Devil Wears Prada

799 Words4 Pages
The sense of belonging is something that we will all feel whether we mean to or not, whether it is for good or bad, whether we feel we belong or alienated. This sense of belonging can come through our family, friends, likes and dislikes, backgrounds, workplace and opinions. This belonging gives us connections to other people or things and we can gain other certain feelings with it such as security, happiness and pride. Throughout the film The Devil Wears Prada, directed by David Frankel, the main character, Andy, experiences a need to belong to the high society culture of her work place. One of the major symbols in this film is the fashion world and the objects of fashion. The symbolic functions of the element of fashion and the fashion world operate on several levels. The notion of beauty is a strongly emphasised theme throughout the film. Andy works at a high fashion magazine but due to her appearance she is looked down upon and her work colleagues treat her as a subordinate. At first Andy is reluctant to fulfil expectations about her beauty as she feels that it is not important in order to fit in or belong to her workplace. The director uses close up shots that switch between Andy and other women. This allows the audience to establish the differences between Andy and the other women. “You’re right, I don’t fit in here. I am not skinny or glamorous and I don’t know that much about fashion but I’m smart. I learn fast and I work very hard” This quote emphasises Andy’s surplus of inner belonging and self-satisfaction. At first Andy believes that she will get accepted by her work ethic and diligence rather than her appearance but through constant humiliation from her workplace she is forced to change her attitudes and behaviours towards her appearance. Her colleagues do not make any effort to adumbrate their distaste in Andy’s appearance. “Do you have some hideous
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