New Delhi: The Devil Wears Prada is no longer a fashion fantasy. If the first part spoke about couture, the sequel holds up a mirror to the changing landscape of journalism and publishing houses.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 places Miranda Priestly in a version of publishing that feels less like a glamorous empire and more like as if it’s in survival mode. She is no longer just running Runway, she is dragging it through what can only be called the dark ages of publishing. She is no longer telling the difference between turquoise, blue, lapis, and cerulean. In fact, she is meeting “undertakers” in suits who are dissecting marketing decks and profit margins, as if content is just another line item to justify, and that too in a cafeteria.
Editors don’t take the final call anymore. They are constantly negotiating, constantly bending to the demands of advertisers, and sometimes maybe of an old bitter colleague.
The film doesn’t restrict its commentary to fashion magazines. It highlights, though briefly, the struggle of ‘good journalism’ as well. A bunch of award-winning journalists, including Andy Sachs (played by Anna Hathaway), are laid off with a single text message because of industry-wide cost-cutting measures, shrinking print media budgets, and a corporate restructuring that targets established staff.
Although Andy returns to Runway magazine with the aim of steering it through a crisis, she quickly realises it’s no longer the glossy publication she once worked at. The magazine has gone digital, where clicks matter more than craft. “Journalism still f*****g matters!” Andy shouts at one point.
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A reflection of reality?
The most uncomfortable part of it all is that none of it feels exaggerated. If anything, the film mirrors reality a little too well. Newsrooms today are already dealing with these exact fractures, cutbacks, commercial pressure, and the slow erosion of editorial independence.
In one of the scenes, Benji Barnes (played by Justin Theroux), who is set to buy Runway for the love of his life, Emily, tells Priestly in passing how AI is also set to enter the world of publishing and journalism.
However, the film gestures toward these ideas rather than fully grappling with them. It introduces the questions, but stops right after that. Still, there is some value in the fact that it brings these concerns into the conversation, even if it doesn’t follow through on them as thoughtfully as it could have.
In a way, The Devil Wears Prada 2 mourns the death of fashion magazines.
But unlike Runway, there is no one stepping up in the real world to save countless newspapers and magazines. We don’t have a Sasha Barnes! That’s all.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)