Am I the only one that thinks she is not the devil wearing Prada?
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MsD430 — 16 years ago(September 26, 2009 06:40 AM)
I agree. I was expecting to see this mean and horrible woman who made me cringe and probably never want to buy an issue of VOGUE. Instead, I saw her a strong and opinionated business woman who took other people's opinions into considerationbut, bottom line, Vogue is HER baby and she's gonna raise it the way she sees fit. I have a lot of respect for herbut, I LOVE Grace Coddington!!
Dawn -
rocktheboat61 — 16 years ago(September 26, 2009 05:47 PM)
I walked away from the movie really respecting her She's firm and sometimes brutally honest, but she's running one of the most influential fashion magazines in America so you do what you have to do to get the job done.
I loved Grace too, but I really liked Anna more than I thought I would. The scene where she said her siblings find what she does "amusing" really showed some vulnerability I wasn't expecting. I think a lot of what she does is to prove to herself and others that her job is important. I really respect her drive and passion for it. -
MsD430 — 16 years ago(September 27, 2009 07:27 PM)
I felt so sorry for her when she said her siblings thought what she does is "amusing". She spoke of their careers like they were valid and important, but you could tell that she didn't feel she got the same respect in return. I, too, liked her way more than I thought I would.
Dawn -
da_thompson1972 — 16 years ago(October 04, 2009 12:17 PM)
Honestly, I never saw the portrayal of Miranda Priestly in the film version of "The Devil Wears Prada" as "evil." In fact, I believe the film, as opposed to the novel, portrayed Miranda as much more of human being than just as an evil bitch who lived to make other's lives hell.
The same could be said for Anna Wintour. She is far from a "Devil", if you will, and appears to honestly want the same things we all want from day one in lifelove and acceptance for who and what we are by our family. Based upon how she responded to that now infamous question regarding her families viewpoint of what she does, we see that Ms. Wintour is just like her fictionalized counterpartHUMAN! -
hotshothound — 16 years ago(March 12, 2010 07:31 AM)
I agree.
I felt the screenplay and, of course, Meryl Streep's brilliant take on the character was much kinder and more believable than the book. Honestly, the book was not nearly as good as the movie. Judging from this documentary (because I don't know Wintour personally) I'd say Streep more closely portrayed her than the author.
There were some parts where I felt so sad for her, like her siblings being "amused" by her career, which seemed to bring her down more than the thousands in the industry who greatly admire her, and the way she seemed so isolated sometimes. Human, not evil. -
ShizaMinelli — 15 years ago(January 28, 2011 09:16 AM)
Steep definitely elevated the movie, but I liked the books Andy a thousand times more. Andy in the movie was kind of a dumb ass, imo.
When you're 17 a cow can seem dangerous and forbiddenam I alone here? -
KMPINTJ — 16 years ago(October 04, 2009 09:16 PM)
Does it not occur to you that she KNEW she had the image of a "Dragon lady" and thus in this documentarywhich she sanctionedshe was very conscious of how she would be portrayed and "kept it polite"? I would not trust that we saw every side of the "real" Anna in this film, put it that way. Remember, she authorized this, not long after DevilPrada came out. She knew what people expected and she is certainly smart enough to keep her temper in check when the cameras are running.
Plus, nobody said every detail of DevilPrada (such as the Starbucks) was exactly true. -
clarrain — 13 years ago(March 25, 2013 04:36 PM)
Thank you! Finally someone mentions that she knew the cameras were running!!! Of course she was polite. Of course she listened to what others were saying and seemed to take their opinions into account. What else could she have done???
"Sure, lots o' times!" -
Random_2 — 16 years ago(October 18, 2009 02:07 AM)
Remember that The Devil Wears Prada was a fictional story based on the perceptions of a woman who used to work for her. The Devil Wears Prada is/was not a documentary.
Think about your boss, especially if you hate him/her. Write a story about how horrible they are. Is that an accurate picture of that person? Would an unbiased documentary paint the same portrait? -
SeeBear — 16 years ago(October 21, 2009 02:35 PM)
The art instructors I've had in the past, who were like Anna, are the reasons my art is at the level it is today. I, too, was surprised at how much I ended up respecting her.
"Those who can't do teach". She really is a teacher and a damn good one at that. It's no coencidence that many of the designers who've taken her advice end up becoming successful in their field. She's not vague, simply to the point. And in a industry that's win or loose you want to hear what works, not indecisiveness.
People want guidence, but are afraid to hear the truth and that's a sad fact to why our culture is the way it is today.
People like Anna aren't heartless, they just can't abide mediocrity. Especially, when they can see your full potential.
We really need more driven individuals like that in the film industry who are as passionate about the product as they are about turning a buck.
Hollywood today is just sad. It has absolutely know direction because they merely consider the bottom line without any vision or appreciation for those who have it.
I appreciated the fact Anna thought about every element as a whole. People who pretty much complain and never achieve their full potential in life with never get a chance realize this. They'll continue to invy and mock those who understand that it takes work and decipline to thrive in an environment where people just want to do enough to get by.
I was surprised at how much I found myself agreeing with a majority of the decisions she made about the magazine. I anticipated walking out feeling the exact opposite. -
stedo1976 — 16 years ago(October 26, 2009 09:11 PM)
I see what you're (the OP) saying, but I don't totally agree. When she told her driver to make a stop at Starbucks, I don't get the feeling for a minute that she got out of the car and stood on line herself with regular folk, waiting for her drink to be made while on the way to work. There is no footage of this. My guess would be that either her driver or one of the film crew people ran out in her service and got the beverage she requested. She probably doesn't even pay for the coffee herself. It's either put on a Vogue expense card or someone from the film crew paid would be my guess. But I don't have a problem with any of that. I just see where she was the basis for the Miranda character is all. In fact, The Devil Wears Prada was written by Anna Wintour's former intern, and has been openly said to be the basis for Streep's Miranda.
TDWP is a screenplay that only focuses on certain aspects of Anna's demeanor as it would pertain to an intern (you don't see any interns, or conversations with interns in the September Issue). Obviously Anna, or Miranda for that matter, have friends and peers that they let their hair down a little bit more with, and treat more respectfully. The same goes for the family/kids. In TDWP, they were young kids, probably the age they would have been when the writer was an intern at Vogue in the 90's. They're grown up now, and we see one of them in the documentary. Anna does seem to care about her daughter's opinions and admits to her children being her weakness. In TDWP, the only time we see Miranda's character portrayed as emotionally vulnerable is again when it comes to family: her husband leaving her. She snaps back into professionalism and buries herself in the work at hand, but you see that that is her achille's heel.
In the documentary, Anna is aware that she is being filmed, and probably used this as an opportunity to rebut TDWP's impression of her. True, she does say "Is there anything else you need me for Grace?" but she says this a little bit to cut the tension, when the meeting has ended. She already started the meeting by saying "We won't discuss the photos anymore" which cuts off Grace's arguments, since we all know that Grace has been unhappy about her photo sequence being cut, and she has been very vocal about it. Anna knows the camera is capturing all of this, and she also knows that she has the final overruling word on the matter, so she shoots that remark to Grace after the meeting ends, and well, it does still feel Miranda-esque.
Also when Anna gives her opinion and says "What do you think?" I never get the impression she's looking for someone to give adverse opinions. If Anna Wintour makes a decision, and she says what do you think, the answer is "I agree." Otherwise she gets quiet. And when she gets quiet, you get the sense that there will be a consequence in some way when the cameras aren't on. Someone like Grace won't lose her job or anything too drastic, and I'm sure Anna does respect her, but a few more of Grace's photos may not make the cut (which is what happened), or she may scrap the piece altogether. Or she may do nothing about it, and make the final decision the way she wants to. But the point is that there is a quiet unspoken power. An "I'm already telling you the answer we're all going to followand oh, what do you think?"
Her daughter's opinions are an entirely different matter. Her opinions count in a big way and instantly bring out the wide eyed Anna who hangs on every word.
I agree that seeing the different sides to her in real life, and not just focusing on a few traits, does make her more understandable and endearing. You're right, she does have to be decisive and determined to get to where she is and stay there. Miranda was too. But Anna smiles more than Miranda and talks about her family and you don't feel quite as alienated from her in some way. -
Justme262 — 16 years ago(February 23, 2010 01:13 PM)
It's nice of all of you to base your opinion of Anna Wintour on a documentary based.on her. I worked in the fashion business for about15 years. As much as the character of Miranda was exagerated, please don't forget that Anna Wintour is absolutely aware that a camera is following her all the time and that she has to show a better face than Miranda.
Is Anna pleasant ? no. Is she nice to her "people" ? no. Does she really ask for other people opinion ? No. Does she have any consideration for anyone but herself ? No. Does she think she is smarter than anyone else ? yes. Do people respect her as opposed to fear her? There is a sense of respect for her but fear is definitely a main component of her relations with others.
Actually she is not too far in reality from what Miranda was ! Unfortunately. -
The4401st — 16 years ago(February 17, 2010 01:07 PM)
I think people like to think that she is exactly like Miranda because, like the author of the book, it's more entertaining for them to have a villainess to boo at than an accurate picture of the real person, someone you could empathise with.
I didn't watch this expecting to find a confirmation of how 'evil' certain people believe she is; I watched it because I read the book, watched the movie, and when I found out it was supposedly based on Weisberger's experiences, I searched on the internet for information about the real story.
Reading about her life I had nothing but respect for her. She set a goal for her life and she's achieved that and more, which is a lot more than the majority of people can say.
As for how she deals with people, coming across as cold, I think it's telling that people automatically jump to the conclusion that she's a 'bitch' or an 'ice queen'. When you're at the top and wield as much influence within your industry as she does, it's completely unrealistic to expect her to become best friends with every person she ever meets.
Also, on the point of her making 'demands' without going into great detail about how her assistants should get the job done: that is the point of being the editor, or the manager of any large enough company, any successful one anyway. She simply wouldn't have the time to do her job and hold people's hands through doing their own. If Lauren Weisberger had so much of a problem with being expected to be competent at her job that she literally compared her boss to the devil, then perhaps she just wasn't cut out for employment.
My one problem with Wintour is that, I did feel for her when she hinted that her family don't respect her job and her accomplishments within the fashion industry because they weren't exactly humanitarian, but she has been adamantly pro-fur, when she is probably the one person in the entire world that has enough influence to fatally cripple the fur trading industry.
"You're not supposed to steal."
"You're not supposed to talk to strangers. Piss off."