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 …
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January 29, 2026
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"Harmony in Every Heartbeat
Hollywood loves to pump out stories about struggling 20-something-year-olds trying to make it in the big city. And while …
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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: https://youtu.be/9s7k0TgunrQ
Hardworking student stipend courses can now bridge the gap between generational educators who may not find family tutoring careers useful for certain economic practices dominant in the graduates' social needs.
I agree with this take. I was born in the poorest borough of NYC to a working class / lower middle class family, as I got older we were able to move up to the HV & had far more security- all on one income. I went to a 4 year SUNY school (one of the more prestigious ones) & graduated during a not so good time. I stumbled though a lot of my 20s. I worked plenty of jobs I didn’t need a degree for. I usually sold online to help too. I had two jobs for a long period. I worked a lot in the auto business (but also human services- I worked both at the same time for a while). A big part of my always wanted to be a SAHM but that always felt like a pipe dream for me (ironically I got to work as an actress for a bit which was somehow more attainable for me haha 😂). I was laid off for covid & have been freelancing ever since. I still struggle. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. But I trust myself & I know what’s right for me.
In fairness I don't think anyone would tune in to watch a show that accurately depicts someone just doing menial labour for 40 hours a week.
In Friends, it was the 90s and you could survive on much less.
I'm at my late 20s and still unemployed.😢 It's always hard for me to start a new chapter of my life coz of my crippling social anxiety.
The Seinfeld cast were a lot older than 20, right? Maybe early 30s! Kramer must have been older than that!!
Does it depend on what type of work you pursue? Like, would accountants, Financial planners, computer programmers or health care professionals have to struggle as much?
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.
By the time millennials get there there will be close to retirement…
Economical issues don't allow us to follow our dreams, that's why we are depressed or anxious.
Midwestern, plains, Texas have lots of towns to live comfortably w good jobs…these shows always take place in the worlds most competitive cities
As a 26 year old who's on job #8, this is VERY reassuring that I'm not the only one struggling.
The Take, how do you feel about 2 Broke Girls and Young & Hungry? I can not speak about how realistic they were because I have no first job yet despite being in my 20s, but I know they are both good shows with relatable situations about a couple of 20-something women who try to make it in the big city with their first job. April 15, 2024, 6:19pm
In 2 Broke Girl$, which takes place in New York City, Max Black is a waitress who has been poor her whole life and works as a waitress, and Caroline Channing is a once-rich girl who went broke after her dad went to jail for a Ponzi scheme. Caroline uses her business degree to help Max with her dream of selling cupcakes, because having a successful cupcake business could save them from being broke forever, and through six seasons we see how they find good ways for their cupcake business to advance to new venues.
In Young & Hungry, Gabi Diamond and Sofia Rodriguez are another couple of female friends in their 20s who are also trying to make it with their first job in San Francisco to pay off their student loans, Gabi as a private chef and Sofia as a journalist. While they are not quite as broke as Max and Caroline, and Gabi and Sofia can afford to live in a somewhat nicer apartment since they have better jobs that pay them more than minimum wage, they are still less than financially secure. It is a lesser focus in Young & Hungry than in 2 Broke Girls, but Gabi and Sofia also seek out some opportunities for advancement that rarely succeed for them.
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.
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. .
I'm so happy to have found your channel! This is so up my alley!
Why do we need a caste favored system ran by the royals and .U.N.? It is unconstitutional, so why is it there? The Backstreet Boys are wrong. Danielle Wolfe and " The Plaid Lady" are not a villian. The systems are too arbitrary, stupid, corrupt, and illegal.
If you think these shows should be realistic you are missing the point. These are for entertainment only
I’m 28 with a non phones claims job and I work from home. People think that my job is super easy and I can just leave my house at 2 pm on a Tuesday, go to the store, and come back to work. That’s far from the truth. I work from a desktop so I’m at my desk all day and I have a metrics goal I have to reach. Also sometimes I get claims where I have to work on multiple lines and resolve multiple triggers and that can take more time to do. It’s not as easy as people think it is and it can be frustrating trying to work on claims where I need to work on multiple lines. Also you have to be disciplined working from home. You can’t just show up to work anytime you want and you can’t come back from your breaks late. You have to stick to your schedule. I once got a point last year for calling out when I was at the hospital. I get chest pains that come and go but this time it was so painful that I had to go to the hospital. Fortunately I went to my primary doctor after I got out of the hospital and I got the medication that I needed. I was in the middle of training and you can’t take days off during training which is why I received a point. Jobs are stricter on people who work from home than the office. I’m also not paid alot for the work that I do so I’m definitely looking for a better paying job in my field.
"Seinfeld" was 30s/40s not "20s". Also, the "friends" characters all came from "money". Joey and Phoebe rode the others coat tails.
Message is "you are a nobody unless you live in NYC/LA" and get good rent through "connections"
me watching this from Berlin sending applications to jobs aaaa
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.
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.
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
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
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
British shows are great to depict the human struggle.
They weren’t squatting in Crashing. They were live-in guardians.
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.
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.
One of the character endings that I liked was for Haley from Modern Family. She spent the entire show acting as an entitled, bitchy bimbo swinging from boy to boy like the world is her petri dish and was simped over by almost everyone she came. But in the end, she got the ending she deserved.
Ended up as a Mom with kids working for a wackjob of a CEO married to a fucking "Retard" who can't land a stable job whereas Alex, who was made fun of to be an annoying, fat, know-it-all before turned out as a Beautiful, fit and successful businesswoman thanks to her years of studying and hard work.
I like how the showrunner took reality into account and didn't go the cliche route of giving a much 'plausibly happier ending' to Haley.
I dont hate Haley, but find her to be more annoying than Luke.
Fuck Luke.
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