Why Did Kate Hudson Lie to Me?
By Briana M. Alvarez
This summer, I fell in love for the first time. Unfortunately, that first was a victim of what my cousin in Medellin liked to call “un casi algo,” an “almost something,” or what is most common: a situationship. Regardless of my relationship status, I would wake up, arms stretched with a smile on my face and sigh, thinking, “These are my 20s.” I’d dance off my bed, make a hot cup of coffee and unlock my phone to see the first headline. Sigh. These are my 20s.
My childhood was filled with lots of love, Disney and PG-13 rated movies. Katherine Heigl made me daydream in school about what life would be like after college, or even high school. It wasn’t much about the romance, hence my boyfriend who wasn’t my boyfriend. It was the image of being in your twenties, young and vibrant, living in the big apple, happy and stable. Granted in Bride Wars, Hudson and Hathaway were both lawyers, but in 27 Dresses Heigl was an assistant. An assistant.
Just this past month, The National Low Income Housing Coalition published a report that showed Massachusetts residents who were paid minimum wage had to work 101 hours just to be able to afford a one bedroom at fair market rent. Of course, it isn’t just the United States. In a Business Insider article, a Canadian Gen Z graduate named Jane said that she began working two jobs in order to pay her rent while also saving for a future mortgage. Katherine Heigl, whose character name was also Jane, was able to enjoy herself in her spacious one bedroom apartment, lounging around and reading newspapers as she waited for her little sister to get back from a night out with Heigl’s boss. The only boss who she assists and was able to live comfortably on that one salary in New York City.
Those movies never show what these women’s lives were like before moving to New York City and having their ‘grown up girl’ jobs. Even though they struggled with their sad excuses for love lives or miscommunication with best friends, there was never a plot where they couldn’t afford rent. It’s implied that they haven’t been at home since starting college because they lived in school, but where’s the movie about the commuters of the world? What about the kids who couldn’t afford to share a bathroom with 20 other people, or who just weren’t ready to leave the nest?
Living at home was never something I questioned or a detail in my life that I was insecure about. In Latin culture, it’s normalized for the children to only move out when they are going to get married or they get a job elsewhere. It occurred to me that it isn’t as normal to others as it is to me because when I met my sort of boyfriend, living at my home suddenly became still living at my parents house. All at once, I began to feel smaller than him. Then, my father graciously helped me remember that my fake boyfriend and I were just in two different phases of our lives.
According to my millennial friends, who are also in that different phase, I am a child. You’d think because these people are not only my friends but mentors that I wouldn’t take it too seriously, but being limited as such makes me feel like an outsider. What is it exactly that makes me a child? The fact that they have a few years on me doesn’t necessarily guarantee better wisdom but I suppose they look at it from a standpoint on who’s more independent. But, why would I willingly leave a home that always has food ready by the time I get there after a long day? Why would I want to pay rent? If that’s what a child is, then I guess I’ll go sit in front of my TV all day and cycle between Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
With the tariffs that have been put into place and continue to be, the stock market has been swinging back and forth – at least that’s what the finance bros say on Tiktok. This leaves Gen Z to jokingly cope with being our parents back in 2008, arguing over money on the potential brink of divorce while we, the children, throw our Wii remote’s around the living room.
As I come to the end of my college journey, the stress rash on my neck made me realize that everything I want to achieve won’t be happening as quickly as I was anticipating. I look at nepo babies and wonder what life must feel like to live with unlimited resources to not worry about tariffs or scary words like inflation. It makes me insecure enough to wonder who I am or what am I doing? Everything always feels so fast paced in college, running from class to class. There is a pressure to be constantly studying, reading classics or being involved in student life. Now, I’m learning to accept the fact that I could be entering a new era with slowness and patience.
When I was 16 and wanted to buy merchandise, I told my parents that I wanted a job. I wanted to work like Kate Hudson’s character, who used her money to buy things from Tiffany & Co. Even though my Tiffany ring was more like Ariana Grande merch, I craved to have her independent lifestyle. My parents didn’t let me, they told me I had my whole life ahead of me to work. I didn’t realize then that I had to be patient.
Thankfully, that realization is finally here.