Film analysis

Media Representations
‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is a film that is most famous for the representation of women in the film and also the representation of the fashion industry. There are different types of representations when talking about the representation of women in the film. We have women represented as strong and superior like as Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) however this is how she is seen from the outside where as she is actually quite weak and feeble as we later discover in the film. On the other hand we see the presentation of Andy (Anne Hathaway) who is seen to be helpless and vulnerable later adapting herself to the expectations that are attached to her showing the strength she has in the inside which she brings out later when she was provoked to do so.

The generalisation that could be made about the portrayal of women in the film is that no matter how much career orientated women become there will always be a point in life where they have to decide to pursue their career or their personal life. Miranda in the film makes comment that could be applied to women in general and make them think ‘people think that success just happens to you… it doesn’t… want this life (success)… the decision is yours’.The issue of the glass ceiling is raised in this film and this subject is presented accurately as in many cases this idea of the glass ceiling have been raised in real life situations for many women. Andy in the film can’t balance both her personal and professional life one always becomes an obstacle for another ‘my personal life is hanging by a threat’ Nigel her colleague replies to this comment by saying ‘that’s what happens when you start doing well at work…I mean all your life starts going up in smoke… It means that there is time for a promotion’ the meaning that is being picked out of the film is quite literally being said that when women have problems in their personal life it is due to them doing well at work. He also adds that when your life goes up in smoke it means that it is time for a promotion suggesting that you need to destroy your personal life in order to pursue your professional life.

There is also a representation of the fashion industry as being ruthless and mainly accepting women who are a size 0 however taking on Andy in Miranda’s runway was an exception because she was seen as a strong and ambitious women as Miranda says ‘I thought take a chance... hire the smart fat girl’. However she was looked down on because of her appearance as Nigel says ‘who’s that sad little person’ which shows that the fashion industry thinks that appearance is the primary factor in women.

Genre
The Genre which ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ belongs to is the Comedy and Drama genre, the conventions of this genre would be to provide momentary escape from day to day life and this film tends to do that and they usually end with a happy ending which this film does as she goes with her boyfriend although she has sacrificed her career to be with her boyfriend. The character of Andy is generically determined she may not be there to give the film a comic relief but she may be seen as the character that does that by her personality but before she changes her appearance. Miranda Priestley is a character which the audience can laugh at because of the sarcastic comments she implies. For example there is a really bad storm and her fight home is cancelled leading to no flights flying out and expects to get home no matter what happens she also calls the heavy storms ‘drizzling’.

Media Values and Ideology
The main values that are presented in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ are that personal life is valued the most. When thinking about the values presented of the fashion industry in the film then all that is important is being a size 0 and having to be wearing the latest clothes.

Patriarchal ideology is being submitted in the film although the film portrays a strong woman fulfilling her dreams and the end she has to give up her career in order to be with her boyfriend, this shows the victory of the man which means it is the victory of patriarchy.

Positive Feminist ideology is another form which is used in the film this is shown when Andy has got a job in the most famous fashion magazine whilst her boyfriend is working as a chef at a restaurant showing the different job status with Andy having a better job.

Heterosexual ideology is conveyed in the film as the film only include opposite gender couple romancing and making love.

Media Audiences
The primary target audience for the film is young women who are 20-30 years old who are career orientated because they can associate themselves and see themselves in Andy’s situation with their busy lives. The secondary target audience for the film would be a much younger audience aged 12-19 years who watch the film to gain escapism and be inspired to pursue a life like Andy’s.

Furthermore the film is generally aimed at women because the main focus of the film is on Andy as she is vulnerable to situations that only women can relate to because many women experience similar restrictions in work life which enables the audience to personally identify with the protagonist.

Men would possibly also watch the film and most of them who have a patriarchal view would be pleased to see that women are still prioritising their personal lives over their profession, people who like to view things in this view would be seen as traditionalists who want things to stay the same and don’t want women to come up. Men with a patriarchal perspective would see women who want to give women more importance and opportunities as rebels who wish to re-make the world in their image when they are innovators who wish to make their mark.