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Communication in The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) was loosely based off of Lauren Weisberger’s book, written in 2003. The movie is centered around the very harsh world of fashion and one girl’s struggle to fit into her new work place, as the second assistant to the ice-queen editor in chief of Runway Magazine, Miranda Priestly, played as Meryl Streep. Andrea Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, moved to New York City to find a job as a journalist after graduating from Northwestern University. After many struggles to find jobs, her last hope is working at Runway Magazine, which is the most influential publication in the multi-billion dollar fashion world, a world that Andrea obviously knows nothing about. The name of the movie, The Devil Wears Prada, is very obvious by the character played by Meryl Streep, as the Editor in Chief of Runway Magazine.  Being the most influential person in the fashion industry, Miranda Priestly is a very harsh and brutally honest character that is always striving for the best of the best. The relationships between the characters in the movie evolve heavily as the movie progresses as Andrea must learn to make her new assistant job her number one priority, and begins to fit in into the world of fashion, trying desperately to please her new boss while unintentionally leaving behind her former life and her former self. Within The Devil Wears Prada, nonverbal communication and interpersonal communication are very apparent and easily convey messages that the characters want to get across to the audience.

Nonverbal communication conveys messages through physical expressions such as arms and hand gestures, a smile or a frown, or almost anything more that a person’s body can do to express a certain emotion or feeling (Exploring Nonverbal Communication). Interpersonal Communication and Relationships describes communication between more than just one person, which would be Intrapersonal Communication. The Devil Wears Prada is based in the middle of New York City, and while working at a Publication’s office, interpersonal communication is very important. With Interpersonal Communication comes the heavy reliance on technology and the way people communicate with each other. With the advancement of computers, the Internet, cell phones, and many other new technologies in the past decade, business can run more smoothly and can be more productive than ever before (Technology and Communication, J. Akey, April 2012). In the film, The Devil Wears Prada, the characters heavily rely on cell phones to communicate with each other which helps emphasize how hectic and busy working in New York City can really be.

Right in the beginning of the movie, interpersonal communication holds a huge role in the character development and that lasts throughout the entire film. When Andrea first walks into Runway Magazine’s office Emily, Miranda’s first assistant, begins interviewing Andrea and comes off as very snobbish, obviously judging Andrea’s appearance. The snobbish tone of Emily’s introduction gives the audience the sense that Emily views Andrea as incompetent, which is a large factor in interpersonal relationships (Adler, Rodman, Hutchinson 2012). Once Miranda Priestly arrives, nonverbal communication takes over. Miranda says very little to Andrea during the interview, however she relays messages perfectly through multiple hand gestures signaling to get out, eye rolls signaling more incompetence, and while Andrea is speaking Miranda is reading through the newspaper making it obvious that she isn’t interested in anything that Andrea has to offer (Adler, Rodman, Hutchinson 2012).  Also, throughout the film, the character of Miranda Priestly is very blunt and harsh however her tone of voice is very subtle and almost seductive. A great example of this is;

“This… stuff’? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select… I don’t know… that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean. And you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent… wasn’t it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, 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 the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff. ” (The Devil Wears Prada, 2006)

In the book, The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger, this subtle and seductive tone of Miranda’s was nonexistent and she merely came off as a heartless “bitch” (Weirsberger 2003). When Meryl Streep played as Miranda in the film, she added a soothing voice to the harshness that words in a book simply couldn’t describe which definitely affected viewer’s impression on what kind of person Miranda Priestly really was. Miranda evidentially ends up hiring Andrea for the second assistant position for unknown reasons until later in the film. From then on, Andrea strives to do the best that she can at her new job, and attempts to fulfill her new boss’s ridiculous standards while her personal life begins to hang by a thread. Andrea’s dying need to please Miranda heavily reflects the Social Exchange Theory in Interpersonal Relationships (Adler, Rodman, Hutchinson 2012).  Andrea is desperately trying to become a successful journalist and she knows that if she can impress someone like Miranda Priestly then she will get started on the path she needs to become a success. About half way through the film Andrea realizes that in order to impress Miranda, she needs to look the part as a Runway Magazine employee. She goes through a great length getting new designer clothing and changes her appearance. This can be closely tied with Cultural Messages and the lengths that one person can go through to please people through these Cultural Messages (J. Akey, Communication and Self, March 2012).

Patience is not something that comes easily to the characters in The Devil Wears Prada as seen by the constant running around and snide remarks when someone is late or unprepared. The usage of technology such as cell phones really emphasizes that when things need to get done, they really need to get done. No matter where Andrea is, her cell phone always goes off with a new task for her to do.

Because Andrea was so involved in her work and trying to impress her new boss and move up in the world as a journalist, her communication with her long –time boyfriend and their group of friends started to become very minimal. In one scene, while she was having dinner with her group of friends Andrea got an important call from Miranda, and had to ditch her friends. Interpersonal Communication can be very good, but at the same time it can have negative effects. In The Devil Wears Prada, Andrea snapped on her friends in one scene, and became very rude. By the end of the film, Andrea realized that she basically traded her old life in order to become a success in the world in which she was unfamiliar with at first.

The Devil Wears Prada uses many different forms of communication to convey messages between characters, and they certainly help the viewers understand the harsh world of fashion and what it’s like to work at a fashion magazine. Through nonverbal communication, Interpersonal Communication, and newly developed technologies, the film was really brought to life. The ability of actors to bring to the story more forms of communication than the book could ever produce really what drew me to love this film. Meryl Streep’s seduction and Anne Hathaway’s desperate appearance bring so much to the film that many people may often overlook, however I hope this paper and explanation of the detail in The Devil Wears Prada brings more attention to key factors that make a film very successful. Throughout the film Andrea has evolved by forming into what she thought was expected of her by means of the Social Exchange Theory, and communication from her friends, coworkers, and more importantly from Miranda Priestly has definitely heavily influenced this dramatic change in her life.

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For my communications class we need to do a 6-7 page film analysis paper on the communication and relationship between two people. I’m doing Miranda and Andy.

Guys…I’m getting credit for watching the Devil Wears Prada.

It’s like I’ve been preparing for this my whole life.

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