The Intern: Rewriting Gender Roles in the Workplace Through Media

• Salena Qureshi 26020084
• Oct 6, 2024
• 3 min read

‘The Intern’, a 2015 movie starring superstars Anne Hathaway and Robert de Niro serves more than just an entertainment purpose. It offers an insightful look into the gender dynamics of the workplace- an unlikely friendship between a young, successful businesswoman and a retired senior intern. With the portrayal of a woman in a position of power alongside an elderly male character taking on a supportive role, the light of reflection falls on the media and how its gender expectations are evolving.

Jules Ostin– played by Anne Hathaway-a young and ambitious CEO of an e-commerce fashion company with a high drive for success. In many films, when women are portrayed in a position of power, they are depicted as cold, ruthless or emotionless like done with Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada, the only qualities known to man that would empower a woman to be successful in her field of work. Jules, however, is neither. She is assertive yet unaggressive, focused yet emotional, passionate yet empathetic- a portrayal that not only denies stereotypes that media often perpetuates about female bosses but excellently depicts the complexity of women in leadership roles.

Alongside scrutinising this stigma, the movie finds the perfect balance of reiterating the pressures that Jules and all women face in power. Constantly struggling to establish some middle ground between her professional and personal life, Jules almost resigns from her post as a result of those that criticise that she ‘isn’t doing enough at home’. Media frequently portrays this gender narrative, where there must be a choice made between being a successful career woman and a successful mother, however the word ‘successful’ speaks in these entirely separate contexts.

Robert De Niro’s character, Ben Whittaker, is one of the single most important things needed to cover how the movie reshapes gender dynamics in the workplace- a retired widower becoming a senior intern for Jules, a lady boss. Ben represents a type of masculinity that is far from the traditional stance; a type of masculinity rarely seen in media- one that is nurturing and supportive not sidelined nor dominant as a supporting role. Ben enters the workplace without competing for authority. Instead, he supports Jules in her chaotic journey offering wisdom and advice- the calm amongst the storm. Subverting the traditional depiction of men at work, his characters narrative redefines masculinity with care and patience rather than power and control. The intern flips the script on an older male character unable to adapt to changing times and introduces Ben as someone challenging conventional ideas about gender roles in media.

The contrast between Jules and Bens experiences reiterates the key themes of the movie and gender expectations about work-life balance. Jules’s struggle to balance her demanding career with her responsibilities as a family woman provokes the audiences heartstrings as her marriage is strained by her success and guilt- highlighting how the common media narrative expects that a woman must ‘have it all’- a thriving career and a perfect family- or must focus on just one- preferably a perfect family. In contrast, Ben has already had a long career and reached retirement, reinforcing how men are able to seamlessly transition from being working men to family responsibilities or from family back to a career, differentiating between the emotional labor required for both genders to thrive in the workplace.

‘The intern’ offers a positive perspective on how gender norms are changing. By telling a story in which both men and women challenge gendered dynamics, this articulate piece of media encourages the audience to look forward to a future void of criticism, judgement and the idea of what men and women ‘should be’.