The Devil Wears Prada

Not only is "The Devil Wears Prada" one of my favorite movies of all time, and I could watch it a billion times and never get bored, and I can quote it, easily, and speak the lines along with the actors, it is what I watched last night at Marcelo's house. That's partly why I didn't post--I came straight from FIT and went to his house, so I couldn't blog because I didn't have my computer.


I've seen this movie at least 12 times, but I never connected to it as much as I did last night. I guess it might be because I'm finally doing real things towards my dream, like going to an arts school and learning how to sew and make patterns, but there were a few monologues in there that made me realize, "This is why I want to be a fashion designer. This is exactly it." I can never explain it well myself, because it really does sound like a shallow career choice for some people.


Here are two video clips from the movie that caused me to have small epiphanies.
The first one is Meryl Streep (Miranda Priestley)'s monologue about Anne Hathaway (Andy)'s cerulean blue sweater, during the run through. It's before Andy's transformation.





[This is what Meryl Streep says in her monologue; the other stuff isn't as important. This is also here in case you don't want to watch the video, which you should because her delivery is superb, and the effect is a lot stronger, at least for me.]


"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."


And this one was done by Nigel (played by Stanley Tucci), when Andy comes to him complaining about Miranda. 


A Shining Beacon of Hope Scene from The Devil Wears Prada Movie (2006) | MOVIECLIPS


Sorry I couldn't get the actual video; Hulu was able to give me the code, but this website couldn't. Remember, I don't know what I'm doing. 


Here is what Nigel said, though the video shows the rest of the conversation as well. It gives a little bit of context, so you should watch it. The delivery is also excellent in this clip. 


"Andy, be serious. You are not trying. You are whining. What is it that you want me to say to you, huh? Do you want me to say, "Poor you. Miranda's picking on you. Poor you. Poor Andy"? Hmm? Wake up, six. She's just doing her job. Don't you know that you are working at the place that published some of the greatest artists of the century? Halston, Lagerfeld, de la Renta. And what they did, what they created was greater than art because you live your life in it. Well, not you, obviously, but some people. You think this is just a magazine, hmm? This is not just a magazine. This is a shining beacon of hope for... oh, I don't know... let's say a young boy growing up in Rhode Island with six brothers pretending to go to soccer practice when he was really going to sewing class and reading Runway under the covers at night with a flashlight. You have no idea how many legends have walked these halls. And what's worse, you don't care. Because this place, where so many people would die to work you only deign to work. And you want to know why she doesn't kiss you on the forehead and give you a gold star on your homework at the end of the day. Wake up, sweetheart."


Another thing that was great about watching it this time is that I recognized all of the names that I never knew before. Names like Cavalli (Roberto Cavalli), Manolo Blahnik, Lagerfeld. Those are just a few. 


I have to go watch those clips again.