Chalk a lot of this up to kids being told, I think really starting in the 80's, that "you can be whatever you want to be". That just is not realistic. Mike Rowe has talked about this as well where kids are told to "follow your passion". Make your passion your hobby, but for work, do what pays the bills. It's true that there is an old saw that says, "if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life" - but it also doesn't say you'll have enough money to cover the rent without a room mate.
I was impressed with the article though I have no use for Hollywood or the entertainment industry in general. But all generations have to live in a world they didn't make. I certainly didn't vote for Vietnam and 17% mortgages. My parents didn't vote for Depression and WW2. My grandparents didn't vote for WW1 and the Spanish flu. And so it goes. People live in a personal world made by their parent's generation and in a public world made by grandparents.
The course of my life, while not spectacularly successful, was made so much more enjoyable by the nearly 25 years I spent attached to the military. I pretty much let patriotism and ethics guide me while others questioned why I was doing such a thing. By mixing active and reserve duty, following a commercial interest, and marrying an agreeable wife, I pretty much accomplished everything I really wanted and made a pretty satisfactory retirement for us. Early on I found that if you do a good job in the military they were very willing to give you public praise and reward you, something rare or nonexistent in the public sector. There are many cliches about taking the right path, but the path is not necessarily the one everyone else approves of. I look back and smile.
Chalk a lot of this up to kids being told, I think really starting in the 80's, that "you can be whatever you want to be". That just is not realistic. Mike Rowe has talked about this as well where kids are told to "follow your passion". Make your passion your hobby, but for work, do what pays the bills. It's true that there is an old saw that says, "if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life" - but it also doesn't say you'll have enough money to cover the rent without a room mate.
I was impressed with the article though I have no use for Hollywood or the entertainment industry in general. But all generations have to live in a world they didn't make. I certainly didn't vote for Vietnam and 17% mortgages. My parents didn't vote for Depression and WW2. My grandparents didn't vote for WW1 and the Spanish flu. And so it goes. People live in a personal world made by their parent's generation and in a public world made by grandparents.
The course of my life, while not spectacularly successful, was made so much more enjoyable by the nearly 25 years I spent attached to the military. I pretty much let patriotism and ethics guide me while others questioned why I was doing such a thing. By mixing active and reserve duty, following a commercial interest, and marrying an agreeable wife, I pretty much accomplished everything I really wanted and made a pretty satisfactory retirement for us. Early on I found that if you do a good job in the military they were very willing to give you public praise and reward you, something rare or nonexistent in the public sector. There are many cliches about taking the right path, but the path is not necessarily the one everyone else approves of. I look back and smile.