History Headscratchers / TheDevilWearsPrada

* I don't get how the whole clothes are a big deal and took effort speech, that's supposed to be a reason Andy sucks speech, matters. So it takes some effort by some people to do it? It's not like the alternative, not wearing clothes, is viable.

*** She didn't exactly step over Emily, despite Miranda's NotSoDifferent speech at the end: Miranda losing her job at Runway is by no means the end of her career; so, how is that supposed to parallel the Emily/Andy situation? Andy can barely pay rent as it is, she can't afford to lose her job. Worse, Miranda does threaten, covertly but still very clearly, to make it extremely difficult for Andy to ever work again in journalism. Considering the fashion guru's clout, this threat sounds very doable!

** This also makes her throwing Nigel under the bus to keep her job that much more of a dick move and her telling Andy that they are NotSoDifferent because of the Emily thing a transparent attempt at justifying her own actions.

* Why did Miranda go through so many divorces? Wouldn't men interested in her find out about her difficult personality and realize how time consume her job is *before* they get married, *especially* since she is a celebrity whose personality is being sharply critized by the press? That said, doesn't her social circle mostly consist of people with jobs that are just as time consuming, stressful and exhausting and who should have just as little time for their lover/spouse as her and therefore should show understanding for the pressure a career like Miranda's puts on her? One should assume her husbands knew what they were getting into. (Maybe her first husband has an excuse, since she might have married him before her career took off, but the one in the movie definitely hasn't been with her that long)

* Why does Andy care if Miranda loses her job at Runway? Not only is the woman making her life hell, it's not even that big of an issue! Miranda, as shown later in the movie, has the contact, skills, and investors to strike out on her own; or, given her age and her fortune, she could just retire; or even become the "muse" or "new" public figure of whatever fashion label she chooses. The point is, she is not out not kicked out on the streets.
** This also makes her throwing Nigel under the bus to keep her job that much more of a dick move and her telling Andy that they are NotSodifferent because of the Emily thing a transparent attempt at justifying her own actions.

* If her boyfriend, family and friends can't stand her not being there every time they need someone to do something with, how do they hope to cope with a real journalism career? Real journalists go undercover. You can't tell the White House you can't make it because its your boyfriend's birthday. You can't decide that instead of interviewing people displaced by war you need to go to your friend's baby shower.

*** "Evil" is a strong word. Miranda is not actively trying to harm anyone in the film. However, she is a relentless and unforgiving pain in the ass to virtually everyone she meets for no reason at all. She refuses to learn Andy's name for the first chunk of the film, she changes things abruptly and then insults people for failing to read her mind about it, she insults people for events which are out of their control, and through all of it the pay sucks so badly that Andy has to borrow money from her parents just to make rent and Miranda explicitly threatens her with not only firing her from her current job but blackballing her from publishing entirely.

*** Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but I saw that moment as Miranda actually playing her role of the self appointed mentor to Andy. Her ending speech implies that this is how she sees herself in regard to her. So it's possible that she was trying to teach Andy a lesson, that when she chooses to do somewthing that she knows will negatively affect someone, she has to have guts to tell them that personally.

*** Her friends are a much bigger issue in the book. In the book, Nate (whose name is Alex) is an saintlike, uber-patient inner-city elementary school teacher who goes out of his way to apologize for being late when one of his students ''slashes another student with a box cutter.'' Meanwhile, Lily is an alcoholic, self-destructive [=PhD=] candidate in Russian literature, who Andy needs to take care of on a daily basis. The whole subplot about [[spoiler:Miranda screwing Nigel out of a job and Andy screwing Emily out of Paris]] isn't there- instead, the reasons Andy is "supposed" to stay home are that her sister was having a baby and [[spoiler:Lily winds up in the hospital in a coma after a drunk-driving accident]]. So the crucial nature of her loyalty is somewhat less ambiguous in the novel.

** Just because her husbands new she has difficult personality doesn't mean they were prepared to everything. There is a difference between understanding someone and actually being able to deal with them. They could just overestimate how much they can endure. Also it is possible some of the divorces were her initiative.

*** Notably so at the very end. Which is, possibly, meant to imply an off-screen happy ending for Nigel. Since she does 'pay [people] back'.

** On the other hand, the movie gets out of its way to give her PetTheDog moments, or at least moments when the audience and Andy can sympathize.

*** She didn't exactly step over Emily. Despite Miranda's NotSoDifferent speech at the end, Miranda losing her job at Runway is by no means the end of her career; so, how is that supposed to parallel the Emily/Andy situation? Andy can barely pay rent as it is, she can't afford to lose her job. Worse, Miranda does threaten, covertly but still very clearly, to make it extremely difficult for Andy to ever work again in journalism. Considering the fashion guru's clout, this threat sounds very doable!

** Another thing that bugs me: Lily's reaction to Christian kissing Andy on the cheek. She doesn't ask what's going on and, you know, worry about what's going on in her friend's head and heart; no, she goes straight into accusatory mode. Taking Nate's side only makes sense if her true friend is Nate and Andy is just a side thought because she is Nate's girlfriend. But that doesn't gel with her knowing Andy for the "last 16 years"...

** Plus, Andy actually has chemistry with Christian. With Nate, I couldn't decide if she was his girlfriend, his roommate or his "beard" until the romantic relationship was spelled out.

*** Also, don't you just LOVE Nate's "since you are quitting this job, we should celebrate." And no, it's definitely not in a "you had a rough day, let me take you mind of off all that cr*p and offer you a nice evening at home." You can heard the smug satisfaction in his voice. There is not a single moment in this movie when he is supportive, demonstrating affection by small gestures, or you know, even kissing and hugging her.

*** Also, don't you just LOVE Nate's "since you quitting this job, we should celebrate." And no, it's definitely not in a "you had a rough day, let me take you mind of off all that cr*p and offer you a nice evening at home." You can heard the smug satisfaction in his voice. There is not a single moment in this movie when he is supportive, demonstrating affection by small gestures, or you know, even kissing and hugging her.

**** Similarly, Nate says that "that job wasn't forced on [Andy]", and as such, she shouldn't use it as her go-to excuse... Why, yes, when you are just out of college, you kind of have to take whatever you can get, within reason. As they say, beggars can't be choosers. Andy needs both the money and the credentials. Even if fashion isn't her preferred topic, even if the pay is not god, and even considering she is doing very little actual writing, she is far better off in the long run working at Runway than waitressing. (Before anyone jumps down my throat: I have nothing against waitressing, it is just not Andy wants for her life.)

**** Similarly, Nate says that "that job wasn't forced on [Andy]", and as such, she shouldn't use it as her go-to excuse... Why, yes, when you don't have your pick of any job in your dream industry, you kind of have to take whatever you can get, within reason. As they say, beggars can't be choosers. Andy needs both the money and the credentials. Even if fashion isn't her preferred topic, even if the pay is not better, and even considering she is doing very little actually writing, she is far better off in the long run working at Runway than waitressing. (Before anyone jumps down my throat: I have nothing against waitressing, it is just not Andy wants for her life.)

*** Her friends are a much bigger issue in the book. In the book, Nate (whose name is Alex) is an saintlike, uber-patient inner-city elementary school teacher who goes out of his way to apologize for being late when one of his students ''slashes another student with a box cutter.'' Meanwhile, Lily is an alcoholic, slutty, self-destructive [=PhD=] candidate in Russian literature, who Andy needs to take care of on a daily basis. The whole subplot about [[spoiler:Miranda screwing Nigel out of a job and Andy screwing Emily out of Paris]] isn't there- instead, the reasons Andy is "supposed" to stay home are that her sister was having a baby and [[spoiler:Lily winds up in the hospital in a coma after a drunk-driving accident]]. So the crucial nature of her loyalty is somewhat less ambiguous in the novel.

** This also makes her throwing Nigel under the bus to keep her job that much more of a dick move and her telling Andy that they are NotSodifferent because of the Emily thing a transparent attempt at justifying her own actions.

** Except, you know, the borderline sexual harrasment and inability to understand "no".

** Ah, but he knows this! You see, he makes port wine reductions all day! He's not exactly in the Peace Corps! He wouldn't care if she was a poledancer as long as she did it with a little integrity! You have to appreciate those lines, because that's where the movie pretty much tells you that it measures "integrity" by the sole criterion of not growing away from your social circle ''for any reason'', and that what you decide to do for a living doesn't even enter into it.
*** Not to mention that, at the end of the movie, he moves to Boston to become a sous-chef. Apparently, embracing new horizons (while still appreciating old ones) to further your carreer is a big no-no, but physically distancing yourself from your friends is A-OK.

*** This issue is that Andy completely changes who she is in order to fit in at Runway and becomes a fashionista b**ch and mini-Miranda. Yes, she wants to be a journalist and yes working at Runway is a prestige job, but you should never do a complete 180 turn for a job. It seems like at the end she's at the sort of liberal muckracking paper which fits her personality and is a place where she would actually get to write something (i.e. city council meetings and the police blotter) rather than just picking up dry cleaning and answering phones.

** To my mind, it's not even that she's not dressed fashionably, not even that she's not dressed professionally, but she's not even dressed like a normal responsible adult. I get not being interested in fashion, but practically going out of your way to look like a 6 year-old with an over-protective mother? Not to mention, as an office job, any adult would want to look somewhat nice; but as a job facing clients and important business partners? Hell, yes, you need to look good, that's a job requirement! Heck, the way she dressed for her job interview, se would have been dismissed for any position at any magazine for not looking interested in the job! (And that's not even mentioning how she didn't do her "homework" and didn't even look up the name of her potential boss...)

*** She didn't exactly steps over Emily. Despite Miranda's NotSoDifferent speech at the end, Miranda losing her job at Runway is by no means the end of her career; so, how is that supposed to parallel the Emily/Andy situation? Andy can barely pay rent as it is, she can't afford to lose her job. Worse, Miranda does threaten, covertly but still very clearly, to make it extremely difficult for Andy to ever work again in journalism. Considering the fashion guru's clout, this threat sounds very doable!
**** Similarly, Nate says that "that job wasn't forced on [Andy]", and as such, she shouldn't use it as her go-to excuse... Why, yes, when you don't have your pick of any job in your dream industry, you kind of have to take whatever you can get, within reason. As they say, beggars can't be choosers. Andy needs both the money and the credentials. Even if fashion isn't her preferred topic, even if the pay is not better, and even considering she is doing very little actually writing, she is far better off in the long run working at Runway than waitressing. (before anyone jumps down my throat: I have nothing against waitressing, it is just not Andy wants for her life.)

** This also makes her throwing Nigel under the bus to keep her job that much more of a dick move.
* Considering the above, that Miranda losing her job at Runway is by no means the end of her career, how is that supposed to parallel the Emily/Andy situation? Andy can barely pay rent as it is, she can't afford to lose her job. Worse, Miranda does threaten, covertly but still very clearly, to make it extremely difficult for Andy to ever work again in journalism. Considering the fashion guru's clout, this threat sounds very doable! Now, I get that Miranda was transparently trying to manipulate Andy into thinking that they're NotSoDifferent, but Andy didn't see through it? She is supposed to be an intelligent girl, isn't she?

* Why did Miranda go through so many divorces? Wouldn't men interested in her find out about her difficult personality and realize how time consume her job is *before* they get married, *especially* since she is a celebrity whose personality is being sharply critized by the press? That said, doesn't her social circle mostly consist of people with jobs that are just as time consuming, stressful and exhausting and who should have just as little time for their lover/spouse as her and therefore should show understanding for the pressure a career like Miranda's puts on her? One should assume her husbands knew what they were getting into. (Maybe her first husband has an excuse, since she might have married him before her career took off, but the one in the movie definitely hasn't been with her that long)