Inspired by @alienscareme ‘s ask about Jackie’s career got me thinking.
Jackie’s really the only character I can picture with a plethora of career choices. She’s versatile. She’s passionate and dedicated. She’s persistent and confident. Whatever she ends up choosing, I think she’ll be famous, successful and wealthy. As she deserves.
So let’s run down some choices I think suit her (in no particular order):
I think a lot of people have envisioned her as this and the classic S6 episode is proof of how good she’d be at it. Jackie loves weddings and can take about it ad nauseam (much to Hyde’s chagrin). The fact that she could make the day shopping enjoyable for Eric, a man who is typically repelled by her presence, and despite her negative feelings about him and his appearance, was able to find a suit that flattered him, proves she would be the perfect fit.
She’s a fashion icon for a reason. I definitely think Jackie would jump at the chance to create/start new trends especially as they move into the 1980’s, a notoriously horrendous decade for fashion. Jackie Burkhart to the rescue! She’ll single-handedly save women from the tyranny of shoulder-pads and puffy sleeves. Plus, she gets to wear her own designs.
Jackie is shown many times throughout the show helping others with their hair and makeup (mostly Donna, but still). She clearly knows what she’s doing and above that, enjoys doing it. I say “beauty stylist” and not just “makeup artist” because I think she’d be essentially for hair and skin care as well. She managed to convince Kelso to let her use him as essentially a life-sized Barbie doll and Donna never stops Jackie from doing her thing either.
Okay, don’t laugh! I think she’d be great at it. Yes, I know - her room is very pink. Let’s also keep in mind she’s a teenager. When you take a closer look at how she remodelled Hyde’s room, it is much more than painting it pink. She did a great job using accent furniture, frames, pillows, increased lighting, carpeting, etc. Though he was initially repulsed at the sight of his new bedroom, Hyde came to admit he “loved” it. And how many times have we heard Hyde say he loved anything (except Camaros, Zeppelin and french fries).
She always said she wanted to be famous! And we all know Jackie loves to lie. And what is acting if not just lying in front of a camera? She also expressed interest in modelling. Yes, I know. She’s tiny. She’s far too short to get her start doing that but she’d be more successful getting her foot in the door with acting and perhaps branch into modelling after that. I’m sure many companies would love to have her as the face of their product.
So this is probably the one I see her most likely doing given how S7 left off. I can absolutely see her hosting a local station for a bit and then being discovered by other news affiliates in more prominent cities, starting as a reporter and climbing the ladder to co-anchor/anchorwoman. Despite an initial failure, Jackie proved herself more than competent to handle a fast-paced live programming. Think about it - she’d join the likes of other female trailblazers in the field. Diane Sawyer. Barbara Walters. Connie Chung. Katie Couric. Jackie Burkhart.
Slightly different, this would be more in line with being a a talk show host. Jackie would offer up her opinions (like the PPTV cable show she did with Kelso/Angie) and maybe eventually have guests. The 80’s and 90’s certainly saw a number of these with figures like Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O’Donnell.
Do what you love and the money will come.
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I also think either of her parents’ careers would suit Jackie if she had a passion for real estate or the legal system. I just think the above ones fit more with her interests and skills as demonstrated throughout the series.
End of the day though, the possibilities are nearly endless.
