Artifact Analysis COMM 333

Introduction

I will analyze the movie The Devil Wears Prada (2006) by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. This movie is about a young girl, Andy Sachs getting a job for a famous magazine company run by Miranda Priestly. This movie is all about Andy being challenged by a career in something that she has no knowledge about. She comes into the magazine building wearing a horrendous outfit but Priestly is convinced she would make a good employee with a little bit of help. The people that work for Priestly are all people of fashion and have dedicated their lives to fashion whereas Andy comes in with just a great college degree and work ethic. This movie covers all different kinds of persuasion throughout the film. Not only did this movie bring light to a competitive and hard-core workplace but also showed us how successful women are as bosses. This was really awesome to see because women are usually not put in these positions because of their gender and Miranda proved that women can be bosses and be successful.

Analyze & Apply

• Creditability: The two main characters are credible in this film. The main boss, Miranda Priestly, and her new employee Andy Sachs. Miranda uses guilt, flattery, reverse psychology, and fashion to persuade her employees and other co-workers. She threatens them, makes fun of them, but also gives them great rewards for their work. This kind of persuasion allows people to respect her and makes them want to work for her magazine. Andy uses persuasion a few times throughout the movie. Her main use of persuasion was at the beginning of the movie when she persuaded Miranda to allow her to work for her even though she knew nothing about fashion but had other great qualifications. Miranda wanted to push Andy to learn about fashion fast and see how successful she could be at one of the biggest magazine companies in the world.

• Traits & Characteristics: The main topic that correlates with the modules and this movie is the section "Influences on Persuasion" (module 4). In the movie, Andy uses her intelligence to initially persuade Miranda for the job but then also uses her intelligence to prove that she is capable of the job and get upgraded and ask for days off and gain respect. Miranda uses two ways to persuade people, anxiety, and aggression. She hires people that are willing to do anything for her and are nervous around her because then that will make them more easily persuaded to do things for her. Miranda also uses aggression, "threats, teasing, attacks on character" (IOP, Module 4). Miranda makes fun of her employees and threatens them in order to persuade them to do things for her and respect her. The people that are higher up in the company are more likely to not be as targeted by Miranda because she has gained respect for those who have proved their loyalty and hard work.

• Miranda had the best character and really showed how you can persuade someone by being aggressive and pinning the people that she knows will do things for her. One really interesting way she was portrayed was through her looks. She looks very intimating on screen and makes you already afraid of her. Vanity Fair covers this "The first scene I saw was when she turns around to glare at Andy from the top of the stairs." (Miller, 2016). Vanity Fair also talked about how Miranda used insults to persuade respect for herself. Vanity Fair quotes the movie "Miranda makes to Andy: “Take a chance. Hire the smart, fat girl.” (Miller, 2016). When Miranda insulted Andy it already made Andy feel less than and not good enough, but she wanted to prove Miranda wrong, and thats exactly what Miranda wanted.

• ELM/TRA: I am not motivated to change my beliefs or ways after this film. I feel that bullying your employees to do what you say is not the best work culture. Yes, Miranda is successful and created a successful journalist, but this is a movie and if it was real life why didn't she help her other employees become as successful? Andy was very well-liked by Miranda and was given more opportunities because she believed in her but I also felt that didn't help with Andy's relationships with other co-workers with the company. I believe that if I was in that position all of my employees would be treated fairly and given roles from the start and be told honestly where I see them in the company. I wouldn't be a bully and I want my employees to come and talk to me and be open about how they feel about work and where they are at. As a woman, I can see how this is incredibly important and a way to set your expectations and standards for your workplace but I also believe, personally, that you can do it other ways and be as successful. I am not saying would be incredibly nice but I wouldn't bully my workers and make them feel less than others.

Reflect

I love this movie and it was so great to watch it again and really analyze the movie as a competitive and hard workplace. This movie does a great job highlighting a toxic but successful boss and direct ways how her persuasion techniques got her to where she was. I also loved how Andy came into this job with no fashion knowledge and then blew away everyone with her brain and work ethic. Co-workers and employees were so confused about how she even got the job but Miranda wanted to see what she could do and how far she could push herself. This movie is all about working your way up in the workplace and not letting co-workers and other work get in the way of your success. Miranda does a great job setting the tone for her employees and making them show respect and doing whatever she asks of them. She is the ultimate boss.

References

Frankel, D. (Director). (2006). The Devil Wears Prada [Film]. Twentieth Century Fox.

Miller, J. (2016, June 29). How Meryl Streep Terrified The Devil Wears Prada’s Screenwriter. VanityFair.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/06/the-devil-wears-prada-meryl-streep