The other night, my hubby and I watched Devil Wears Prada, a comedy about a young woman fresh out of college who wants to be a journalist of integrity but gets sucked into the world of high fashion instead.Personally, I wasn’t all that impressed with the film (though, to be fair, a good friend of mine absolutely loves this film), but there were a couple of things that caught my attention.
First, it reminded me that Meryl Streep is an incredible actress. What that woman can do with her voice is impressive--in this film in particular, I find it remarkable that she so effectively portrays such a cold, ruthless and intimidating person (fashion editor Miranda Priestly) without raising her voice one decibel. And that she then can turn around and make us feel sympathy for Miranda is, well, worthy of the Oscar nomination she’s received.
Second, I appreciated the theme of "choice" running through the film. At various points, main character Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) repeatedly tells others she doesn’t have a choice as she ditches her friends for work, misses her boyfriend’s birthday for a work event and takes an important career-making trip out from under her colleague. However, we viewers get that she does have a choice--and she's choosing her own welfare above that of others around her.And that aspect of the film gives us a good opportunity to examine the decisions and choices we are making in our own lives. Are there times we fool ourselves into thinking we don’t have a choice when we do? Are we willing to use those times to examine what we truly value, to admit there are moments when we value our jobs, success, reputation, security or respect above God, family or doing what is right?
Good questions, which (along with Streep’s performance) make this film worth the rent.