So Quit
The Pep Talk You Actually Need
Devil Wears Prada 2 just hit theaters. I haven’t seen it yet (no spoilers!). But with most of the original cast, except Adrian Grenier :( , and a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score, I have high hopes.
In honor of the sequel, I want to revisit one of my favorite scenes from the original:
Andie, played by Anne Hathaway, finds Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci, and unloads. She’s been working her butt off. She’s giving it everything. And she’s getting nothing back.
Nigel listens. Then he says: “So quit.”
He doesn’t stop there. He reminds her exactly where she is and exactly what she’s been doing with the opportunity. Not much.
“This place [Vogue Magazine], where so many people would die to work, you only deign to work”
“I can get another girl to take your job in five minutes,” he adds. “One who really wants it.”
He doesn’t say these things to be cruel. He says them because they are true. And because the truth is what Andie actually needs in that moment.
We’ve all been Andie. Convinced we’re giving everything, when really we’re giving just enough to avoid quitting, but not enough to break through. We want someone to acknowledge the effort. Validate the struggle. Tell us we’re almost there.
Nigel rejects all of it. Not out of indifference, but out of respect. He takes her seriously enough to be honest with her.
The pep talk we want isn’t the one that helps us. The one that actually helps us sounds a lot more like: so quit, or if you really want this, then get to work.