Media & Culture Project- The Devil Wears Prada

For my media and culture project I decided to look at how the movie The Devil Wears Prada relates to our class readings, specifically Levy’s evaluation of feminism in modern day. I chose two specific aspects of the film, the first being the transformation that the character Andi goes through with clothing and her work persona and the female work persona of the character Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. The movie focuses on Andi’s career at a high fashion magazine in New York City. Andi isn’t the only woman who competing in this world though, there are multiple women featured throughout the film that exemplify the female work ethic.
The opening of the movie focuses on a typical woman’s morning of preparation for a day of work. They show numerous women who wear expensive lingerie, make up and skimpy high-end designer clothing with four-inch heels to top off the outfit. These women are put in comparison with the protagonist of the film, Andi, who does not wear make up, wears conservative clothing that covers her body and sensible shoes for the subway trip to work. This opening scene shows the distinction between what is seen as successful in this industry. The women who spend hours primping themselves for work are seen as in control, on top of their game and put together, while Andi seems to make every wrong move before she even enters the building for her interview. The idea that clothes can empower women is seen in the Manifesta reading and the Ariel Levy reading in Female Chauvinist Pigs. Being able to be successful and look good while doing it is something that these women value, especially in the high fashion magazine industry.
When Andi lands the assistant position at Runway magazine, she doesn’t make the connection between her clothing and her job performance. She wears “last season’s poly-blend sweaters” and sensible shoes up until she is called into her powerful female boss’s office. While in her office, her boss looks her up and down and judges the clothing that she is wearing. Her clothing is equated to her worth as an employee. In this industry, being feminine is powerful, and playing up that role is what makes you succeed. At this point, we can all agree that Andi isn’t naturally inclined to fashion, or showing off her body. When Andi is upset that she isn’t immediately successful at her job, she gets advice from Nigel, a gay man higher up in the company with incredible fashion sense. He dresses her up like a Barbie, shows her how to do make up and tame her hair. The transformation of her clothing is equated with the transformation of her work ethic. In an instant, she is better at her job; she is taken seriously by her co-workers, and is seen as a capable employee. Her rise to power in the company is entirely attributed to her ability to pull her look together and act the role of feminine fashionista. In this situation, Andi does what is practical in order to succeed in the magazine industry. Being fashionable wasn’t innate to her and what she wears isn’t entirely her choice. Andi adopted the behavior of the people in her work atmosphere and is “acting” the role of successful, well dressed female.
Meryl Streep plays the ice-cold character of Miranda Priestly, editor in chief of Runway Magazine who is impossible to please. When she enters the office building, employees go into frenzy. The fear associated with Miranda is a fear that is associated with the fact that she doesn’t play into the normal female roles in the work place. She isn’t particularly sexy, but she has fashion sense, and her main male characteristic is that she doesn’t show emotion. Miranda isn’t willing to accept excuses from employees and her employees have to do everything exactly to her standards. Miranda plays into the male persona in order to be successful. She is competitive, deceiving and demanding. Miranda isn’t the character that we sympathize with; she is the cold hard bitch at the top of the company that the rest of the employees hate. Miranda is seen as unattached, unemotional and willing to do anything to get ahead, and this is seen in a negative light when Andi realizes that Miranda screwed over her friend in order to get ahead at her job. This exemplifies the idea that there is not camaraderie between employees and that there can only be one successful female at the top of the corporate ladder. This career move is seen by Andi as horrifying. It’s not compassionate, it’s not considerate and most importantly, it’s not feminine. The problem with this situation is that if a man were in Miranda’s position, these behaviors would be seen as normal, if not the signs of a successful leader. These traits cannot be innate to a woman in this fictional world.
At the end of the film Miranda talks honestly to Andi about her family life. She is getting another divorce from another husband that feels like he falls into her shadow as a woman in business. This section of the movie shows the failure of a woman to be the competitive, driven head of a company and also the devoted mother and wife. The fact that she has shed her identity as a woman in order to succeed is shown by her failed marriage. This is the first time in the movie that we see Miranda show emotion, and be a feminine character. This further proves the point that in our culture, a feminine character cannot naturally have “male” characteristics, and this has to be redeemed by her showing emotion at some point in the film.