"Uptown Girls"

“Uptown Girls” Is a movie that came out in 2003 that is set in New York City, this movie also happens to be one of my favorite movies.  “Uptown Girls” stars the late Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. The movie is about a rock stars daughter, Molly Gunn who at the age of 22 has a lot of growing up to do.  Molly gets hired as a nanny to a little girl, Lorraine “Ray” who teaches her how to act her age, in the meantime Molly is teaching Ray, who’s eight how to act hers.

Many upper class New York City moms hire nannies or sitters to help care for their children. In the movie “Uptown Girls” Molly does most if not all of Roma’s (Ray’s mom) duties. Molly was left a decent fortune from her famous parents but the man left in charge of her finances took it and ran. It’s no surprise that Molly took a job as a nanny, most nannies in New York City make about $16 an hour or more. That’s more than twice the amount of minimum wage. In 2007 I worked as a nanny here in New York City. I made close to $16 an hour. Like Molly, I would go to the park with the baby I took care of and watched her while the mother worked from home. Unlike Roma, the mother of the little girl was extremely hands on and worried about everything her daughter was doing. For the most part my past experience as a nanny was very similar to Molly.

Ray didn’t act her age. She was very mature; this had to do with how her mother treated her. Molly on the other hand would act Ray’s age. In movie Molly talks about how she would run away to Coney Island when she was mad at her parents. Ray did the same in a heated argument with Roma. In my opinion it was a chance for her to act like a kid. That’s exactly the feeling I get when I go to Coney Island. Molly says she would go hide away on the tea cup ride, because that’s the only ride she could get on by herself. Who wouldn’t feel like a kid on a ride where you control your speed?  Coney Island is one of the few amusement parks and beach that you can get to by public transportation in New York City.

There may be better movies than “Uptown Girls” to depict New York City, but it’s one of my favorites and the one I can most relate to.

Work Citied

Covert, Bryce. “Nannies Making Six-Figures? What Childcare Workers Really Take Home”. Forbes. N.p. April 2, 2012. Web. March 19, 2014