it is a little mindboggling to me that people ship Andy and Miranda together and also that twitter post about how Nick her boyfriend was a shit for thinking his birthday was more important than her career. because that’s not at all how it seemed in the book? Not in any way could I have arrived at that conclusion reading the book.
I guess it’s because Miranda didn’t have the terrible charm and power that Meryl infuses into the character?
But in the book she was truly the devil in the sense that she cared for no one, least of all Andy. She demanded insane things from her. No boss, no superior should have the power to demand that you hand over your entire life and ALL your time in service to their personal needs. In a sense you could call it ‘abuse’. Andy is alienated from all the people she cares for and relentlessly pressured to give up everything else she values. The way in which she’s told to change and assimilate comes with a great deal of pain and stress. Her whole being starts to revolve around a career she never even wanted. This is also crucial, she doesn’t even love fashion. The moment Nick is like: you’re going to prioritise this job over my birthday? she’s like uh. and then Miranda finally FINALLY gives Andy some kind of acknowledgement for EVERYTHING she’s done and it’s: you remind me of me when I was your age. and Andy is like: oh god no. And it’s really set up as a moment of, what has happened to me? Andy changes during the book but she doesn’t ‘level up’. Her transformation isn’t positive until she realises that it’s not worth it to live her life in service to somebody who gives Nothing in return (see: the scene where loyal lackey guy doesn’t get the position he wanted for thirty years (and which Miranda PROMISED) bc she needed to eliminate competition). And it comes full circle because the moment Andy leaves some other rookie takes over her job immediately to get exploited like all those before her.
Miranda is not presented ultimately as an admirable person. She’s powerful, and she’s successful, everybody is terrified of her and thinks she’s briliant. But she does not seem to care for her family or children, doesn’t have friends, throws anybody under the bus, values no one. SHE VALUES NO ONE. and the moment she gives Andy acknowledgement you feel your heart melt a little, you’re like, but maybe things could be different, but at the same time, what an egocentric thing to say yet again and also: I’M as HORRIBLE as Miranda Priestly??? There is no tiny ittle bittle decent core to her. It’s not there, it’s never truly portrayed. And even then, that doesn’t excuse all the rest.
So I guess they didn’t translate that to the film well enough? Maybe Meryl wanted to do something different. I also always imagined book Miranda younger and...hm...more plasticky.