A Critique of the Film “The Devil Wears Prada”
The movie the Devil Wears Prada is centered on a young graduate girl (Andy Sachs) who lands a job as an editorial assistant. Andy was a school magazine editor in her Northwestern university, and she graduates with high hopes for her journalism career. Andy auditions for an assistant job at a reputable magazine firm owned by a cruel, demanding, and inimitable Miranda Priestly. The working environment makes Andy look like an outsider. The other women in the firm are obsessed with fashion and body size, which puts pressure on Andy’s personal life and makes her social life to fall apart. The prominent characters which demonstrate the chaotic life include Andy, Emily, the assistant chief editor, and Miranda.
Chaos started immediately when Andy tried to enter the firm. Miranda’s chief assistant Emily mocks Andy’s attempt to seek a job in such a competitive firm as Runway Magazine, and she denies employing her at first but later on does on Miranda’s orders. The first days Andy finds it hard to be in the presence of fashion divas obsessed with super slim body sizes. Each one of them criticizes the new girl (Andy) sense of fashion, especially Miranda, through her cruel words. Nigel, the art director, is the only one who seems to be on her side and frequently tells her that “you only know that you are working well for Miranda when your personal life falls apart and the only time to get a promotion is when your whole life goes up in smokes. Everything in the firm is based on impressing Miranda through all means possible (Spiker 2012). The demanding and intimidating work environment leaves Miranda changing her life from her dress code to abandoning her former social life, which she leaves her boyfriend and her best friend feeling neglected.
Emily runs from place to place, trying to get work done up to Miranda’s standards and deadlines but always ends up unappreciated. She breaks down most of the time and complains about Miranda, but she cannot bring herself to stop idolizing her or taking all the critics thrown at her. The pressure seems to be a motivating way to keep making Emily do competent work.
The film setting describes the chaotic scenarios Andy fell in to later realize her way, recognize the work was not worthy of the change and her moving on to apply for another job. The writer uses the pressure and the stressful work environment to emphasize how out of place Andy seems to be. The film demonstrates how the beauty of the chaos molded Andy to know where she needed to be and what was worthy to do for her journalism career. Both Emily and Andy idolize Miranda and stick around and take her harsh words all through. The film starts with Emily disliking and mocking Andy, but in the end, the two become fond of each other and make fun of the chaos at work. The chaos at Miranda’s work builds up the efforts of each employee and places the firm among the leading magazine firms. In other words, the disorder is Miranda’s way of getting the employees on their toes and unleashing all their potential to keep the “empire” standing.
References
Spiker, J. A. (2012). Gender and power in the devil wears Prada. International Journal of Business, Humanities, and Technology, 2(3), 16-26.
Taufika, T. (2011). A STUDY ON ANDREAS CHANGING PERFORMANCE STYLE IN LAUREN WEISBERGERS FILM” THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA” (Doctoral dissertation, University of Muhammadiyah Malang).