00:00Why do women need so many bags?
00:02Shut up!
00:02You have one, you put all your junk in it, and that's it, you're done.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're breaking down why Nate was truly the bad guy in the Devil Wears
00:12Prada.
00:13Wow. Andy, good for you. Congratulations, you're free.
00:19When we first watched this movie back in 2006,
00:23Nate was the cute, smart guy we'd happily share a grilled cheese with any day.
00:28I'm not even hungry anymore.
00:29What?
00:30That is why those girls are so skinny.
00:33Oh, no, no, no, give me that. There's like $8 of Jarlsberg in there.
00:38You know what?
00:40But looking back, he's aged about as well as that ball of mozzarella you forgot in the back of your
00:45fridge several months ago.
00:46And trust us, that's not what you want.
00:48So how did Nate get framed as the Jarlsberg of boyfriends for so long?
00:53To answer that, we have to look at the cultural landscape of the 2000s.
00:57You used to say this was just a job. You used to make fun of the runway girls. What happened?
01:02Now you've become one of them.
01:03This was a post-sex into the city world, but one still deeply uncomfortable with women choosing high octane careers
01:10over cozy domestic bliss.
01:12I want to enjoy my success, not apologize for it.
01:15Bravo, honey. Bravo.
01:17The career woman always came with a catch. If she climbed too high, the narrative corrected her. She had to
01:23be humbled. She had to lose something. Usually, that was love.
01:27We were often told that if you chose to walk in Miranda Priestley's Valentino's, you didn't deserve a happy relationship.
01:33I think all of us want to feel something that we've forgotten or turned our backs on.
01:42Because maybe we didn't realize how much we were leaving behind.
01:46Ambition became a moral fork in the road. Career or soul, professional growth was framed as a betrayal.
01:52So, of course, on the surface, that makes Nate look like the grounded, loving partner who just wants to keep
01:58Andy tethered to reality.
02:00But actually, this isn't about keeping Andy grounded. He wants her unchanged, small enough to fit comfortably inside his version
02:07of their relationship.
02:08It doesn't make sense throwing away all those months of hard work. I just had a moment of weakness, that's
02:15all.
02:15Yeah, well, either that or your job sucks if getting your boss is a wacko.
02:22Alright.
02:24Whatever. It's your job.
02:26And that's where the contrast with Miranda becomes fascinating.
02:31Miranda is widely labeled the villain because she's demanding, icy, and nearly impossible to please.
02:37Someone must be getting out.
02:39Call Donatella, get her jet.
02:41Call everybody else that we know that has a jet, Irv.
02:43Call everybody else. This is your responsibility. This is your job.
02:46Get me home.
02:48But she's also transparent.
02:49Her expectations are crystal clear.
02:52Her evaluations are ruthless, yes, but they're merit-based.
02:55When she criticizes Andy, she's pushing her to be sharper, faster, more competent.
03:00She treats Andy like a professional, even when Andy hasn't yet grown into that role.
03:05I had hope.
03:07My God.
03:09I live on it.
03:11Anyway, you ended up disappointing me more than, um, more than any of the other silly girls.
03:18Now, are we saying Miranda is a dream boss?
03:21Absolutely not.
03:22No one is lining up to be on call 24-7 for a woman who can't conceptualize work-life balance.
03:28But there's a lot to learn from her work ethic.
03:30She demands excellence, and when Andy rises to meet that standard, it's not lost on her.
03:35I mean, what if I don't want to live the way you live?
03:40Oh, don't be ridiculous, Andrea. Everybody wants this.
03:45Everybody wants to be us.
03:49Nate, however, weaponizes emotional labor.
03:52His criticism isn't about helping Andy grow. It's about pulling her back.
03:56I'm still the same person I was. I still want the same things.
04:01Okay?
04:02I promise.
04:03Same Andy.
04:05Better clothes.
04:07I like the old clothes.
04:09He demands presence, regardless of what it costs Andy's future.
04:13The cerulean sweater monologue is the perfect test case.
04:17When Miranda articulates the cultural and economic weight of the fashion industry,
04:21she proves that stuff matters.
04:23That blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs.
04:28And it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry,
04:33when in fact, you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.
04:38Nate dismisses it all as trivial.
04:40And when he trivializes her industry, he trivializes her effort.
04:44He turns her hard work into a punchline.
04:47And here's the thing.
04:48Imagine Andy were a junior associate at a law firm pulling 80-hour weeks,
04:52or a medical resident drowning in overnight shifts.
04:55Would Nate roll his eyes the same way?
04:57Probably not.
04:58You're mad because I work late all the time and because I missed your birthday party, and I'm sorry.
05:02Come on. What am I for?
05:04You hate runway and Miranda, and you think fashion is stupid.
05:08You've made that clear.
05:10This isn't about equating fashion with emergency surgery.
05:13It's about respect.
05:14Andy is clearly struggling to find her footing in a hyper-competitive space.
05:18And instead of cheering her on, Nate complains.
05:22One second.
05:25You know, in case you were wondering, the person whose calls you always take, that's the relationship you're in.
05:31At the start of the film, they're equals.
05:33Two ambitious 20-somethings trying to make it in New York.
05:36But as Andy masters her environment, the power dynamic shifts.
05:40She enters elite spaces where Nate doesn't have currency.
05:44And instead of expanding himself to meet her growth, he resists it.
05:48Just own up to it.
05:49And then we can stop pretending like we have anything in common anymore.
05:54You don't mean that.
05:55No, I do.
05:56This is a classic psychological defense.
05:59When one partner evolves faster than the other,
06:01the static partner sometimes tries to shame the moving one back into place.
06:06Can we at least talk about this?
06:16You look really pretty.
06:18Nate doesn't love the new Andy because she no longer orbits him.
06:21Even Adrian Grenier has admitted Nate could have been more supportive,
06:25calling him a, quote,
06:26fragile, wounded boy and telling all the Nates out there to, quote,
06:30step it up.
06:31But he's not acting alone.
06:32He's the ringleader of a social circle that reinforces his toxic perspective.
06:37The friends, Lily and Doug, are arguably even more hypocritical.
06:41Little clinique.
06:42Oh, damn it.
06:44I love your job.
06:45Oh, one more.
06:47Little thing.
06:50Do you want it?
06:51Give me.
06:51You want?
06:52Oh, I think she likes it.
06:53They mock Andy's job, belittle her industry,
06:56and roll their eyes at her professional transformation.
06:59Yet the moment Andy brings home expensive gifts,
07:02they scramble to claim them.
07:04This social reinforcement is crucial to Nate's role as the antagonist.
07:08He uses this friend group as a kind of moral jury.
07:11Looks like someone's been drinking the kumbo.
07:13What are you?
07:16Nate.
07:17I got it.
07:18It's, oh, yep, the dragon lady.
07:19Let me talk to her.
07:21No, okay, I need that.
07:21I'll tell her to get her own scrambled egg.
07:22I'm lying.
07:23Together, they frame Andy's success as something she has to defend
07:26instead of something she gets to celebrate.
07:29A truly supportive network would have acted as a bridge between those worlds.
07:33They, Nate in particular, become the wall.
07:36Now, you guys didn't have to be such...
07:42Now, to be fair, there's a common defense of Nate.
07:45Andy does lose pieces of her integrity,
07:47and her ambition leaves some collateral damage.
07:50Andy, what the hell is wrong with you?
07:52I didn't have a choice, okay?
07:54Miranda asked me, and I couldn't say no.
07:56I know.
07:56That's your answer for everything, Laylee.
07:57I didn't have a choice.
07:58Like, this job was forced on you.
08:00Like, you don't make these decisions yourself.
08:02But look, as Anne Hathaway pointed out,
08:04these characters were very young.
08:06And who among us wants to be judged forever by our behavior in our early 20s?
08:10I think that they were both very young and figuring things out,
08:14and he did behave like a brat.
08:16Right.
08:17But I also behaved like a brat in my 20s,
08:19and I hopefully grew out of it,
08:21and I think that that's what we all do.
08:23And, you know, I wouldn't want to be defined by my worst moment in my 20s.
08:27That's valid.
08:28Growth is messy.
08:29But Nate's reaction isn't rooted in moral concern.
08:32It's rooted in inconvenience.
08:34He's not saying,
08:35I'm worried you're becoming someone you won't recognize.
08:37He's saying,
08:38I miss the version of you that suited me.
08:41I'm so sorry.
08:43I kept trying to leave,
08:45but there was a lot going on,
08:47and, you know, I didn't have a choice.
08:50Don't worry about it.
08:53I can go to bed.
08:54By centering his ego during her professional crisis,
08:57he reveals what's really bothering him.
08:59Not that she's becoming a bad person,
09:01but she's becoming a busy one.
09:03In many ways,
09:04the kindest thing Nate does is walk away.
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09:22The ending is often read as a happy return to normal.
09:26Andy quits.
09:27She throws her phone into the fountain.
09:29She reconnects with Nate in a diner.
09:31But even then,
09:31he continues to guilt her.
09:33I tore my back on my friends and my family
09:36and on everything I believed in.
09:40And for what?
09:41For shoes
09:43and shirts
09:44and jackets
09:45and belts.
09:46Yet when he announces his own career move,
09:49one that takes him out of state,
09:50Andy is nothing but supportive.
09:52Interestingly,
09:53the 2024 West End musical adaptation
09:55softened Nate,
09:57turning him into more of a safe haven.
09:59But movie Nate represents something deadly.
10:01The partner who asks you to shrink
10:03so they don't have to stretch.
10:04Hey.
10:05Hey.
10:06How about the Dean and DeLuca?
10:08Man, they charge like $5 of strawberry there.
10:11But I figure,
10:12since you quit your job,
10:15we should celebrate.
10:16While Miranda is the dragon
10:18Andy had to slay to prove her strength,
10:20Nate is the anchor that tried to keep her
10:22from ever setting sail.
10:24Stories often position the powerful woman
10:26as the threat to be neutralized.
10:28Through a modern lens, though,
10:29we'd say the real threat
10:31is the person who asks you
10:32to dim your light
10:33so they don't have to squint.
10:34In a world that demands growth,
10:36there's nothing more villainous
10:38than standing in the way
10:39of a woman's potential.
10:40I hope you two are very happy together.
10:44Which side of the debate do you fall on?
10:46Let us know in the comments.
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