Theme of Success in Movie and Novel The Devil Wears Prada

In order to be successful, many people would adapt to certain changes. In the movie, the protagonist Andrea Sachs gets into the unrealistic and unhealthy motion of beauty. In the novel, Andrea has to balance her life and her priorities straight, all while facing and dealing with struggles and challenges, however, the boundaries of sacrifice and how far Andrea can go before losing herself shows her commitment to her job and her judgemental boss, Miranda. Although, the movie and novel The Devil Wears Prada demonstrate the intoxicating allure of achieving success, the protagonist's moral integrity is tested throughout her loss of moral support and the sacrifice of her personal journey of independence.

As she rises to the ranks of the Runway Magazine, she finds herself sacrificing some of her previous values, beliefs, and interests in her effort to succeed. Firstly, Andrea must adjust to embrace the significance that her coworkers hold towards the models, that can be found in the pages of a fashion magazine. It is illustrated in the scene where Andrea asks Nigel, who is Miranda's fashion assistant, to change her image after Miranda Criticized her look (dir.Frankel). It is evident in the movie that clothing plays a significant role in drawing the line between the two different cultures. Andrea has sacrificed her beliefs as she changes her style from her frumpy style to a more sleek, elegant, and polished style. After this change, it is showed that Andrea is more confidence and happiness in her body than before. Furthermore, the changes that Andrea has to alter was caused by her boss, Miranda.

When Andrea had failed to accomplish the task given by Miranda, she told Andrea that “ She told herself, “ go ahead, take a chance. Hire the smart, fat girl. I had hope. My god, I live on it. Anyways, you ended up disappointing me more than any of the other silly girls” (dir.Frankel). Not receiving compliments or getting impressions makes Andrea transform herself into a new person, that would fit in the fashion industry. She adapts the same beliefs as her coworkers. When investing in the image, Andrea adapts not only physical resemblance but also behavioral traits.

As a result, Andrea abandons her self-expression and follows unrealistic body standards. Although Andrea's change in self-image is portrayed as aesthetically appealing to the audience, the intention of the book was to show how this materialism districts Andrea from her own self-image In addition, Andrea has been once again criticized on her body image. The runway would receive clothes from different companies and whatever was left, employees were allowed to take them home, but Nigel tells Andrea, “ You’re a size six right”... “ Yeah, I could tell. Most everyone else is a two or smaller, so you’re welcome to all of it” ( Weisberger 211). Body image is shown negatively in the fashion industry, which is they should be really skinny.

Throughout the book, Andrea loses some weight and goes down some sixes. All the girls in the Runway want to look skinny and fashionable. Andrea builds her look not only to appeal to herself but also to represent how she would like to be seen as a separate person in the fashion industry. Once again, it is showed that clothing symbolizes Andrea’s status. Lastly, Andrea is once again judged on her choices. As Andrea goes on her lunch break, she decides to grab some soup, but before she can do that Nigel interprets his opinion, he says, “ I’m just saying is, someone could put on the pounds from just looking at it” And “ You’re not one who could afford to gain ten pounds” ( Weisberger 76).

Before the makeover, Andrea constantly struggles to answer the phones and keeping up with her boss’s endless and unreasonable requests. Being pointed out on a specific item, impacted Andrea’s self-esteem. She gave up her interests so that she can please her coworkers. Andrea has lost her innocence from a girl that did not care what others think, to a girl who is now a glamour queen and only cares about her job. With runway’s apparel Andrea also adopts the company's attitude regarding how they work in their line of business. Thus, Andrea believes that the image she represents in the company is essential to her mundane tasks. Through this belief, Andrea forgets why she invested herself in the internship and with it, forgets her future goals that make up her character first of all.