I Rewatched The Devil Wears Prada — And Andy Is Literally the Worst

Ahead of The Devil Wears Prada 2’s imminent release, I decided to revisit the OG movie. And, while I hate to say it, everybody is wrong. 

For the uninitiated, The Devil Wears Prada tells the story of Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), an up-and-coming hard news journalist who somehow finds herself a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Runway. 

Clearly based on Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Miranda is a nightmare of a boss, and Andy spends most of the film desperately trying to impress her, find her place, and fit in at a publication which, at her own admission, isn’t exactly her first choice.

In the years since its release, there’s been a lot of debate over who is actually the true ‘villain’ of the 2006 movie, with many deliberating over Priestley, ‘first assistant’ Emily (Emily Blunt), and Nate (Adrian Grenier), Andy’s boyfriend. While I don’t believe there’s really a ‘villain’ in this film (except perhaps the journalism industry), I do believe there’s something a lot of viewers are overlooking: Andy is extremely annoying, and truth be told, she’s kind of a terrible person.

Andy Acts Like She’s Above It All

As The Devil Wears Prada starts, we learn that Andy is trying to break into journalism, prompting her to apply for a job at Runway. This in itself isn’t a problem, but she immediately establishes herself as ‘above’ the role by mocking it with her boyfriend, which, if you ask me, is a pretty bad attitude. 

When a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Andy arrives at the interview, more cracks start to show. She’s barely in the building when she mentions she applied because it was “this or Auto Universe,” which immediately comes across as snooty and, quite frankly, rude. She doesn’t even know who Miranda is, and while poor research isn’t necessarily something that makes her a bad person, it feels a bit disrespectful to waltz in somewhere without so much as a Google. 

She then gives her speech about work ethic, which, for the most part, is fair enough, but it does feel the slightest bit self-important. Still, she seems to be giving the job a proper go until she gets to the infamous cerulean scene, where she straight up makes fun of a whole room of people. By doing so, she frames them as frivolous and, once again, acts like she’s ‘above’ the job. When Miranda gives her that much-deserved dressing down, it emphasises how you don’t have to understand something, but you can, at the very least, respect it.

Andy Has A Victim Complex

I’ll admit, the mistake with the flights isn’t her fault, but Miranda’s closest confidante, Nigel (Stanley Tucci), really hits the nail on the head when he tells her she can’t expect praise for just doing the bare minimum. 

I don’t interpret her changing her ‘look’ as her ‘losing herself’ or her values, because, to be honest, her ‘old’ self wasn’t that great in the first place. We are meant to feel sorry for her because of how Emily views her, but Andy seems to view Runway collectively with the same level of contempt. Given this double standard, it’s fair to say that Andy develops something of a victim complex, acting as though she tripped and fell into her role, removing any agency and thereby responsibility for literally anything she does. 

While part of me thinks Andy should just suck it up and do her job, it’s equally important to set boundaries when you work. That’s her responsibility, and her failure to do so isn’t a decent enough excuse for things like missing her boyfriend’s birthday and choosing to go to Paris. Sure, Miranda is a dragon, but refusing to take any accountability for her actions and using Miranda as a scapegoat feels a bit like a cop-out. 

Andy Betrays People Like It’s Going Out Of Style

Andy knew how much the Paris trip, in particular, meant to Emily. In my opinion, she didn’t fight hard enough for her to, at the very least, join them. Perhaps it was motivated by her desire to take the easy way out. Still, if you’re going to position yourself as a person with integrity – the type of person who writes investigative stories championing workers’ rights – you don’t baulk at the first hurdle. At the end of the day, it was much easier for her to consider herself than it was to consider Emily. 

And then there’s Andy’s connection with fellow journalist Christian Thompson (Simon Baker). On the one hand, he’s a total slimeball, but on the other, it goes back to the boundaries issue. Her attempts to shut him down are, in my opinion, thoroughly half-hearted. Even if Andy’s main motivation was to network, the fact that she even considers ditching her boyfriend’s birthday to spend more time with Christian is a huge red flag. Her decision to take things further with him the moment her boyfriend was out of the picture just reinforces how, I think, she was keeping him around as an option by not shutting him down completely in the first place.

Andy’s Final Hurrah Feels Unearned

The Devil Wears Prada’s grand finale involves Andy randomly getting out of the car, walking out of her job without any notice and throwing a mobile phone in a fountain. Sure, this makes for a dramatic departure in movie logic terms, but what’s the purpose of damaging (presumably) company-owned property? And why would someone who cares about doing the right thing so much at least not give a two-week notice? 

I guess this ending would’ve felt a bit more earned if Andy were as much of a victim as she clearly is in her own head, but the truth is, it doesn’t feel that way to me at all. All in all, she seems to be living a pretty charmed life, throwing her toys out of the pram after discovering for the first time that actions have consequences. 

Perhaps I’ve been playing devil’s(!) advocate here, and maybe my complaints may feel a little trivial to some, but the truth is that 10, or even five years ago, I would’ve totally been Team Andy. However, when your frontal lobe develops, you spend some time in the working world, and have finally moved on from being editor of your student newspaper (it took me a while, too), things change. 

Either way, I look forward to seeing how Andy develops in The Devil Wears Prada 2, which, despite my complaints, I’ll be absolutely seated for.