Why Do Movie and TV Characters Still Live in Dream Homes They Couldn’t Possibly Afford?

The most hilarious moment in The Devil Wears Prada 2? When Andy blissfully moved into a massive, light-filled, brand spanking new apartment in Manhattan on an editor’s salary. I know all too well exactly what two editors’ salaries will buy in this particular housing market—and her teensy apartment that offered brown water on tap is definitely much more realistic, even if her salary got a Runway glow up. (Unless, of course, her dad’s still writing her checks to help cover her expenses 20 years later.)

As houses and apartments became ever more expensive in real life, shows and movies seem to push even more toward fantasy land with their real estate. Most often, this happens with frothy comedies and for people with “dream jobs” that often pay far less than people imagine they do—because when you’re fantasizing about being a magazine editor or a chef, you’re also fantasizing that you can afford the picture-perfect home that goes along with it. (In fact, the show Kevin Can F**k Himself hilariously sent up the trope by switching their house from a bright, light, clean space to something far grittier as they swapped between sitcom and dramatic scenes.)

Friends is perhaps the most infamous offender. People usually call out Monica and Rachel’s palatial two bedroom, which was ret-conned as an illegal bequeathing of her grandmother’s rent-controlled apartment—because no chef and waitress could swing that grand two-bedroom space with its gorgeous windows and ample space. But even though they got far less flack for it, the other apartments on the show were actually just as egregious (if not more). Chandler (an office data analyst) often floated struggling actor Joey money, and they also had a nice-sized two-bedroom (just without the grand windows). Ross is a paleontologist and college professor (both not exactly high-finance jobs)—and likely couldn’t afford either of the apartments he held on just his own salary. Though at least, Chandler, Ross, Monica, and Rachel could all have gotten some parental financial help. But poor, once-homeless Phoebe, whose apartment was introduced several seasons in when, apparently, we had all already bought into the fantasy, somehow scored a beautiful two bedroom, which she afforded all by herself as a massage therapist—until Rachel moved in (temporarily) after Chandler and Monica got engaged.

Journalists almost always get the posh treatment. Sex and the City made a point of the fact that Carrie Bradshaw’s retirement fund was literally worn on her back, but given her shopping habit, her job (freelance writer), and the fact that she clearly always ate out (she kept clothes in her oven), odds are she couldn’t afford that cozy little one-bedroom she adored on her salary. (They fixed that problem post-Big, whose millions helped her afford that luxe Gramercy Park space in the reboot.) And don’t even get me started on 13 Going on 30, where future Jenna Rink’s walk-in closet is larger than my bathroom.

New York City tends to be the setting most associated with fantasy real estate (Only Murders in the Building, So I Met Your Mother, and Two Broke Girls are other commonly noted egregious examples), but it does occur in other locales. Emily in Paris grants Emily an apartment in a building where a current apartment for sale runs in the millions (pretty amazing for a fresh-faced junior marketing pro!). On Euphoria, Nate and Cassie have an extravagantly retro fever dream of a mansion in Southern California—with a housekeeper, no less. I can’t imagine most banks would swing them a multi-million-dollar mortgage given Cassie’s minimal income and Nate’s self-employed status (though clearly he’s going through it financially). The Bear’s Carmy and Syd each have apartments that definitely stretch their budgets on their paltry startup restaurant salaries. (A TikToker even posted that he’s living in Carmy’s apartment, which commenters estimate is a couple grand in rent, though the renter himself is mum on what he pays.)

Even on Margo’s Got Money Troubles, the apartment seems furnished much nicer than most broke college students I know—though the price seems about right for the Fullerton, Calif. area, and collegiate real estate in general. (Margo mentions having to boost her portion of the rent by $1,000 a month after two of her roommates move out—which tracks pretty closely with the current rates and the fact that she still splits the rent with Susie.) That seems like a lot for a college student and single mom to swing as a waitress—so it’s no wonder she’s resorting to OnlyFans.

And while I appreciate a little fantasy (I do like binging Bridgerton), I feel like it’s much more interesting to have the fictional real estate match the character’s financial reality. The Sopranos was great for showing realistic, lived-in New Jersey houses for its crime family—and even Junior, the sometime head of the Sopranos crime family, had a lackluster, cramped house, despite raking in thousands a day. Dexter Morgan’s apartment was a simple one-bedroom, with just enough space to store his serial killer trophies (though likely just a teensy bit on the high end for his blood splatter analyst salary, given that it was on the water). Everyone’s living large in Your Friends and Neighbors, but at least they all have careers that would explain their posh lifestyle (pro ballers, entrepreneurs, financial bros—and thieves). Even the rest of the Euphoria crew (besides Nate and Cassie) seems to have digs that match their current financial status, with most of them housed in cramped apartments (minus Jules’ posh, sugar-daddy-funded space).

Having fiction mirror reality a bit more closely could help alleviate a little of the FOMO we all feel when we see that down-on-their-luck character with a massive apartment and a nicely coordinated aesthetic—and not the mismatched, cobbled-together look most of us end up with in our very cramped first apartments. (Because if your living room wasn’t decorated with curb pickups, family hand-me-downs and IKEA bargains, you definitely weren’t living!) Save the fantasies for galaxies far, far away—and shows that feature characters with 1%-level salaries. And give us some better inspo for how to make a studio apartment (or a perfectly middle-class suburban house) a bit more panache on pennies.

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