Florals for Spring? Groundbreaking: My thoughts on the iconic film 'The Devil wears Prada'

Hello everyone! I am back after having a broken laptop for a week and after that being sick 🙃 

I wanted to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. One of my all-time favorite films: The Devil wears Prada (quite possibly the greatest movie of all time IMO). Not only is this movie a cult classic but you can learn some things about how the industry works and you do get to hear about a few designers. Plus it's a fun movie and I can quote almost every line. There is some theory that Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep (the greatest actress of all time) is modeled after Anna Wintour who has been editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine since 1988 (WOW). She has greatly shaped the fashion industry as we know it today. The author of the book (yes there's a book, there's two, in fact) was also Anna's Wintour assistant at one point in time but she said the character and Anna have no relation so I guess all we can do is speculate...

So having watched this movie at least 1,000 times (including once this morning) here are some things that I've noticed and have a problem with. Now granted, I have never read the book but I do know that the book is quite different from the movie so the things I take issue with might not exist in the book. 

The first problem that I have is that the villain in this movie is Nate, her boyfriend, and her friends, not Miranda. He was incredibly unsupportive of her career and the second she turned her attention from him to herself and her career he threw a tantrum and called her a traitor!!! Like??? Dude, could you be a little supportive of your girlfriend who you supposedly love??? Notably, the worst crime he committed was serving her a grilled cheese sandwich that was burnt! Not only that but her friends were terrible to her too! They were so judgmental of what she was doing and who she was becoming but were totally ok with working however much they worked and doing whatever it was they wanted to do with their lives. *insert eye roll* They hated her job but they loved the $1,900 Marc Jacobs bags and other gifts she was giving them, huh? Give me a break. Ugh. 

Look at this burnt grilled cheese he gave her like??? The disrespect!!!

Ok, now to get on to Andy, Anne Hathaway's character, she's not off the hook either. Andy should've done like maybe a smidge of research before she started this job. Like maybe she could've googled I don't know literally anything before she applied for the job. The girl wanted to work as a journalist but had no idea who one of the most prominent figures in the publishing and writing industry was??? No magazine would hire anyone if that person didn't know who their editor-in-chief was. Not only that, but as Stanley Tucci's character Nigel said in the movie "Andy, be serious. You are not trying. You are whining... You have no idea how many legends have walked these halls. And what's worse, you don't care. Because this place, where so many people would die to work, you only deign to work." To be honest, Andy did not deserve that job. She had no respect for the industry and could not care less about anything she was participating in which is why the scene with the cerulean blue is so important and iconic. Since Andy can't be bothered to do a google search on the place she's working Miranda has to school her. "This… “stuff”? Oh, okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you...And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs, and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry, when in fact, you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room… from a pile of “stuff.” Fashion isn't just some arbitrary concept.  I can't tell you how many times I've had a conversation with someone who "took themselves too seriously to worry about what they put on their body". 🙄Do you realize how dumb that sounds?? Clothes are so important. You live your life in clothes. You need them at every point in your life. We don't just wear clothes for the hell of it. Clothes identify us (think of doctor's coats), they help us express ourselves (think goths or emo style), they give us protection (winter coats or astronaut suits), and they show our status (think of the royal robes the Queen wears). So yeah, Miranda is right when she schooled Andy. It's not just 'stuff'. 

 Someone that I did feel bad for was Emily. Emily was a victim of the system. She worked so hard just for a lot of what she earned to be snatched from her. For example with Paris and how Andy was the one to go instead of her. Andy thought she was 'holier than thou' because she chose not to wear $1,000 shoes but Emily was the realest one in that whole building! She knew who she was, knew what she wanted, and never lied to herself. Plus Miranda was right at the end of the movie when Andy thought she was still better than everybody because she couldn't betray someone to get what she wanted and Miranda pointed out that she totally did because she'd already done it to Emily. Girl, get over yourself!

And I also feel sorry for Miranda (I know that's controversial but hear me out). Yes, Miranda was rude and could've said things better but she is a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. Think about it. If a man were in her position he would be regarded as a great leader, not bitchy. They just hate to see women win and take control. Miranda built that magazine from the ground up. Almost everyone in the movie owed her their career and at the end of the movie when they try to kick her out of Runway she talks about how she had an entire list of people whose careers SHE built and how they were loyal to her and would follow her. Like no. Don't even come at Miranda Priestly. And I know you're like "But Taylor what about her husbands?? She was so mean to everyone." Girl, please. Those men could not keep up with HER! She was balancing being a mom, having a career, keeping the entire fashion industry afloat, being a wife, and who knows what else! How many times are men praised for being 'hard-working breadwinners' while their wives are at home taking care of the family? They can't even do it and they're not even expected to. So please take that lame excuse somewhere else. This is why I think the job Andy had was exactly what she needed. It showed her that sometimes you have to put in the work and not just expect everything to be handed to you and that sadly, not everyone will be nice to you. I will have no Miranda Priestly slander in this house.

My favorite line in this movie is from Miranda Priestly when she first seems Andy. She says "You have no style or sense of fashion... No, no, that wasn't a question." That's the greatest line ever. I say it to people all the time, mostly as a joke (not really though).

All in all, I love this movie (can you tell?). Some more movies to check out if you're interested in the fashion industry are 

1. The First Monday in May: I previously mentioned this one in my MET Gala post. 
2. Yves Saint Laurent: A film about the life of Yves Saint Laurent released in 2014.
3. Saint Laurent: Another film about the life of YSL that was released in 2014. Yes there were two films about YSL released in 2014.💀
4. The September Issue: Phenomenal film about how Vogue creates the most popular issue of the magazine, the September issue.
5. The Gospel According to Andre: Probably my favorite movie on this list. It details the life of one of the most prolific fashion commentators and creative directors at Vogue, Andre Leon Talley.

Also, side note: Have you all seen Anne Hathaway recently??? Like she is glowing!!! Truly love that woman.