SIU PRSSA Southern Illinois University Public Relations Student Society of America
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TV shows’ depiction of everyday PR work is not always as it seems. Some elements are accurate, and some elements are just for TV entertainment.
Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones
Sex and the City is a show on HBO created in 1998 that had six seasons and two movies, and a spin-off prequel series called The Carries Diaries. This show is about four women who have their own stories: Carrie the writer with a love story, Charlotte the hopeless romantic who also plays by the rules, Miranda who is an independent career woman, and Samantha who works as a PR agent but still can be the life of the party.
With Samantha working in PR in Sex and the City it looks like a glamorous job. With all the events that she went to with her friends, getting into parties and clubs, and getting to meet celebrities. She always seems to do it alone. This lifestyle is making PR work more attractive.
With all the events like restaurant openings, fashion shoots and shows, and parties that Samantha has to attend, viewers of this show never see her plan anything. Everything has to be set in advance. The venue, the decorations, the music, and the food. There is always a team working on that event. There is also advertising that the event is going on. But in the show, you see Samantha with a clip bord letting people in, and she is also in the party with her friends.
In Sex and the City, Samantha’s job looks only glamorous. Sex and the City is the least accurate depiction of PR work because it doesn’t show Samantha working in a team, it doesn’t show her planning out the events that were going on.
New Girl’s Schmitt
This show is about a woman named Jess who is living with three male roommates. Jess is a teacher, Nick is a bar tender, Winston is a former basketball player, and Schmitt works as a PR professional in an office.
Schmitt is the roommate who has extensive tests and always has something to say. In New Girl, Schmitt works in an office that is mostly dominated by women. It is kind of refreshing but the women treat him like an intern. One of his coworkers demands toner for the printer after he has an important conversation with her.
In a meeting, Schmitt is wearing a pink shirt with hot pink tie and gray suit. Within the meeting they make inappropriate comments about his suit and they laugh at him. At holiday parties they always dress him up as adult Santa with red shorts and no shirt. The women in the office send him some mixed messages that are also inappropriate for the workplace.
With the role reversal at Schmitt’s place of work showing the sexism that happens, the viewers don’t see Schmitt standing up for himself. The only time he stood up for himself was when he told his boss he didn’t want to play Santa anymore. It is a creative way in showing how women are being treated in the office. New Girl is semi-accurate with its depictions of male sexism in the workplace. However, it lacked good communication in the work environment, and it also didn’t show any real PR work that was going on.
Workin’ Moms’ Kate Foster
Workin’ Moms is a Netflix original series that was created in 2017 with 4 seasons. Workin’ Moms is about four career women who are also moms. Jenny works in IT, Frankie is a real estate agent, Annie is a therapist, and Kate as a PR agent.
Kate can do it all. What she doses at her job with her team is pitch ideas for products. She comes back to work after a maternity leave to find out that another person steps in. She is threatened that he is going to take her place and with the incentive of a promotion the stakes get higher.
Kate is competing with this man to get that promotion. Working harder with portfolios and pitches and working late hours. While competing for a promotion, she is missing milestones with her baby like him walking and talking – and also keeping the promotion a secret from her husband. The effort to get the promotion cause massive stress on her and the family due to over working.
