- 21 hours ago
Not all villains wear designer. Join us as we make the case that the real antagonist of "The Devil Wears Prada" isn't the icy Miranda Priestly — it's Andy's boyfriend, Nate. While Miranda pushes Andy to grow, Nate does everything in his power to keep her small. Which side of the debate do you fall on? Let us know in the comments!
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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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