The True Villain in The Devil Wears Prada

Meryl Streep playing Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Growing up my mother, sister, and I would watch the renowned movie titled, The Devil Wears Prada. My adolescent self was mesmerized by the glamorous world of fashion. From when I first saw it to now I am still reciting the famous Cerulean monologue, and envision myself as the editor-in-chief of Vogue. "Everybody wants to be us," said the strong-willed boss Miranda Priestly, and boy was she right! The character played by Meryl Streep presented herself as a dominant, powerful, lavish boss; who would do anything to remain at the top of the food chain. Audiences influence a notion that Priestly was the villain of the narrative as a result of how she pushed her employees to the limit. Priestly's harsh words and supercilious actions overshadowed the true villain in the movie, Nate, Andrea's unsupportive boyfriend.

It is a known fact that in films we have a protagonist and an antagonist, or in other words the good guy versus the bad guy. The antagonist in every story is the opposing threat towards the good guy. They create obstacles and opposition which ultimately challenges the protagonist to overcome the obstacles and grow as a character. For instance, in the film, Miranda hired Andrea despite her transparent cluelessness in the world of fashion. By hiring her, this action can be seen as setting Andy up for failure. Priestly also creates obstacles to test Andy to truly see what she is capable of, when Andy reaches her low point as a result of her not meeting Miranda's expectations, Nigel (a confidant of Andy and Priestly) encourages her to do a 180 to come back even stronger. (Yes, this is where we get that iconic scene of Andy walking down the street in her new wardrobe. Are those the new Chanel boots?) Andy comes back even stronger and starts to excel at her job, catching Miranda off guard, but impressed. Although throughout the first and second act of the film Miranda throws obstacles at Andy, this fueled Andy into proving not only to Miranda that she can but to herself a well. Before Runway, Andy was an aspiring journalist who graduated from Northwestern University. Miranda chose her out of all of the other typical candidates to try something new (since she was smart and the outcast of the fashion world), but this also alludes that she found something in her. Despite the work breaking Andy down at first, she ultimately grows as a character. Andy who was once shy and awkward; now became driven, and force to be reckoned with. 

Now I cannot simply rule out the other argument of Andy's arc as a result of Miranda's actions. Andy was a humble writer who never wanted to change for her career, but she ultimately does in an effort to advance. We see the "good girl" grow into a "bad one" (some say she becomes very selfish and materialistic), but this journey taught Andy a lot about herself and her potential. Andy at the end of the film lands her dream job writing for The New Yorker, and maybe it wouldn't have happened if she didn't push herself at Runway. Without the journey, she wouldn't have gotten a recommendation from Miranda. Although Andy was changing, she enjoyed aspects of her career since it was a whole new world of opportunities that she overlooked. Sometimes you have to jump outside of your comfort zone to discover yourself and to grow. She may have picked up some bad traits that she despises in Miranda, but this taught her many lessons about molding herself into the best version of herself. At the end of the film, she knew the job wasn't for her when she discovered the negative traits she inherited which lead her to quit by tossing her phone into the fountain.

Anne Hathaway playing Andrea Sachs and Adrian Grenier playing Nate

A part of storytelling especially for film utilizes something known as the B-story. The B-story in this film revolves around the relationship between Andy and Nate. The first starts off with the two together living pretty normal lives when Andy gets this huge opportunity to assist an elite in the fashion and journalism industry, Nate becomes the true menace of the film. After watching the film a few months ago again (probably for the 100th time), Nate as a boyfriend to Andy raises so many red flags, he was a total jerk! Miranda pushes Andy towards reaching her fullest potential while Nate is in the corner feeding Andy negative comments. He was the one who opposed Andy's career at the magazine because she was changing, despite her starting to like the job. She wasn't the same Andy anymore, now of course she changes in good ways and bad ways, but he just never supported her even when she tried her best to be there for him. We see this behavior throughout the whole film. She learned and grew from that.

In the beginning, when Andy tells her friends about getting the job at the fashion magazine as an assistant to the EIC, he quickly utters his doubts and lack of faith in her. He simply states “Wait, you got a job at a fashion magazine? What was it, a phone interview?” Now yes this is a funny joke, but he shows quite a bit of his perspective of her. As Andy grows accustomed to her job we see many differences between the two. While Andy starts to embrace a materialistic route in addition to handing out unused products to her friends; Nate criticizes her industry by questioning the need for "so many purses." Andy's actions on the job itself counter acts as a foil to Nate and his ideologies. In various parts of the movie, Nate points out the cost of certain groceries, he's a chef by the way. By him doing this, it shows how he is on top of money, he views buying materialistic items as wants versus needs, he finds no value in them. Whereas these materials are apart of Andy's job, she needs to look the part, know the materials in order to fully emerge into the industry in order to grow.

Adrian Grenier playing Nate

Can we also just talk about how whiny Nate is? For Pete's sake, the girl should not have to drop everything she's doing or in other words her CAREER to sing happy birthday to you! Like I understand you wanted to spend the day with her/ have her acknowledge it, but she is a working woman who sometimes has to stay late for her job. He didn't have to make her feel bad for being passionate and involved about her job, she did at least get you a cupcake, bud! Don't even get me started about how he was manipulative. When Andy underwent her metamorphosis into someone who looks the part of working in the high fashion industry, he was intrigued by this new sense of confidence. He was in awe when he saw her leaned against the car wearing the sexy all-black outfit accompanied by the high leather boots. But towards the end of the film when they break up (and throughout various points in the movie), Nate claims that he liked the old clothes better; and also uses her new clothes/confidence against her. To put the cherry on top of this cake, he also doesn't even support her when she gets the opportunity to go to Paris. Now I know there are many factors that come into play with the Paris situation like how she took the opportunity away from Emily (the other assistant), but he shouldn't have made her feel bad about it but stating the obvious. He simply should have just been proud of her or at least happy for her. Even at the end of the movie he still criticizes her, come on Andy you could do better! This goes to show just how menacing the true villain was, Nate did not evolve when it came to supporting her.

When dissecting the true villain of the film, raises some concerns about how it emulates societal norms. Andy and Nate were fine until she started growing and gaining more confidence. You could say that towards the beginning of the film she was along his side; but as she grew he became the sidekick, he was living in her shadow. Does this allude to the idea that men feel threatened by powerful women? I mean look at how Miranda is painted as the villain in society for being strong, blunt, and a go-getter. She upholds the same quality as a powerful man in the workplace, but she is a woman, so she is seen as a b*tch. Could the same be said for how Nate feels? I mean why else does he constantly have to tear her down when she is presented with a huge opportunity that could open so many doors for her. Miranda's traits and actions coincide with how many men advance in society, but the connotations between the two genders are drastically different. Many character arcs for men portray them as the protagonist whereas Miranda is painted as the antagonist. Although Nate was the boyfriend tied to the b-story, his actions raise many red flags that have gone unnoticed because people focus on how harsh Miranda was. But if Miranda were replaced by a man would things have been different?

Miranda Priestly the powerful inspiring working woman who is portrayed as the "devil," in fact does not totally live up to that title. If it wasn't for the title of the film, many would have probably pointed this out upon the initial release in 2006. The title of the movie emulates preconceived notions that she is the true villain or antagonist whereas it was Nate all along. Miranda's although demanding methods of doing so, allowed Andy to discover what she is capable of. From gaining confidence to making new connections in the industry, Andy was evolving into a hard-working and driven person. While doing so Nate was always in the shadows feeding seeds of negativity and doubt to Andy. "The devil" supported Andy whereas the boyfriend, who buys $5 strawberries (also what is up with that?) kept trying to knock her down and prevent her growth. 

-Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this long rant that my friends are probably sick of me talking about. Please go watch the movie and comment down below if you agree or even what was your favorite outfit from that iconic montage?

Note from the writer to Nate: She should have gone with the Christian!

Sources:

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk
/entertainment/a12770393/nate-devil-wears-prada-worst/

buzzfeed.com/ehisosifo1/nate-the-worst-the-devil-wears-prada

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/06/the-devil-wears-prada-meryl-streep

https://hellogiggles.com/reviews-coverage/movies/devil-wears-prada-nate-sucks/