Aahana Swrup
Katherine Heigl embodies the character of Jane Nichols in ’27 Dresses,’ a beloved 2008 rom-com. The story follows Jane, enamored with the idea of true love, who finds herself constantly surrounded by weddings that aren’t her own. As a result, in all the weddings she has attended in her life, she has somehow managed to be a bridesmaid in 27 of them. However, the upcoming wedding in her roster threatens to push the woman to the edge as she’s forced into planning the ceremony between George, the man she is in love with, and her younger sister, Tess.
Worse yet, a charming writer, Kevin, seems to have found himself in Jane’s orbit, dampening her hopes for true love with his own cynical take on the marital institution. The film heavily revolves around Jane’s involvement in various weddings and their initial planning, which might lead viewers to wonder about her actual non-bridesmaid-related career. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Jane Nichols and Her Work Life As a Personal Assistant
Despite Jane’s talent in wedding planning— as proven by her exceptional skills as a bridesmaid that keeps her in constant demand within her extensive social circle— the woman doesn’t actually work in the wedding industry. Instead, Katherine Heigl’s character, Jane Nichols, begins the movie as the full-time personal assistant to George, an entrepreneur with an outdoor adventure company, “Urban Everest.”
Given Jane’s compulsion to help others and be of service to her loved ones, her position as a personal assistant makes sense. The same logic exponentiates when we take into account that Jane has been pining after her boss, George, for years. Jane’s mother died when she was young, and the girl quickly overtook a caring role in her younger sister’s life. As a result, she developed an inclination toward helping people.
For the same reason, after Jane took the job at Urban Everest as George’s personal assistant, she fell into the role easily. Moreover, it provided her with an outlet to express her feelings for the man without having to confess to them. As a result, she continued with the position for years.
In many ways, Jane’s profession remains reflective of her narrative position within the wedding-centric movie. Just as the woman remains a bridesmaid and never a bride in her personal life, her professional life also keeps her confined to a junior role, preventing her from progressing in her career. Interestingly, the two positions share many other practical similarities, requiring identical skills from Jane, including time management, expectation moderation, scheduling, and organization.
Nevertheless, by the film’s end, Jane gains a better perspective of her unhealthy people-pleasing habits through Kevin’s help, with the man encouraging her to stand up for herself. As a result, Jane quits the position after realizing she has only been holding on to her job as George’s personal assistant due to her misguided feelings for him. Since the film doesn’t provide a conclusion for her career, Jane’s story ends with numerous roads open to her for her professional life— including the much-suited potential career in wedding planning.
Read More: 27 Dresses: Is There a Real-Life Inspiration Behind the Film?
