"Its not a happy woman, its an accomplished woman" said Meryl Streep when she was asked about playing the cunning and viscous Miranda Priestly.
The Devil in "The Devil Wears Prada" is Miranda. She's the life and soul of Runway Magazine and a living legend of the fashion industry. That, however, comes with an inflated estimation of ones importance and a demanding personality that no one wants in their boss.
The film's characters comment on a lot of themes but the one that is central to the movie is about accomplished women. Miranda's depiction as the devil and as an unreasonable and cruel individual cements some of the messages that we see an abundance of in media products. It shows not only Miranda but also other successful women as vile and largely incapable of sustaining important relationships like marriage and parenthood.
In a movie that is very proactive about showing women at the top of the corporate ladder, on the surface of it, it seems to be making certain spaces accessible for women. However, the cost at which it's doing it is questionable.
This blog reminds me of the main scene of Punjab Nahi Jaongi by Khalil ur Rehman Qamar and how the whole scene 'Help Me Durdana' earned so much fame. Basically it showed that when the wife started working on the dairy farm, the husband played by Humayon Saeed got very lonely. It specifically showed a scene where the rainy weather got Humayon Saeed 'in the mood' but his wife was at work and he was very upset so he goes to his cousin and hugs her and asks her to put his heart back together!! This emphasises your point that a woman alway has to compromise her marriage in order to work. She has to choose either of the two…
What a great insight!
Thanks for bringing up such an important trope in contemporary media. I've seen it in a couple other movies as well where the successful woman struggles with relationships. Most notably I remember in The Proposal, where a successful woman needed to marry a man (obviously) in order to keep her job or whatever. What really upsets me is this continuous pattern in Hollywood where a successful woman is so emotionless, assertive and sometimes frightening. I don't like that depiction at all.
In my own life, my partner is way more competent, successful and accomplished than me, but also she is extremely capable of nurturing relationships as well. I think this depiction is so harmful because it…
Hi id like to say that while I was watching the movie and I even read the book both times I felt the title of devil was figurative ….. while we see her strict perfectionist Etc I wouldn’t say she was a devil … like Whatever qualities she possesses cannot be indicated as evil and the movie itself was pretty lighthearted
Thank you for sharing this blog. I would like to partially agree with your point where you talk about how successful or accomplished women can not secure a good marriage or become good parents. But my question is, why is this not the case for a man? Why don't we have the exact expectations from them? I also know that we live in an orthodox world and still have an old school thinking that a woman should be responsible for house chores. But still, today, a lot of women are managing things simultaneously. The point is that it's not only a woman's responsibility but also a man's responsibility, and we need to acknowledge this as soon as possible.
Hey!
Thanks for sharing this blog. You have very well raised a point where you talk about how successful or accomplished women can not secure a good marriage or become good parents. There are too many questions that are coming to my mind. If a woman is married and successful, people have this fear that the marriage will always be on the verge of ending. This is because they believe that successful women can’t keep a home. It’s either their career or their family but they can’t have both, but that’s not the truth. We have successful women who are both successful in their marriages and their careers.
Why don’t we say the same thing when a man is successful?…