Episode 15

Host: Jill Mastroianni

How Our Favorite Movies Trained Us to Accept Less

What if the movies we loved growing up were quietly teaching us to settle for less credit, less rest, and less power? In this episode, Jill Mastroianni unpacks the messages in movies like Groundhog Day, Three Men and a Baby, and Miss Congeniality, and how those messages still echo today in hospitals, law offices, and family conversations about caregiving and estate planning.

Jill talks about agency, consent, emotional labor, and how the women who keep everything afloat often lack the tools and support they deserve. This episode is both a breakdown and a wake-up call. And, it’s an invitation to rewrite the script.

In this episode, Jill covers:

  • The cultural conditioning we absorbed from movies in the ‘80s and ‘90s 

  • How Groundhog Day distorts consent and persistence

  • What Three Men and a Baby taught us about helpless men and overburdened women

  • How to view Miss Congeniality through the lens of a new generation

  • Emotional labor, caregiving, and the invisible scripts women still follow

  • The power of naming what’s not okay, and what we’ve internalized

  • How estate planning ties into agency, boundaries, and rewriting expectations

  • A real-life story of helping aging parents finally get their estate plan done

  • Why handing off the mental load matters just as much as getting the documents in place

Resource:

  • Free video: "Do You Need a Will?" A quick, clear explanation of what a Will actually does (and doesn’t do).

Connect with Jill:

Did you enjoy this episode? Share it with someone you care about.

Next

How to Succeed in the Caregiving Role No One Trained You For