There’s nothing a man could cook that would make me fall in love with him (move along, marry-me chicken). And nothing he could cook that would make me dump him — raw chicken is a learning opportunity — but that damn grilled cheese in “The Devil Wears Prada” comes close.
Miranda Priestly was never the villain. The real menace is Nate Cooper, Andy’s so-called professional-chef boyfriend (eyeroll).
He has the emotional intelligence of a baby carrot, and not in a hot, “I can fix him” way like Jeremy Allen White in “The Bear.”
If you’ve somehow missed the 2006 masterpiece “The Devil Wears Prada,” here’s the gist: Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), fresh out of Northwestern, is trying to break into journalism but ends up as assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the chic, terrifying editor of “Runway.”
The movie was loosely inspired by Vogue and Anna Wintour’s reign, and former staffers have said the long hours and snobby, high-pressure hierarchy weren’t far off from real life. But the rewards were real if you could stick it out.
Over the course of the film, Andy struggles with the job’s demands (she’s a real journalist, remember) but eventually blossoms in the fashion world, gaining respect for the work. Nate, meanwhile, learns nothing.
And make no mistake: Nate is the bad guy. The Paris Fashion Week arc proves it. Miranda isn’t cosmic justice’s punching bag — she’s the system’s product. She’s been on the pedestal, built up just so people could smirk when they tore her down.
The internet at large agrees. Even Adrien Grenier, who played Nate, agrees. “[Andy] needed more out of the world than Nate, and she was achieving it. He couldn’t support her like she needed to because he was a fragile, wounded boy. There’s a selfishness and self-centeredness in that,” Greiner told Entertainment Weekly.
We need your help to stay independent
I point you to the grilled cheese scene as the start of this self-centeredness and a resentment towards his partner’s success that many 20-somethings know all too well. There are two problems here: 1) You’re supposedly a professional chef and this is what you’re cooking for dinner? 2) From this point forward, you continually see Nate fail to support Andy’s career, resent her for her success, and at one point, actively try to sabotage her job.
Let’s get the first one out of the way. In this scene, Nate gets offended when Andy says she’s not hungry anymore after ranting about Miranda and the challenges of her job. She puts the plate down and Nate immediately runs over saying, “Give me that. There’s like $8 worth of Jarlsberg on there.” Eight dollars of cheese? Are you sure, Nate?
The movie takes place in New York, but even in 2006, $8 at Murray’s bought you maybe half a pound of Jarlsberg. That’s a block the size of sandwich bread — impossible to melt into grilled cheese, and definitely inedible.
I think about that damn grilled cheese from The Devil Wears Prada. “There’s like $8 worth of Jarlsberg in there.” pic.twitter.com/w4ZhXo6rLZ
— Toby Herman (@tobyherman27) March 19, 2020
Secondly, that bread is burnt. Third, who flips the grilled cheese over and then immediately flips it back? Nate, apparently. Hardly the mark of a professional chef. Grilled cheese may be simple — but Nate somehow makes it complicated.
That sad sandwich shows up early in Andy’s time at “Runway.” She’s still venting about Miranda, her co-workers, and how uninterested and unfulfilled she feels about what she’s doing. “She’s not happy unless everyone around her is panicked, nauseous, or suicidal,” says Andy about Miranda, “They all act like they’re curing cancer or something.”
During this whole interaction, Nate is just smirking and laughing along cause yeah, at this point Andy thinks it’s pretty silly too. But after Miranda’s legendary cerulean monologue, Andy realizes that fashion is more than just stick-thin models and clothes that cost more than your rent. It has a direct impact on society and the lives of everyday people. She starts applying herself, she starts dressing the part, attending all the parties, meeting the important people. The more time she commits to her job, the less Nate seems to want to be with her. As Andy blooms, Nate withers and their other friends are no better.
Grilled cheese may be simple — but Nate somehow makes it complicated.
Even after Andy showers them with “Runway” gifts, her friends still mock her work — and nearly cost her her job by stealing her phone when Miranda calls. Imagine going to happy hour, your boss calls and your friends decide to play monkey-in-the-middle with your career. Ridiculous.
Nate’s also constantly telling Andy to quit, even though she’s starting to like what she does and knows it’s a good step for her career. I mean, he’s a chef. Is that not also a fast-paced, demanding job with an inconsistent schedule often forcing you to work nights and weekends?
We’ve all had difficult bosses. We’ve all had assignments we don’t like or starter jobs that have nothing to do with our career goals. We’ve all had days where we just want to vent and complain about work. So why are Nate and Andy’s friends so unsupportive of her as she’s doing the only thing she can at the moment to start making a name for herself in journalism? A very difficult field to break into, especially in New York, might I add.
What’s sad is that this dynamic is all too familiar. Studies show men’s self-esteem drops when their female partners succeed — they actually feel better about the relationship when she fails. Other research finds women undersell themselves when they think men are watching, and therapists point out that plenty of men still see a partner’s career as a threat to their masculinity. Online, young women even joke that the surest way to a second date is to pretend to be unemployed. Fragile masculinity, in action.
Although we’re all dying to know, we may never get any closure on Nate and his grilled cheese. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” has been filming in New York since the end of July, and Adrien Greiner confirmed that he will not be making an appearance. But his grilled cheese will live on in infamy through endless fan commentary and even its own merch.
So, young men, take this as your sign: support your partner’s success. And whatever you do, don’t serve her burnt grilled cheese.
