Ep. 28: The Devil Wears Prada (1 & 2): A Hoe to CEO Analysis

Twenty years. It has been twenty years since the first Devil Wears Prada came out and we are still not over it. So when the second one hit theatres, obviously we went. We saw it in D-Box, which we are going to tell you right now, never do. It is not the comfy reclining sofa situation it looks like online. It is like ants in your pants at Disney World. You are getting vibrated for an hour and a half and shoved back and forth in your seat during every tense moment. We were scammed.

But the movie itself? A beautiful film. One of the best of our generation. The first one is top three of all time for us, no notes. And honestly we went into the sequel knowing we would love it no matter what, because we love these characters so much it could have been complete garbage and we still would have been thrilled just to see them all on screen again.

Here is our take. And quick PSA: you cannot watch the second one without the first. People who are confused about the sequel are the people who skipped the original. Don't be that person.

Miranda Priestly is everyone's favorite villain

Let's start with the icon. Miranda Priestly is probably the best female movie character of all time. Every other movie we love has a male lead, and then there is Miranda just out here being so good there is genuinely nothing she could have done better.

Here is the thing about Miranda. She is the so-called villain, but nobody can actually hate her. We have never met a single woman who watched this movie and disliked her. Why? Because she is finally a woman in a role that men get praised for and women get crucified for. She gets hated and she just keeps going anyway. Fuck everybody. It's all about money for her, and we respect that with our whole chests.

A lot of people online said she went soft in the second movie. And sure, she is warmer. But that is the point. It is a depiction of now versus 06, when there was no filter and anything went, especially in fashion. Watching her try to censor herself and basically choke on the new terminology was incredible. She doesn't want to adjust but she will do anything to stay on top. That is not soft. That is survival.

Would we work for her? In a heartbeat. Some of us weirdly thrive off the negative comments. Tell us we suck and we will fucking prove you wrong. Miranda doesn't baby anyone, she just expects you to do your job, and congratulations is not on the table for doing the bare minimum. That is exactly how we think every single day. Figure it out.

One word for Miranda: cutthroat. Cool, calm, monotone, no emotion. Resting bitch voice. And in a position that high up, the clock keeps ticking no matter what. The world keeps turning. You find a way to pivot and keep going, or you don't belong there.

Which brings up the real question of the whole franchise: do you have to sacrifice your personal life to win? Yes. As a woman, probably more than a man, because nobody expects men to handle all the maternal stuff too. Anyone at a high level is sacrificing something, and most people have no idea what it actually takes. Miranda says it best without saying it: do you really want this life? Because if you do, that is what it costs. And if you can't face that reality, you are probably not going to get it.

Andy Sachs and the pick me of it all

Now Andy. Andy is our least favorite of the four mains, and we think it is because we relate to her the least. There is just no world where we would react to criticism the way she does, constantly needing validation while Nigel is basically begging her to grow up.

Here is what is wild about Andy. She is clearly handed an incredible position she doesn't even recognize, the kind of opportunity people would kill for, and she takes it for granted. But she also has a genuinely intense work ethic and actually wants to do good with it. So she evolves, she becomes the person the industry needs her to be, she is willing to do it, right up until she isn't.

That is the moral dichotomy of the whole thing. If you want that position, you have to be Miranda. If you want success but you are not willing to sacrifice, you end up Andy. And after the sequel, fuck being Andy.

Should she have left in the first movie? We think she should have left day one instead of dragging it out, taking the opportunity from Emily, and then doing nothing with it. Then in the second movie she comes back and tries to do Miranda dirty with the book, even though Miranda clocks it immediately. You always circle back to who you are deep down, and the industry just exposed who she really is. A pressure cooker like that shows your true traits, whatever direction they go.

And yes, Andy is a pick me. The whole "I'm not like other girls" energy. The cerulean sweater scene says it all. She thinks she is above it while she is literally wearing the watered down version of the exact thing those people in that room picked out for her. Miranda called her all the way out and it was glorious.

Emily and the plot twist we did not see coming

Emily. We love Emily. In the first film she is basically a mini Miranda, young and spunky and immature but passionate. In the second one her character development is fascinating, and her envy turns out to be her downfall.

The plot twist genuinely got us. Neither of us saw it coming. You first see her at Dior thinking she made it, she is running the ship, and then they turn her into the bad guy. We hated that. We did not want her to be the villain.

But the gut punch is when Miranda tells her she doesn't have the it factor. She doesn't have the vision. And honestly we never thought about that even in the first movie. We always assumed she would get there one day. Turns out she just doesn't have it. She is great at the marketing and the connections and knowing the industry, but she was so fixated on wanting to be Miranda that she could never tap into her own strengths. Andy was the visionary, the one who thought outside the box, the one Miranda actually related to. Emily was a carbon copy, and copies don't innovate. At those high profile levels, you have to be a visionary.

This ties into something brutal: watching someone below you surpass you. That is exactly what happens to Emily with Andy. The girl she said wouldn't last a week ends up blowing it out of the water and taking her spot. Devastating when it is your dream and some random comes in and is just better at it. But honestly, if you get replaced like that, it is a pretty good sign that maybe it is not for you and you are not in the position where you could be the best.

Nigel and twenty years of loyalty

Nigel is peak loyalty, and we see this everywhere in work, life, and friendships. Sticking to the same thing, being loyal, all of it. But if you are being loyal and getting zero reciprocation, what is the actual point?

He finally gets his moment at the end of the sequel, but it was ridiculously overdue. Good for him for toughing it out, but we personally could not spend our whole lives as someone's right hand man. He loved the industry and stayed loyal to the bitter end, and his real problem was that he never communicated. He stayed in the gray area because he was scared of causing a rift with Miranda instead of just asking for what he wanted.

But here is the flip side. Miranda never once questioned his loyalty, and he was actually calling the shots behind the scenes the whole time. The only thing he was missing was public recognition and the title. At the end of the day he was already doing everything he had ever dreamed of. So the real question is whether you risk losing all of that for a title. And then the end of the film got us. He is the one who brought Andy in. "You think they just randomly called you?" We cried.

What each character taught us

Miranda taught us to be unapologetic and determined. It was so good to see a woman in that role taking all the hate and not caring, when men get to act that exact way and nobody blinks. We just love a woman who wins and will do anything to make something happen.

Andy taught us, first and foremost, not to be a pick me. But on the positive side, she taught us that a real work ethic can take you anywhere. The Nigel moment where he tells her she is not actually trying changed the chemistry in our brains. She tries, and the whole game changes. So many people are not even actually trying. It is amazing what you can do when you go all in, even somewhere you assumed had nothing for you. The most successful people we know say the same thing: they never imagined they would end up where they are, but they got there by putting in 100 percent.

Emily taught us that becoming successful doesn't automatically mean you are healed. She looks like she has it all together running Dior, and then you find out she is not well at all. If you never deal with your insecurities, the worst version of you eventually comes out. Know your strengths and weaknesses, accept them, and use them. Pivoting toward what aligns with you doesn't kill your passion. Forcing something that was never in alignment, all the way to the bitter end, does.

So who are we?

Obviously, Miranda. Shut up and do your job. We are not looking for a pat on the back for doing a good thing. And yes, we sacrifice the social stuff, the events, the family time, all of it, to get where we want to go. Long term gain. We are not mad about it.

Both movies, 10 out of 10. One of the best of our generation, and genuinely packed with lessons about business, relationships, and life. Maybe the biggest Hoe to CEO move we have ever seen.

See you next Friday, you hoes.