The Devil Wears Prada: Book versus Movie

When I first watched The Devil Wears Prada, I was absolutely obsessed. Fifteen years later, I decided to read the book and realized it was nothing like the movie. Twenty years later, we are preparing for a new movie, The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Today I am writing about two books, but really one book, and most specifically the movie, and how the book compares to the movie. Today, we're talking about the book, The Devil Wears Prada. We're also talking about the second book, Revenge Wears Prada. It's not exactly the same. This book and movie review will have minimal spoilers. Lauren Weisberger had a very specific image in mind, and the movie's screenwriters definitely painted Andy in a really sweet light. The book, not so much. 

Andy was very much so a Miranda. We love the Devil Wears Prada movie. We love love love love love Anne Hathaway. Oh my gosh. We love Miranda. We love Emily. We love all of it. Very different. In the movie, you're following Andy Sachs. Love her. She gets a job at this big beauty brand, fashion brand magazine. That part is true. She has a boyfriend. True. In the movie, she's dating a chef and he talks about how, oh, it's okay. Your job is silly. I'm making pork wine reductions, which is where you take the wine and dilute it. In the book, she's dating a teacher. This guy basically works for Teach For America and is helping disabled youth learn to read.

That makes Andy a huge jerk in the book. 

In the movie, you see that Andy connects with two of her friends. She connects with Lily and with this guy named Doug. They're typically hanging out with their boyfriend as well. Lily exists in the book. Lily has a huge drinking problem in the book. Lily is also a graduate student or earning a PhD. She moves in with Lily in the book, and on the day she moves in, Lily doesn't show up because she is in jail for a DUI. Your friend is failing classes, compulsively drinking, going through all this hard stuff, and you still decide to go to Paris. The movie makes Andy this person who just is ambitious and wants to get ahead, and she just happens to start working at this fashion magazine, and ta da. Wow. This is what's gonna skyrocket her. Andy is ruthless in the book. 

Andy is like, Oh my God, I really need to connect with Lily, but I'm not a behavioral therapist, so I'm still going to go. Miranda in the movie is really strict. Similar to this, you get the whole coat thrown over the desk, and are you going to do the things that I say, and why are you eating the fat chowder, all of the stuff that we love about the movie. But the book leans way heavier into the anxious attachment aspect.

Typically, when you think about anxious attachment, you think about it in the context of a dating relationship. Are they going to text me back? Where are they? Are they thinking about me? Oh, it's been twelve hours since I've heard from them. Where's my good morning text? That kind of anxious attachment, where you're attached to the drama is big in the book. So the book is really, really heavy in that pulsating, like, when I even hear the shrill of the phone, oh my goodness, my life is over. The movie, Andy is more annoyed. The book is definitely like Andy had on blinders and all she could see was Miranda and Emily. In the movie, we talk about Andy and how she didn't go to law school because she decided to work for Runway. Remember, the dad comes into town and they go out on the town. Fear of Miranda calling her. We see a lot more of the mom. We also hear about the dad and how they love to play Scrabble, so that part tracks. But also, Andy has a sister who moved to Texas and has a whole child while Andy is working at Runway. Do you think Andy went to see the baby? You think Andy asked her sister about the baby? Andy is busy. Watching the movie, you're just like, Oh, it's okay. Everybody makes concessions. Everybody makes compromises for their first job. Thankfully, Andy got out before she was too caught up. 

In the book, Andy would ignore her family and overlook substance abuse. Andy would not have been as lovable if they made it exactly like the book. This is why scriptwriters exist. Is why at the beginning of a film, it'll say based on the book, The Devil Wears Prada, because it's not exactly the same. What's fascinating about it is that Andy didn't specifically look and say, "My friend is drowning right now." Do I want to help? No, I'll take a call. But she definitely said that Miranda's urgency to make my life miserable is more important than the fact that I just became my aunt. It's more important than the fact that my friend is battling substance abuse. It's more important than the fact that my boyfriend, I never have time for him and he's teaching disabled youth how to learn how to read. 

If you're someone who's like, "I love the movie; I don't want to read the book," I don't think it'll make you dislike the movie. 

Also, you're a person who's like, the movie was kind of a little lame, you might be the type that will absolutely love the book because the book has all those extra details where it's way more than clothes and fashion. Reading the book didn't make me dislike the movie, and it is also building anticipation for the second movie, because in the second book, which I've also started reading, you get to see them in a whole different place.

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I'm actually excited that I will have read the book first, and now we get to see how the movie will be a little bit different. There's actually a third book called When Life Gives You Lululemons. I've read that, and I didn't realize they were all in the same theme. When I get done reading Revenge Wars Prada, I'm going to have to go reread When Life Gives You Lulu Lemons because I didn't realize it was the same. Man, I really hope the main character isn't called Andy Sachs, because I read the book and didn't realize it was the same. I just went through a period where I was reading everything from Lauren Weisberger, and that was when I grabbed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB5PyZv_oGg

So I often ask myself whether I would reread this? A couple of years ago, I left the corporate retail job. The anxious attachment in the book was very similar to some of the things I've seen in that job, so I'll need a couple of years of separation before I can read it again, but I'll go watch the movie right now.

If you enjoyed this book review, you will absolutely love the reviews tagged below. 

Until the next one, 

Kyla