The Choice I Never Made

I just saw The Devil Wears Prada. I admit I haven’t read the book yet although I need to this weekend. I’m supposed to write an article comparing it to the movie. How else am I going to write my popcorn off as a business expense?

Anyway, I’ve read certain newspaper reviews that stated that the movie was about the enticing, but dangerous nature of the fashion industry. The San Francisco Chronicle suggested that by the end of the film you will begin to understand the bizarre logic that Miranda Priestly (and all of her followers) use as a justification for treating each other horribly and that the audience will have to make the same decision as the film’s protagonist…should we sell our souls to the Prada wearing devil? Should we condone her behavior and say that all’s fair in business and fashion?

Thing is, I don’t think that’s what the movie’s about at all. I think that the underlining premise, conflict and moral of the whole film is that you can’t have it both ways. The protagonist can’t have the beatnik friends and laid back social life and still score invitations to black tie Manhattan parties and get air kisses from the top fashion designers.

But I don’t agree with that. My entire life I’ve been on the fence socially. In high school I wasn’t’ a cheerleader or a drama geek or an athlete or a surfer and yet despite the fact that these groups were always careful not to intermingle I was always welcomed into all of them. I never felt like I had to pick a social click and the people in the clicks never tried to force me to do so. They accepted me as an individual and welcomed my friendship and I think the reason they did this was because I was comfortable with my individuality. I wasn’t trying to prove anything and I think a lot of people found my self-confidence to be appealing.

Now I’m an adult and four weeks ago I was living it up at my own celebrity attended launch party in the Hamptons. I wore the designer dress that was given to me, I exchange air kisses with a few of Manhattan’s “it” girls (and guys, for that matter). Today I chatted on the phone with an up and coming television actress and it was only a few months ago that I was at the W flirting with a bigtime-behind-the-scenes-Hollywood-guy who had driven up from his Beverly Hills home just for the opportunity to take me out.

And when that date was over I got into my 1992 Volvo (which is always littered with my son’s crayons and comic books), drove back to my comfortably but poorly decorated home and slipped into the nightgown that I bought at Ross seven years ago. I don’t see myself as glamorous. I just see myself as someone who can BE glamorous when the situation calls for it. When I book a flight I usually do it on Southwest and I don’t get irritated with the airline’s complete lack of luxury. It’s cheap and the flight attendants are friendly and that’s good enough for me. I’ll be chic when I go to the high profile parties. No one’s ever told me I can’t have it both ways. Somehow I’ve managed to care about the environment AND the latest fashions without having an identity crisis.

Perhaps it was different for Lauren Weisberger. Maybe when she worked for her “Miranda Priestly” she really did find herself in a position where she had to choose. But oddly enough the success of The Devil Wears Prada has actually made her into an “it” girl. People see her as glamorous and associate her with fabulous parties and she has been photographed while walking the red carpet more than once. But I bet at the end of the day she slips into her own Ross nightgown…or something like that.


Kyra Davis
http://www.kyradavis.com/
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