Monday, May 21, 2007
The Devil Wears Prada
I’m having a problem here. I watched The Devil Wears Prada this weekend. No, I didn’t lose a bet. I was misinformed. For some odd reason, Howard Stern thought this was a good movie, but it turns out that it’s a chick flick. And I was left completely bewildered as to what exactly happened in the movie and what the fucking point of it was.
In case you haven’t seen the movie, allow me to ruin it for you. (And by “ruin,” I mean “make better” because now you won’t have to watch it.) There’s this girl, Anne Hathaway, who has no sense of fashion. She’s a great writer and lands a job as an assistant to the CEO of a fashion magazine. (Wasn’t this the basic premise of Veronica’s Closet and about 10 other failed NBC sitcoms that ran between Friends and Seinfeld?)
The CEO, played by Meryl Streep, is quite a bitch. She hates everyone. She’s kind of like Mikey eating Life cereal. Turns out that Anne Hathaway is Life cereal. And, no, I’m not saying that because I think Anne Hathaway is a tasty dish. Cuz that analogy makes no sense. Who eats cereal in a dish? I’d have to call her Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity, or something like that. And that makes even LESS sense. So let’s just move on.
So here’s how the movie progresses over a painful 110 minutes. Anne Hathaway (I find it impossible to address her with just her first or last name) is ugly, overweight (a size 6!) and dressed like every girl I knew in college. But she’s smart and a hard worker. So, she loses weight and gains some fashion sense. She goes out of her way to impress her boss. She gains her confidence and shows that she can do her job. Then she quits because she doesn’t want to lose her soul (figuratively speaking). This results in her being a big disappointment for Meryl Streep. But wouldn’t you know it? Meryl Streep is also very impressed with her. End of movie.
Can someone, anyone, please explain to me what the hell happened? I’m having a hard time figuring it out. From what I understand, its message is that conformity is good. If you stick out, change. Clothes don’t match what everyone else wears? Then get some new ones. Everyone else is deathly thin (size 2 or 4)? Lose weight. The message is that if you look like everyone else, nobody will notice how bad you are at your job.
But wait! Anne Hathaway actually becomes good at her job. And so maybe the message is that if you try your hardest (or maybe even harder!), you can accomplish anything. Every woman knows what’s like to not have a boss believe in you because you have poor fashion sense (can I get an “amen” from my sistas?). But if you just try hard enough, you can change your fashion sense AND get your boss to like you.
But wait! If you try too hard, you might sacrifice your personal life. But that’s okay. Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend broke up with her, which they completely glossed over. Well, that’s because he wasn’t being supportive of her career. Yeah! This is a woman on a mission. She’s going to get to the top, no matter what.
But wait! She had to tell her co-worker that she couldn’t go to Paris because she isn’t doing a good job. And Meryl Streep tells her that that’s what corporate life is like. So Anne Hathaway quits and saves her soul. So then the message must be that if you don’t agree with your boss about your job, you should quit. Quitting is good. It equals empowerment.
So then the message is that you need to conform. And you need to sacrifice your personal life to get ahead. But if you feel like you’re selling your soul, you need to quit. And that’ll help you get your dream job. Personally, I prefer the straightforward messages found in classic movies like Commando. Messages like “You kidnapped my daughter, now I’m going to kill everyone” are much easier for my simple brain.
In case you haven’t seen the movie, allow me to ruin it for you. (And by “ruin,” I mean “make better” because now you won’t have to watch it.) There’s this girl, Anne Hathaway, who has no sense of fashion. She’s a great writer and lands a job as an assistant to the CEO of a fashion magazine. (Wasn’t this the basic premise of Veronica’s Closet and about 10 other failed NBC sitcoms that ran between Friends and Seinfeld?)
The CEO, played by Meryl Streep, is quite a bitch. She hates everyone. She’s kind of like Mikey eating Life cereal. Turns out that Anne Hathaway is Life cereal. And, no, I’m not saying that because I think Anne Hathaway is a tasty dish. Cuz that analogy makes no sense. Who eats cereal in a dish? I’d have to call her Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity, or something like that. And that makes even LESS sense. So let’s just move on.
So here’s how the movie progresses over a painful 110 minutes. Anne Hathaway (I find it impossible to address her with just her first or last name) is ugly, overweight (a size 6!) and dressed like every girl I knew in college. But she’s smart and a hard worker. So, she loses weight and gains some fashion sense. She goes out of her way to impress her boss. She gains her confidence and shows that she can do her job. Then she quits because she doesn’t want to lose her soul (figuratively speaking). This results in her being a big disappointment for Meryl Streep. But wouldn’t you know it? Meryl Streep is also very impressed with her. End of movie.
Can someone, anyone, please explain to me what the hell happened? I’m having a hard time figuring it out. From what I understand, its message is that conformity is good. If you stick out, change. Clothes don’t match what everyone else wears? Then get some new ones. Everyone else is deathly thin (size 2 or 4)? Lose weight. The message is that if you look like everyone else, nobody will notice how bad you are at your job.
But wait! Anne Hathaway actually becomes good at her job. And so maybe the message is that if you try your hardest (or maybe even harder!), you can accomplish anything. Every woman knows what’s like to not have a boss believe in you because you have poor fashion sense (can I get an “amen” from my sistas?). But if you just try hard enough, you can change your fashion sense AND get your boss to like you.
But wait! If you try too hard, you might sacrifice your personal life. But that’s okay. Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend broke up with her, which they completely glossed over. Well, that’s because he wasn’t being supportive of her career. Yeah! This is a woman on a mission. She’s going to get to the top, no matter what.
But wait! She had to tell her co-worker that she couldn’t go to Paris because she isn’t doing a good job. And Meryl Streep tells her that that’s what corporate life is like. So Anne Hathaway quits and saves her soul. So then the message must be that if you don’t agree with your boss about your job, you should quit. Quitting is good. It equals empowerment.
So then the message is that you need to conform. And you need to sacrifice your personal life to get ahead. But if you feel like you’re selling your soul, you need to quit. And that’ll help you get your dream job. Personally, I prefer the straightforward messages found in classic movies like Commando. Messages like “You kidnapped my daughter, now I’m going to kill everyone” are much easier for my simple brain.
