PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS &
VALUES
ASSESSMENT 2
DONE BY : YAMINI DEVASEE
ACCESSORY DESIGN SEMESTER 5
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Summary Of The Story:
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 American comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel and
produced by Wendy Finerman. The story takes place in New York City, in the offices of a
high-fashion magazine called Runway. The central character is Andrea Sachs(Andy) and includes
the events that happens during her time as assistant to Runway’s chief editor Miranda Priestly.
Andy Sachs portrayed by Anne Hathaway is a graduate of Northwestern University and want to
pursue journalism career in New York City and knows the competition is fierce. Andy goes for a
job interview for a job assistant to Miranda Priestly , editor of runway magazine and the most
powerful lady of fashion world. A million women would die to get this job! Andy is not interested
or doesn't have any knowledge in fashion but she takes up this job as she thinks it can be a stepping
stone to her journalism career.Miranda's first assistant Emily loves her job and finds it laughable
that Andy thinks she has a chance of getting the position. So she is stunned when the new girl is
hired on the basis of her brains and commitment to the work ethic.
Miranda is a perfectionist and its difficult to keep her happy. Miranda wants her assistants to be
available 24/7 and Andy finds it difficult to maintain her work life and personal life balanced.Nate,
Andy's boyfriend finds it hard to accept Andy's commitment to her job , especially when she gets
trendy. When her father came to visit her, that day also she became super busy.
The true test came when MIranda asked her to get unpublished Harry Potter
manuscripts for her twin daughters. She has to rely on the help of Christian
Thompson to pull off this difficult task.
The only one in the office who gives some advice on dealing with Miranda is Nigel.
Miranda has some respect only towards Nigel in her office.
Miranda started noticing her new assistants change in appearance and her ability to
handle complicated tasks. Emily was supposed to go to Paris Fashion week as
Miranda's assistant and she became so weak going through a strict diet. But Miranda
wants Andy to go along with her to the Paris Fashion week and ask Andy to inform
Emily the same. Andy tells Nate she is going to Paris, he is frustrated and tells she has
become what she once ridiculed and they break up.
In Paris Andy came to know that the Runway decided to replace her with Jacqueline,
more young editor. But in an event Miranda announces to give another post to
Jacqueline which she was supposed to give it for Nigel , her friend. Later in the car,
Miranda explains the situation to andy, that she already knew she was going to be
replaced and she had to sacrifice Nigel to keep her job secured. Andy seemed repulsed
and Miranda says she has done the same to Emily. When the car stops, Andy gets out
leaving behind her job.
In the end, it's clear that Miranda does not have any grudges on Andy for quitting her
job at Runway, otherwise, she wouldn't have given any recommendation at her new
work place. If Miranda tells another editor to hire Andy That means she has earned
the stamp of the Miranda!
MIRANDA PRIESTLY
Character Analysis:
Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep in the movie, is an editor of Runway Magazine and
the a powerful lady in the fashion world and mother of Twin daughters. Miranda is the
antagonist in this movie but she has her own reasons to be harsh and demanding, its her
company and her career. She is the protagonist in her own story, she has her own values.
The movie showed that she is capable being the leader and how much she has to sacrifice to
preserve her position in Runway. Miranda is a perfectionist and she expects everyone around
her to be the same. As a person, Miranda has a few issues to work through. But as the editor
of Runway she has done a brilliant job in up bringing the magazine. She is demanding and
unreasonable. She asks her assistant to get an unpublished book or else she will be fired from
her job, which makes no sense. She can be considered less empathetic towards her staffs and
judging people with their appearance. None of her assistants has stayed in that position for
long because they were not able to meet her high standards. So this time Miranda try to take a
chance by hiring a smart girl. When Andy was not able to book a ticket from Miami to New
York due to the hurricane, Miranda said she was disappointed in appointing a smart fat
assistant.
Miranda has a lot of negative sides , but she has a lot of positives too. She is the chief editor of
a fashion magazine who gave the magazine its growth and she worked there for a long time.
Nobody could have done this job like this and Miranda is aware of that. She puts the magazine before anything else, which makes
her the perfect person for this job.Miranda is punctual and she expects the same with her staffs. Sometimes we find her brutally
honest , but it also shows her courage to say things to them, for example she says Andy is not fashionable and she is disappointed as
her assistant. It's because of her high standards people are pushed beyond her limits and do more than what they are capable of. In
this movie we can see a drastic change in Andy, in the beginning and at the end of the movie. She was able work under pressure and
handle situations. Andy was able to recognise this talent only when she worked under Miranda.
When Andy laughed and said she can't figure out the difference between the two blue belts, Miranda gives an entire conversation
about fashion history. This shows how knowledgeable Miranda is and it's wrong to criticise something without knowing it.Even
though Andy can’t tell two belts apart, Miranda understands the power of fashion and can school her on it. The film examines the
perception of successful women in the workplace in several places. Another divorce, another public scandal and the tough
competition that Miranda has to withstand while maintaining a tough exterior just goes to show that she can’t let her guard down
even for a second because in her world, being vulnerable, which is traditionally perceived as a feminine trait, is equivalent to being
weak.
Betraying Nigel was unethical. This shows her lack of integrity. But , Miranda justifies her actions by telling Andy that she had to
manipulate the situation to prevent Jacqueline from taking her job and tells Andy has done the same with Emily.
In the end Miranda recommended Andy at her new work place. She said Andy was the assistant who disappointed her the most and
it will be stupid if they didnt hire her! Miranda did not hold any grudge for Andy. she understood that people like Andrea do not
belong in a place like Runway. Her smile says it all.
GENDER AND POWER
Devil wears prada is a female centric film. It was based on a novel written by Lauren Weisberger.Miranda
doesnt deserves that much hate, she is known and called in different names by co workers and the people
in her industry. When Andy meets the writer Christian Thompson , he says it's bad for a smart girl to
work as Miranda's assistant and said she can't do that job. It reflects society's double standardness. We ask
women to become empowered but when she reaches there, they will be the ones who are criticised , more
than men. Miranda is a victim of this. Miranda Priestly wouldn't be getting much heat for her actions and
behaviour if she was a man. If this character was a man , it could have been a normal story of a
perfectionist Boss!
The film examines the perception of successful women in the workplace in several places. Another
divorce, another public scandal and the tough competition that Miranda has to withstand while
maintaining a tough exterior just goes to show that she can’t let her guard down even for a second because
in her world, being vulnerable, which is traditionally perceived as a feminine trait, is equivalent to being
weak.
In this movie, The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda is considered as the devil or evil. But after watching this we
may feel we need more women like Miranda in a corporate world, who worry less about what others think
of them, speak up when it is necessary and be more confident.
Miranda Priestly is not an evil woman, she is a boss who is a woman!
OFFICE POLITICS
Actions and behaviour which involves competition for
power and status in a workplace is known as Office politics.
Activities like backstabbing or blackmailing a colleague,
forming malicious alliances,spreading rumours,
intentionally withholding informations are few examples of
office politics. In this movie we can see a lot of such
activities, lets see a few.
Miranda was judging a person by her looks, she called Andy
FAT which is body shaming. She insulted and mocked her
privately and publicly several times.
Miranda refuses to address Andy by her actual name, she
call her Emily, former assistants name. This show how less
she cares about her colleagues.
She wanted her assistants to be available 24/7
without any extra pay. In fact she asked Andy to
do her personal needs too, like asking Andy to
do children's science project and to get them
unpublished books.
Miranda asked her to get unpublished Harry
potter book and blackmailed that or else she will
be fired. She sent Andy on multiple errands
without clear instructions and gave her only
short amount of time. She was threatened of
being fired if she did not deliver.
Miranda avoids other employees from riding in
elevator with her which shows a Master/slave
relation between the employer and the
employee.
PERSONAL STYLE AND OFFICE ETIQUETTE
Even though we say not to judge a book by it's cover, dressing
and following office etiquette creates a good first impression. A
more defined dress code is necessary to maintain a
professional image of themselves and the business, where
employees interact with clients and business partners daily.
We can see how Miranda's impression on Andy changed when
she accepted to change her personal style. Miranda has her
own unique style and she wants her employees also to dress
up well and to look presentable.
Office etiquette is a code for how to behaviour in a workplace.
It creates a professional, mutual, respectful atmosphere and
improves communication, which makes the workplace a more
productive place.
But here, Miranda wants her assistant to work even on an off day. Employees must be given
time for their personal need.Emily says that she gets 15 minutes of break for lunch , only 15
minutes! She was also waiting for Andy to come back to office so she can use the loo. This
shows how Miranda's assistants are made to work to their core.
Punctuality and cleanliness : in the first 30 minutes of the movie, we can see Emily and other
employees tidying up the place before Miranda's arrival. She wants everything to be neat and
clean. Alos Miranda ask Andy to tell her driver to drop her at 9:30 and to pick at 9:45 sharp. In
another scene she ask why nobody is ready. This shows her punctuality and her expectation
to everyone around her to be the same.
Miranda did not showed any values when it came to secure her own job. She betrayed Nigel
to secure her position as Chief editor at Runway.
CODE OF CONDUCT
A code of conduct i s a set of rules , principles or behaviour followed by an
individual party or an organisation.
Miranda wants her colleagues to dress in a particular way. Even though she
didn't ask them to dress up fashionably, her body language says so.The way
she looked at Andy's shoes on the first day at work made her wear high
heels immediately.
There is no specific work hours for the assistants. It was said that no one
has stayed as Miranda's assistant for a long time. If an assistant resigns she
will get another one immediately, because it's a job million girls want. So
her assistants are made to work on off dayS and they should get everything
done or else they might lose their job. Andy says Emily that it's finally
weekend and Emily sighs, which later on we can understand, that for
assistants there is no difference between workdays and weekends.
It is unethical of Miranda to punish Andy by giving her an
impossible task.Her employees are working under pressure and in a
longer run this can affect their productivity and in overall input
given to their work.
Miranda doesn't like to get questions from anyone and whenever she
need to end a conversion or to stop others from asking question she
says “that's all”. Good communication is really necessary to built a
bond between boss and his/her staffs for better and smooth
productivity in a workplace.
In many areas we can see Miranda being sarcastic towards her
colleagues. She replied “florals for summer groundbreaking” when
one of her colleague suggested an idea!
CONCLUSION
The Devil wears Prada is an example of how a workplace can be. This movie portraits how women is
considered as an evil when she holds power in our society.There are a lot of things which we can take from this
film, how not to behave in a workplace and how to push ourselves beyond our limits. Miranda is an over
demanding, perfectionist boss, who expects the same with her other colleagues. Its is because of her this trait
everyone is doing their utmost. But being a workaholic may create an imbalance in both personal and
professional life. An ideal workplace is something where everyone respects each other. Instead of saying the
negative comments in public, it would be better to say it privately and appreciate their efforts and their good
works in public.
At the same time it is important to keep in mind the office etiquette. It is better to take up a job where our
personal values go hand in hand with professional values. Otherwise it would be difficult to find a balance and
our personal and professional values will collide.
THANK YOU
