Saturday, July 15, 2006
When Meryl Streep appears on screen for a brief moment she is herself, we see her face, and we identify it. In the next blink of an eye she is gone and the Editor-in-Chief of "Runway," Miranda Priestly has arrived, precise in her movements, severe in her tone, and utterly intriguing in her mean manner. I watched unconsciously waiting for her to break character, to flash a smile or give some semblance of sympathy. That longing is directly linked to her character Miranda herself. She is all business, insatiably, cunning and cold; she is the mold from which any sadistic executive is born, the extreme example of a boss with a superiority complex. I guess it's not that I was waiting for Streep to break away from this character more so than it was my hope to see Miranda relax, go easy on her endearing assistant Andy (Anne Hathaway) and make us notice her as a person.
The hope for Andy is that, despite her smarts and over-qualifications for the position, she will prove to Mirada that she's dependable, consistent and trustworthy, enough so that she'll become at most a friend, at least a confidant. She introduces herself in the interview as "Andy," her real name is Andrea but her "friends call her Andy." For the first act of the movie Miranda calls her "Emily," the first assistant in command. Later, to the shock of Andy and dismay of Emily, Miranda summons her to her office with a cool chime, Andrea, and she's off on another thankless errand. Now that she's been acknowledged Miranda must like her. She smiles more, she looks happy picking up Starbucks for a living. Of course, it never hurts when she gets to take home a $1900 Marc Jacobs purse, leftovers from Miranda. But she laid out the parameters of their Executive-Assistant relationship in her introduction, her "friends" call her Andy, a title Miranda avoids like the "lumpy" blue sweater Andy wears to her first day of work.
Outside of Streep's performance the best thing about The Devil Wears Prada is the honest way it portrays this high-fashion industry without the slightest condescension. It shows it for what it is, a money-making, trend-setting business that effects everyone living in modern society. For better or worst, the garments Miranda and her staff choose and promote as the materials that epitomize the times, truly are works of art. The ruthless and materialistic personalities at "Runway" magazine are the villains, and are not mistaken for the fancy duds that anyone would be proud to model, if only they had the credit limit to acquire them. As an insider of this industry Andy sacrifices her character and career aspirations for a sleek Chanel outfit, and it's easy to. The fashion itself is not the culprit of her compromise, but a symbol of it, and one that is easily confused with her crude coworkers who live solely for it.
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