]

Friends and legally blonde are not about millennials. They are GenX or "but i could if i wanted to" generation. And by the way, the term MacJob was invented by D. Coupland, the author of the book Generation x. It is not the wealthy generation you make it to be

[@XanderShiller]

2 of my old friends got jobs in finance, $$$, and love to pretend not to get this.. The rest of us want to kill ourselves bc at least we get a box to sleep in.

[@racheleb4994]

Most realistic video out here they feed you a dream go to college then you will be successful. Reality it is a lot of shitty jobs until you can maybe move up on a tolerable job to maybe make a career

[@CElle572]

Meanwhile, the trade industry is suffering and don't have enough people to replace the boomer retirees.

[@esikazemese]

They are unrealistic, because they are SHOWS. It's not that the creators are necessary unaware, but they are not filming a reality (also fake) tv show.

[@indigoechos6796]

If you think these shows should be realistic you are missing the point. These are for entertainment only

[@rel2202]

It's just a movie. It's not a real life or an instruction. It's made to help people to relax and escape the reality. This kind of movies have not to be realistic.

[@jamex_art]

in movies you are blond. in real life you are brown :P

[@whitebeads1]

Disappointed at the lack of knowledge of cultural and economic history here. Each generation experienced this. Gen X graduated into a recession after HS and another recession after college. "Grunge" and disaffection were reactions to not being able to afford shit. For all the BS "Friends" and "Melrose Place" put forward, there were films that challenged the silliness -- Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Gas Food Lodging..... a lot of independent films. There was zine culture, thrift culture. We didn't typically have to work two jobs unless we lived in an expensive city, but that's almost always been true. Maybe what was different is we didn't expect the adult world to give us anything, didn't expect to not have to struggle, and didn't bother expecting to "do better than our parents." Before that, for all the hate often thrown at "boomers," they also dealt w/ multiple recessions, Reagan's destruction of unions, massive outsourcing of high-paying blue collar jobs, depressed wages, sky-high divorce rates, brutal pay inequality, the casualization of female labor, the S &L crisis, and the delay of retirement necessitated by the '08 downturn. Yet even they had to deal w/ the cultural narrative of "you're gonna make it after all" a la Mary Tyler Moore, Phyllis, etc. They maybe got "more" than we did, but more responsibility for multi-generational support. "Generational wealth" doesn't really happen. Into their 70s, they are now often supporting both adult children and grandchildren. Then if and when they (and, later, we) have to go into nursing homes, the nursing homes take their patients' houses to pay for their care. Yup. Once the insurance is out, they take your fucking HOUSE. Not much out there about any of that. But then how would one write a triumphalist narrative about dying of bedsores because of the totally unregulated nursing home industry? So let's not run contests about who had it worse -- not that I think you are. But yes please let's collectively finally agree that sitcoms directed at young people are almost always full of shit.

[@johnypanta6208]

By the time millennials get there there will be close to retirement...

[@signalfire15]

I wish this channel would stop talking about finances. YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HOW POOR PEOPLE LIVE!

[@Anthonycheesman33]

Gen z acts like they are the first generation that has had to struggle lol.

[@angelinawilson75]

It’s people like you who make our struggles feel invalidated as if we all don’t go through unique struggles in the time they’re born in. There’s no more sympathy in this world

[@foxesofautumn]

The generational war was made up to distract from the real problem: The 1% gaming the system.

[@loulicious5882]

We speak out unlike u guys who just transfered generational trauma instead of getting therapy

[@OBieMavuso]

@@loulicious5882 Best way to put it.

[@tomcat630]

@@OBieMavuso So you expect Gov't handouts for NYC luxury lifestyle?