Ever since I joined LJ and the forerunner to
mrs_robinsons, I read about
The Devil Wears Prada. I watched it on TV tonight, with my mom.
It was interesting, actually. (And Meryl Streep is a great, fascinating actress.) Yes, I guess I was biased... But. When I had watched it for a while, I began to see that I wasn't reacting the way that it felt like I "should" be reacting... We have a "normal", "ordinary" girl (much like myself and my reaction to that French
Atmosphères magazine...) who gets this "crazy" job. In the beginning, I felt like it was absolutely absurd. But they were honest all the time. The minute she stepped into that office, they made it very clear that these are the rules, and if you don't follow them, you're out. And she did her best to handle that new situation. But what did her friends do? They made fun of her, they were even mean to her... they were not very supportive, but I felt that I was probably supposed to think that her friends were right. Obviously, as the movie ended with her going back to her old life. Yes, she got a better job - with Miranda's help. But for a minute there, the ending did surprise me a little - that she walked away like that. Especially after her dinner conversation with the writer guy, when she made it clear that she did not think of Miranda as "the devil" (to which he replied that she had "crossed over to the dark side" and "that's sexy"....). But then I realized that the ending was inevitable and built up through the entire movie. What if she had stayed? Of course, she wanted to become a journalist, but... she could have started writing for
Runway, eventually...
Well, I don't know. I still don't care a bit about fashion and I wouldn't want that job myself, I'm just saying that the secret of that magazine's success probably is Miranda's way of running it, and what's wrong with that? She's more than 100% dedicated to her work, and that makes her "the devil"? (The character can be compared to Fubuki Mori in
Stupeur et tremblements, who is actually even more devilish, and yet not completely...) I mean, she isn't the sweetest person, of course, but, you know..... And I think that Miranda did like her. And yes, my reaction is predictable, yes...
I got several very encouraging comments on my latest piece of writing. One person said "This was a great mix of peaceful, weird (not in a bad way) and surreal"... that made me happy!