You'd Be Surprised By How Much TV Affects Your Financial Future
We intuitively know that what we see onscreen can shape how we see the world (like a skewed view on romance, for one, and thinking worthwhile love comes with struggle and drama) — but not so much with our personal finances. It's time that we thought more about the messages we receive — especially as women and non-binary people — around money, spending, and financial health. It's a topic that eToro, the social trading and investing company, has explored in its 2025 report: Alpha Portrayals of an Alpha Industry: Consequences for Female Investors.
Let's start with the gender investment gap, which sits at £678 billion in the UK alone. On average, men save £1,512 more than women every year in the UK, and in 2023, 76% of men invested their savings, compared with only 63% of women. Men are also twice as likely to have a stocks and shares ISA than women. When it comes to retirement, men have on average 35% more in their pot than women. This gap exists for many reasons (chief among them, living in a patriarchal society), but what we watch is also a major contributor — and that's why we need to undo learned stereotypes we have around money and investing.
In films and shows like Industry, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Big Short (plus all the others eToro analysed), 76% of the money leads are male. When women characters do get the chance to take the lead in financial-focused roles, they are often given 'alpha' characteristics, which sends the message that in order for women to advance in male-dominated industries, we need to mimic the kind of bravado that's 'normal' in high-powered men's circles. And that shouldn't be the requirement for women to feel accepted in financial spaces — not to mention, it alienates people with different dispositions looking in.
We all deserve to understand and learn about money in terms of investing and trading. Right now, 90% of the content analysed showed men speaking in a derogatory way toward women on the subject of money and investing — and that discourages those of us who aren't as financially literate to learn more
eToro also found that women characters are often underqualified or shown as younger or less experienced than their male counterparts — and if they land a powerful position as a woman in these spaces, they surely must be an anomaly. Absorbing this stereotypical and sexist messaging is not only harmful, but also far from the truth of what we're capable of.
Dr Ylva Baeckström, who analysed the study into films and TV series, says her previous research shows that women can have financial knowledge and confidence levels 'equal to men.' Unlike what we see onscreen, women can do well when they invest and educate themselves on the common lingo and how-tos. Baeckström also found that women who have female financial advisers invest up to 11% more than women with male advisers. 'These women also have higher financial knowledge and confidence than men,' she adds. 'Other research shows that when women do invest, they achieve higher returns than men because they make less biased investment decisions.'
Baeckström worries that frequent use of complex financial jargon in film and TV can give viewers a sense of an exclusive world that we don't have access to. It 'reinforces the status quo' and leaves us just as confused about money, with the addition of now being potentially put off to plug those knowledge gaps. 'Sums of $3.5 billion USD are exchanged and traded in Billions, and $1.7 billion USD in Devils,' she says as an example. 'Such amounts, while appropriate for the shows' plotlines, are unrelatable for most people and may indirectly lead to the assumption that finance and investing exclusively involves big sums.'
Theoretically, anyone can start investing if they have the know-how and the funds. Someone could invest as little as £50, then slowly add more as they get more comfortable with the concept of only investing what they're willing to lose, and understanding what kinds of investments are available. Again, films never show us the newbie or novice. It's high stakes; all or nothing. Successful investments generally take years of waiting and letting the pot slowly increase, depending on how the market is doing.
If we saw things portrayed more inclusively, across all genders, women might feel more encouraged to 'increase their financial knowledge and learn about the risks and dangers of speculative investment decisions,' Baeckström says. This can only lead to more women making the steps to one day narrow the investment gap between men and women. Investing requires responsibility, and it's high time films and TV showed us that women possess enough responsibility to take part, too. For the sake of women's financial futures and wellbeing, everyone should be empowered to invest and trade.
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