In a globalized world the artistic productions can be a way of representing the real life. Douglas Kellner, in Media Culture, states that:
“A media culture has emerged in which images, sounds, and spectacles help produce
the fabric of everyday life, dominating leisure time, shaping political views and social behavior, and providing the materials out of which people forge their very identities”. (KELNNER, 1995)
So, by analyzing film productions, it is possible to discuss many aspects of the different societies from different epochs and it can be an important resource of teaching not only as a differential for the classes, but also as a way of introduce the students to cultural aspects represented by them.
In order to stimulate the use of this kind of media as a pedagogic tool, I chose “The Devil Wears Prada”, a 2006 comedy-drama film that was inspired in the novel with same title of Lauren Weisberger launched in 2003, to analyze some society representations showed by it.
2.0 THE PLOT OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
As it was said The Devil wears Prada is a novel written in 2003 by Lauren Weisberger that became a movie in 2006, according to information from Wikipedia. It talks about the challenges of a newly formed journalist, Andrea Sachs, who wishes to work in The New Yorker, a well conceptualized journal, where she dreams to work since was student of journalism. But as it real life, despite she is well prepared to the job, this would not be as easy as she thought.
She is selected by human resources of Elias Clarke Group to work as second assistant of Miranda Priestly, who is the powerful editor-in-chief of Runway, the most important fashion magazine of New York, where the story takes place.
Andrea decides to accept the job that “a million of girls would kill for” as a strategy to get the job in which she is really interested in - be a journalist of The New Yorker - because the people say that if she works to Miranda Priestly for one year, she will get any job she wants.
The problems begin when she realizes that to work to Miranda Priestly is really very difficult.
First, Andrea (Andy) was supposed to do activities that are totally absurd as: pick Miranda’s dog up at veterinary, look for new baby sitters, housekeepers, send her dirty clothes to the laundry, and other jobs that make Andrea feels as she was in the hell. Second, Miranda calls Andrea all time, asking her impossible things, as to get the new Harry Potter novel, which was not in the bookstores yet or to buy a dresser which she had seen in an antiquarian without the possibility to ask her: Which dresser? Which Antiquarian?
Things like that change Andrea’s life completely. She has to dedicate herself to the job 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and consequently the relationship with her family, boyfriend and best friend is affected.
Not only Andrea’s relationships change, but also her appearance. She suffers much pressure from her workmates in order to dress herself in a way that represents the Runway magazine, once she works at this fashion magazine. In the beginning she tries to keep her own style, but after three months, she decides to accept the Jeff’s help. Jeff is the supervisor of the “closet” of Runway, and fit herself in with the fashionable hallways of the Runway offices, thinking that this change would be a way of keep her job and to get a little respect from Miranda.
The novel continues describing all Andrea’s misadventures until the climax that occurs during a travel for Paris. In really who will travel to Paris would be Emily, the senior Miranda’s assistant, but because a mononucleosis she could not go and Andrea had to substitute her.
During the travel to Paris and near to reach her goal to work for one year in Runway, she receives the news that her best friend, Lilly, had an accident and she has to decide between her best friend and her job. At the beginning she has difficult in take a decision, but one day after, she notices that she is living a life in which she does not believe, in order to get that she really wanted and also, that the cost for reach her goals was being to abandon many of her convictions, friends and family. So she decides to go back to New York and as an answer to Miranda’s question about if she knew the consequences of her decision, Andrea told Miranda to fuck herself and goes to New York to see her best friend at the hospital.
3.0 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NOVEL AND THE FILM
In my opinion, the film adaptation keeps the principal ideas from the novel. There were some changes, as it occurs in all adaptations, but they did not interfere in the final result.
There are some changes that it can be highlighted. First one is Andrea’s boyfriend name and profession. In the novel he is a teacher called Alex and in the film he works in a restaurant and his name is Nate. The second is where Andrea lives in the plot of the novel and the film. In the first one, she lives, initially, with her parents and after with her best friend and in the second one she lives with her boyfriend.
The characters’ personality also suffered changes. Emily for example, in the novel helps Andrea sometimes while in the film she does not do it. Also Andrea has a different attitude, especially with Miranda. In the novel she is totally unsatisfied with her job and demonstrates her position all time. She does not tolerate Miranda’s posture, otherwise, in the film sometimes she always complains Miranda’s attitude. Miranda’s personality also suffered a little change from the novel to the film. In the film, in some scenes she looks like less indifferent, as when she talks to Andrea about her career and in the last scene when she sees Andrea after her demission.
The biggest difference on the characters is demonstrated, in my opinion, in Lilly's personality. This character is totally different in the novel and in the film. In the first one she relates herself with many different men, drinks a lot and incentives Andrea to have a relationship with Christian without guilt because of Alex, but in the film she is a serious and frump person that disapproves Andrea’s interest in Christian.
There are differences also in the plot, in the begging of the novel Miranda is on vacation when Andrea starts to work for Runway and in the end Andrea and Alex are no long lovers.
The others differences are: the place where Andrea meets Christian, the situation that involves Harry Potter novel, the relationship between Andrea and her family that in the film is very reduced, the travel to Paris and the main of them, the end of the story. The author concludes the cycle of the story in the novel. Andrea breaks abruptly with Miranda and uses the fashionable clothes she had won to make money for using while she is unemployed. In the film, Andrea’s dismissal is almost an agreement and she gives her fashionable clothes to Emily as compensation because she had traveled to Paris in her place.
4.0 THEMES TO DISCUSS ON THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
The main theme discussed in the novel is the fashion world and by this theme it is possible to discuss others as: consumerism, stereotypes and income distribution. All these are current topics mainly related to teenagers and young people and are very useful for help teachers enrich their classes. It is not necessary to say that we are living in a consumerist world and that this consumerism affects potentially teenagers and young people. So, these are relevant themes for discussion and reflection that cannot be absent of classes. As a suggestion to contextualize these themes even more, in Brazil, specifically in Bahia, there is a song called, Barroquinha, sung by Saiddy Bamba Group, which is well known of many teenagers, and can be used as a kind of counterpoint for these themes.
Other important theme discussed in this film is the relation between women and job market. The film shows through the characters Miranda and Andrea the difficulties faced by women in conciliate a career of success and a happy personal and familiar life. Miranda is well succeeding in her career but does not have the same success in her relationships. In the film her husband breaks with her and the people keep a relation of appearance with her because she has power to, in a certain way, control their lives. In order to manage her power Miranda becomes a sarcastic, intolerant, arrogant and totally inflexible person. She does not allow herself demonstrate any trace of fragility or sensibility. This behavior can be interpreted as a strategy of survival, or competition, in a market that is mainly dominated by men and these Miranda’s characteristics are more common in them.
The character Andrea emphasizes the difficult task of deciding how far you are willing, or that could be put aside, to achieve new dreams. In the film, Andrea faces different stages before to be able to decide what is more important for her. In the beginning she accepts the job thinking that she would be able not be contaminated neither by the fashion world nor by the job itself, but in the course of time she is totally absorbed by her tasks in a way she did not have time for her family, friend, neither her boyfriend. Then, she realized that even if that job was the way for reach her real goal it was not more important than her family.
One of the big problems of the modern women is that in theory they won more rights, but in really, they have to prove many times they are as competent as the men. In addition the society expects that they continue being the mainly responsible for the house activities and children education.
The movie, as well as the novel, is a good material for reflection and discussion about the modern women role in a modern society.
4.0 CONCLUSION
As teachers we have the challenge of deal with students that are denominated
Z generation, and whose mainly characteristic is to be connected all time with media technologies. So, the use of media in the classes is mandatory in order to get the attention and interest of these students. In this challenge, artistic productions can be important resources to make difference and stimulating classes.
In Median and Culture, Kelnner says that:
“Media culture provides the materials to create identities whereby individuals insert themselves into contemporary techno-capitalist societies and which is producing a new form of global culture. (KELNER, 1995)
So, since we are living in a world that has been considered as a global village and in consequence, teenagers are impacted all time by many different cultural aspects from these cultures, by the use of many kinds of media, especially communication media, teachers cannot ignore the importance of being a potential stimulator and leader of the use of artistic media productions.
REFERENCES
KELLNER, Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics between the Modern and the Postmodern. London: Routledge. 1995.
WEISBERGER, Lauren. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. London. Mary Glasgow Publications. 2008
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