Life Imitates Art, Movies Imitate Life
Danna M. Rey
American Military University
LIFE IMITATES ART, MOVIES IMITATE LIFE
Imagine a world where clothes were non-existent, and it did not matter if your outfit was the current flair, or if your shoes were the latest style. Our culture would halfway cease to exist. The western culture puts so much emphasis on fashion, our lives begin to move and mold themselves around it. Fashion is like art on the body, and making a masterpiece out of what you wear. “From the materials employed in clothing manufacture to the process by which our garments are made to the social values that dictate what we "should" look like, fashion has surrounded us and consumed us for generations.” (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008) A perfect example of popular culture can be revealed in American Fashion. This is impeccably displayed in the motion picture, based on the novel written by Lauren Weisberger, produced by Wendy Finerman, The Devil Wears Prada.
The basic plot of the movie and novel is about a plain jane, just out of college, smart, not fashion savvy, woman (Andrea Sachs) who applies for a job as junior assistant to the editor-in-chief (Miranda Priestly), at a fashion icon magazine “Runway”, in New York and gets it. She is told repeatedly "a million girls would die for [her] job" (Finerman, 2006) and if she lasts a year, she will be able to get a job at any magazine.
Andrea, in her own way is a counterculture of the people at Runway magazine in the movie. She deviates from the norm of the fashion and mainstream subculture. She tolerates their demanding ways, and demeaning comments of her diet and style, until she breaks and gives in and asks for help. She is given a makeover, by the art director, Nigel, and her new style and job begin to strain her relationship with her boyfriend and her friends. The few scenes that depict her break down and her makeover, is when people begin to notice her, and treat her better once she is wearing the latest fashion. Her hair was cut and styled, she started to watch what she ate, and shaped herself into a fashionista. She began to adapt to their standards, and dressing. She sticks with the job and increasingly spends more time working, whilst climbing the career ladder. This is set perfectly with our commercial culture and the ideology of humans and how our world works. Andrea was a non-conformist in the beginning and frowned upon because she did not wear the latest fall fashion. Once she started to wear the clothes, and shoes, she became well liked. She ultimately conformed to the fashion world. While at a benefit, Andrea ends up being Miranda’s saving grace and is offered to take the other assistants (Emily) spot to Paris. Andrea refused at first, in fear of hurting Emily’s feelings, and is forced to give in because if she does not go, Miranda will terminate her.
Before leaving for Paris she takes a break from the relationship with her boyfriend. During her trip to Paris, she has relations with another writer she had met through her work and finds out about a plot to ruin her editor-in-chief. She tries to warn her and ends up finding out Miranda knew the whole time. Miranda ends up fixing her situation by double-crossing her art director, Nigel, and giving a job promised to him to someone else to save her job. Andrea is floored and cannot believe Miranda would do that to her friend. Miranda points out to Andrea that she already did, she did it to Emily. Right there Andrea quits, and leaves it all behind.
Once Andrea returned to New York, she reunites with her boyfriend. In the conclusion, she is at a job interview when she is told her previous employer stated “she was by far her biggest disappointment, but that he would be an idiot not to hire her.” (Finerman, 2006)
Throughout the entire movie Andrea is immersed in the fashion world. In the beginning of the movie there is a scene where the art director, Nigel, gives Andrea a pair of black, sling back stilettos. She at first refuses and says “I don’t think I need these. Miranda hired me, she knows what I look like.” He responds “Do you?” (Finerman, 2006) This one scene indicates a perfect example of ideology. Nigel is setting the social order, because it is the norm of which the people in their occupation wear. I believe it is best stated by Shmoop University, “From our underwear to our Levi's to our sneakers, what we wear has, for centuries, spoken volumes about who we are, what we do, and what we want. Whether Americans have dressed to make a political statement, to assert their class status, or simply to be irreverent, every style has carried a certain social meaning.” (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008)
The entire movie is immersed in popular culture and culturalism. In every scene there is examples of mass culture, commercial culture. It can even be said that ethical egoism is also expressed in the film. Ethical egoism, in short, is the view that perhaps not all persons seek their own self-interest but all should do so (Lee Archie and John G Archie, 2003). This is best represented when Miranda betrays Nigel in the end, in order to retain her job. She may not have had ill intentions and most likely did not want to make that decision, but in the end for her own self-interest, she made someone else sacrifice for her.
The film reflects attitudes of our American Society. It depicts how simple a dress can make and transform a woman. Another movie and television series that is popular and uses fashion to influence, is “Sex in the City.” The show would emphasize certain brands, names, and styles and it caused a massive explosion of commercial paraphernalia. It clearly articulates how fashion matters in our day to day lives. Some people would like to disagree, but we even base our terms and language on fashion. “Terms like "white collar" and "blue collar" connote not just a line of work but a person's class status, and remind us that we tend to make assumptions about a person's income, line of work, and social position based on the way he or she dresses.” (Shmoop Editorial Team 2008) Regardless of your gender, sexuality, race, religion, pop culture exists in your life more than you know.
LIFE IMITATES ART, MOVIES IMITATE LIFE
Finerman, Wendy (Producer), Frankel, David (Director). 30 June, 2006). The Devil Wears Prada. [Motion Picture]. USA: 20th Century Fox.
Lee Archie and John G Archie, (2003) Introduction to Ethical Studies: An Open Source Reader. Retrieved from http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/ethicsbook/x6015.html
Shmoop Editorial Team. (November 11, 2008).History of American Fashion. Retrieved July 11, 2013, from http://www.shmoop.com/history-american-fashion/
Weisberger, Lauren (6 October, 2003). The Devil Wears Prada. USA: Broadway Books.
Case, Daniel. (Last modified 11 July 2013) The Devil Wears Prada. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Wears_Prada_(film)
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