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The Devil Wears Prada (film)

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The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 film version of the book of the same name, starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. It tells the story of a young woman named Andrea "Andy" Sachs (Anne Hathaway). Her first job out of college is for a merciless fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). It is loosely based on the real editor for Vogue magazine, Anna Wintour (sometimes called "Nuclear Wintour" by her detractors); see The September Issue for a documentary about the real Wintour.

Tropes used in The Devil Wears Prada (film) include:

By all means, move at a glacial pace; you know how that thrills me.

  • Death Glare: Miranda.
  • Double Standards: After she warms up to Miranda, Andy points out that if Miranda were a man, people wouldn't care about her sadistic ways, only what a great job she does.
  • Enforced Method Acting: On the first day of shooting, Streep went up to a nervous Hathaway and told her, "I think you're perfect for the role and I'm so happy we're going to be working on this together. Keep this in mind, because this is the last nice thing you'll hear from me."
  • Friends Rent Control: Mostly averted. Andy and Nate are two recent college graduates and their apartment is only slightly nicer than what someone of their income level could realistically afford.
    • Andy's father is also helping her out with rent.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Hey, what's Harry Crane doing in 2006? Shouldn't he be like, 70?
  • High Turnover Rate: Andy's last two predecessors were fired after a couple of weeks.
  • Hollywood Pudgy: In-universe, as a pot-shot to the fashion industry in general. Size-six Andy is considered fat at work and has to lose weight. It's also implied at one point that Miranda has postponed a photo shoot with Gwyneth Paltrow until she's lost some weight. The Gwyneth mention was due to the fact that at the time, she'd just had one of her children.
  • Humble Pie: After being chewed out by her boss, Andy storms out of the office and goes down to Nigel to complain. Nigel answers with a thorough The Reason You Suck Speech, forcing Andrea to admit that she doesn't appreciate her position enough.
  • Informed Judaism: Andy as well as Miranda, who changed her name to not sound Jewish in the book. These aspects are not mentioned in the film though.
  • In with the In Crowd: Andy after she "drinks the kool-aid" and neglects her old friends.
  • Iron Lady: Miranda.
  • Les Yay/Foe Yay: Let's just say that what fandom the book/movie has centers around shipping Miranda/Andy. Also, the movie is crawling with subtext; Meryl Streep's performance was extremely seductive.
  • Lonely at the Top: Miranda Priestly.
  • Makeover Montage
  • Morning Routine: Shows Andy's morning routine, contrasted with other women's, to show how different she is.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Andy considers it a great breakthrough when Miranda starts calling her by her own name.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Miranda Priestly is very obviously based on Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
    • Anna was a good sport about this and even showed up to the premiere of the movie... wearing Prada from head-to-toe.
  • No Sympathy: Miranda
  • Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Miranda Priestly.
  • Not So Different: Miranda gives Andy this speech at the end of the film.
    • Specifically, she says "I see a great deal of myself in you." The beautiful irony is that she means it as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming (or at least a "Well Done, Son" Guy moment), whereas Andy interprets this as a sign that she has crossed the Moral Event Horizon.
      • To expand on the above: Andy calls Miranda out on ruining Nigel's promotion to save her own ass and that she'll never do such a thing. Miranda tells her that she already did when she went to Paris in Emily's place.
  • Pet the Dog: Andy calls Emily to offer her some of the cloth she brought from Paris.
  • Pet Homosexual: Averted with the film's version of Nigel. He does give Andy a makeover, thereby saving her from herself, and he is Tall, Dark and Snarky, but he's also much higher up the ladder than she is, as well as legitimately older and wiser, offers guidance in her career only, and doesn't hover around her like he has nothing better to do than make sure her life is running like clockwork.
  • Plucky Office Girl: Andy herself is this.
  • Power Hair: Miranda, again.
  • Precision F-Strike: coupled with a Crowning Moment of Awesome. In the book this is essentially how Andy hands her resignation to Miranda.
    • Except that Andy's not doing something righteous or standing up for some lofty principle by quitting her job, which is totally how the movie presents it.
  • Pretty in Mink/Fur and Loathing: The fur coats and wraps Miranda wears could go either way with this trope and might even depend on your interpretation.
  • Product Placement: Roughly 60% of the movie -- 90% if you watch it with the DVD commentary.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Andy seems to get nothing but these -- first from her coworkers for not taking her job seriously, then from her friends for taking her job seriously.
  • "There and Back" Story: In a metaphorical sense, this applies. Andy enters a new world in the form of her job at the magazine, finds her normal behavior patterns won't work and successfully adapts. But then discovers that the job isn't worth her integrity and quits.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: "I'm sorry, it's just, those belts look exactly the same to me..."
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: Andy starts out as one, fresh out of Northwestern.
  • The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: Miranda regrets how her high-stress lifestyle is negatively affecting the lives of her children, but acknowledges that it's a result of the choices she's made and won't complain about her own problems.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Poor Nigel.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: See Not So Different above.
    • Nevertheless Miranda does give Andy the recommendation
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