{"id":76589,"date":"2025-08-17T15:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/76589\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T15:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:03:07","slug":"cinemas-most-toxic-grilled-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/76589\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinema’s most toxic grilled cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s nothing a man could cook that would make me fall in love with him (move along, marry-me chicken<\/a>). And nothing he could cook that would make me dump him \u2014 raw chicken is a learning opportunity \u2014 but that damn grilled cheese in \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada<\/a>\u201d comes close.<\/p>\n

Miranda Priestly was never the villain. The real menace is Nate Cooper, Andy\u2019s so-called professional-chef boyfriend (eyeroll).<\/p>\n

He has the emotional intelligence of a baby carrot, and not in a hot, \u201cI can fix him\u201d way like Jeremy Allen White in \u201cThe Bear.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve somehow missed the 2006 masterpiece \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada,\u201d here\u2019s the gist: Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway<\/a>), fresh out of Northwestern, is trying to break into journalism but ends up as assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep<\/a>), the chic, terrifying editor of \u201cRunway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movie was loosely inspired by Vogue and Anna Wintour\u2019s reign, and former staffers <\/a>have said the long hours and snobby, high-pressure hierarchy weren\u2019t far off from real life. But the rewards were real<\/a> if you could stick it out.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the film, Andy struggles with the job\u2019s demands (she\u2019s a real journalist, remember) but eventually blossoms in the fashion world, gaining respect for the work. Nate, meanwhile, learns nothing.<\/p>\n

And make no mistake: Nate is the bad guy. The Paris Fashion Week arc proves it. Miranda isn\u2019t cosmic justice\u2019s punching bag \u2014 she\u2019s the system\u2019s product. She\u2019s been on the pedestal, built up just so people could smirk when they tore her down.<\/p>\n

The internet at large<\/a> agrees. Even Adrien Grenier, who played Nate, agrees<\/a>. \u201c[Andy] needed more out of the world than Nate, and she was achieving it. He couldn\u2019t support her like she needed to because he was a fragile, wounded boy. There\u2019s a selfishness and self-centeredness in that,\u201d Greiner told Entertainment Weekly.<\/p>\n

I point you to the grilled cheese scene<\/a> as the start of this self-centeredness and a resentment towards his partner\u2019s success that many 20-somethings know all too well. There are two problems here: 1) You\u2019re supposedly a professional chef and this is what you\u2019re cooking for dinner? 2) From this point forward, you continually see Nate fail to support Andy\u2019s career, resent her for her success, and at one point, actively try to sabotage her job.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get the first one out of the way. In this scene, Nate gets offended when Andy says she\u2019s not hungry anymore after ranting about Miranda and the challenges of her job. She puts the plate down and Nate immediately runs over saying, \u201cGive me that. There\u2019s like $8 worth of Jarlsberg on there.\u201d Eight dollars of cheese? Are you sure, Nate?<\/p>\n

The movie takes place in New York, but even in 2006, $8 at Murray\u2019s bought you maybe half a pound of Jarlsberg. That\u2019s a block the size of sandwich bread \u2014 impossible to melt into grilled cheese, and definitely inedible.<\/p>\n

I think about that damn grilled cheese from The Devil Wears Prada. \u201cThere\u2019s like $8 worth of Jarlsberg in there.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/w4ZhXo6rLZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Toby Herman (@tobyherman27) March 19, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n

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 \u2014 but Nate somehow makes it complicated.<\/p>\n

That sad sandwich shows up early in Andy\u2019s time at \u201cRunway.\u201d She\u2019s still venting about Miranda, her co-workers, and how uninterested and unfulfilled she feels about what she\u2019s doing. \u201cShe\u2019s not happy unless everyone around her is panicked, nauseous, or suicidal,\u201d says Andy about Miranda, \u201cThey all act like they\u2019re curing cancer or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

During this whole interaction, Nate is just smirking and laughing along cause yeah, at this point Andy thinks it\u2019s pretty silly too. But after Miranda\u2019s legendary cerulean monologue<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

Grilled cheese may be simple \u2014 but Nate somehow makes it complicated.<\/p>\n

Even after Andy showers them with \u201cRunway\u201d gifts, her friends still mock her work \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Nate\u2019s also constantly telling Andy to quit, even though she\u2019s starting to like what she does and knows it\u2019s a good step for her career. I mean, he\u2019s a chef. Is that not also a fast-paced, demanding job with an inconsistent schedule often forcing you to work nights and weekends?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all had difficult bosses. We\u2019ve all had assignments we don\u2019t like or starter jobs that have nothing to do with our career goals. We\u2019ve all had days where we just want to vent and complain about work. So why are Nate and Andy\u2019s friends so unsupportive of her as she\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s sad is that this dynamic is all too familiar. Studies<\/a> show men\u2019s self-esteem drops when their female partners succeed \u2014 they actually feel better about the relationship when she fails. Other research finds women undersell themselves<\/a> when they think men are watching, and therapists point out that plenty of men still see a partner\u2019s 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<\/a>. Fragile masculinity, in action.<\/p>\n

Although we\u2019re all dying to know,<\/a> we may never get any closure on Nate and his grilled cheese. \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d has been filming in New York since the end of July, and Adrien Greiner confirmed that he will not be making an appearance<\/a>. But his grilled cheese will live on in infamy through endless fan commentary<\/a> and even its own merch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, young men, take this as your sign: support your partner\u2019s success. And whatever you do, don\u2019t serve her burnt grilled cheese.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

about \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d<\/p>\n