halimuyak

[halimuyak]

#alex schlab #faceclaims

[halimuyak]

@deoron

#merrymusings #objects #fashion #? #it's giving [unnamed char]

[halimuyak]

So how do we do this? Not alone. We do it together.

#never getting over them i fear #daredevil #maxine x matthias #mattelektra

[halimuyak]

hi i just wanna say i agree with ur essay and girlboss culture is brain poison

THANK YOU

#i come here once in a blue moon to be insane #and i hope that at least one person gets it #mission accomplished #until the next manic episode and accompanying unhinged rant #about some piece of media that absolutely does not need overthinking #now i go back to the real world #(everybody booed)

[halimuyak]

i'm literally never here anymore but i need to get this out of my head and i need other people's input because i'm going insane and i'm just gonna copy and paste the whole formalized thing

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Help me understand something about The Devil Wears Prada.

I’m genuinely curious to know what everyone thinks of it. I’ve gone slightly insane overthinking a movie to this degree, and deep down, I know it isn’t serious, but my thoughts about it have been Gorilla Glue’d into my cerebral cortex.

For context, I’m twenty-five and not American. The first time I watched The Devil Wears Prada was a couple of years back during the pandemic, and since then, I’ve rewatched it twice. I also think it’s worth noting I watched the movie over a decade after it premiered, and American pop culture back then had a different set of… values, I guess? —so, my opinions are somewhat removed from the context of the story. I do know the book it’s based on is fiction, but it’s partially based on Lauren Weisberger’s time as Anna Wintour’s assistant at Vogue.

That being said, as a baseline of where I was before watching The Devil Wears Prada for the first time: I was fully expecting to detest the boyfriend. I was raised on the internet (again, I’m twenty-five, a bit of an older Gen Z person, but I still consider myself a bit of a digital native), and growing up, I was bathed with Buzzfeed articles and Tumblr think pieces explaining why the boyfriend was the “real villain” of the movie and not Miranda. Naturally, I went into the movie waiting to see Andy’s boyfriend be a fuckwit to her.

I genuinely don’t think the boyfriend is even close to any sort of villain in the movie. Like I said, this is after a few rewatches because I tried to “see” this movie in different ways, thinking maybe I missed the point, misinterpreted the story, or wrongly contextualized some things. I’m completely blind to how the internet’s got the boyfriend pegged as the villain.

When we’re first introduced to Andy, she states working at Runway isn’t something she’s invested in. Her values don’t align with what Runway does or stands for as a publication, and her boyfriend feels the same way. She’s a journalist who wants to do “real” journalism. There’s nothing wrong with that. Though, my observation is she thought she was a little above caring about fashion, at least in the beginning.

But as the story progresses, Andy starts to get it. It takes her a while to get it, so much so that when she doesn’t show proper decorum during a meeting, she gets lectured and humiliated for it (Cerulean Sweater Monologue)—but she gets it. She begins to show an appreciation for fashion and fashion journalism, which she shares with her friends and boyfriend. She’s aware and somewhat accepts Runway vaguely resembles hell on Earth as a workplace, but she adapts to it and eventually succeeds (or, at least, becomes an “effective” assistant). I’m also aware there’s an undercurrent of Runway being an immensely toxic and borderline abusive workplace, especially at Miranda’s hand, and it’s accepted because of the “prestige” (holy fatphobia, Batman!), but that’s a separate topic altogether.

On a base level, there’s nothing wrong with Andy changing her thoughts and opinions toward Runway and the fashion industry. I was under the impression the through line of the movie was:

Woman who wants a “serious” job can’t find a “serious” job, so she settles for a “non-serious” job in the meantime.

Woman doesn’t take her “non-serious” job seriously because, duh.

Woman experiences an inciting incident that begets a montage of education, appreciation, and transformation, thus, she finally takes her “non-serious” job seriously.

Woman falls into the deep end of her job, and it compromises her personal relationships (“Let me know when your whole life goes up in smoke. Means it’s time for a promotion.”)

Woman realizes her job has swallowed her whole and changed her into an unlikable person. She doesn’t like this, so she abandons it to pursue her original dream.

Of course, that’s an oversimplification of the plot. There are a ton of nuances in the film: the aforementioned toxic and abusive workplace, the insincerity in the industry these people have to accept and deal with, and the awareness of all this between the characters.

Even with her “new self” and subsequent missteps, I still don’t think Andy is a hypocrite. I can’t even fault her for falling into the bad behaviors caused by the exposure to her new workplace (though I do also have an opposing thought of Andy being oddly cowardly in her actions for someone who wants to be a “serious” journalist—and also, the weird pseudo-cheating, I guess?).

There are so many “evils” in this movie, but her boyfriend is nowhere near the problem. He and her friends get upset with Andy when she ditches them to cater to Miranda. And even then, her friends showed her a decent level of understanding because being subservient to a horrendous boss isn’t a conscious choice anyone makes. But when Andy fully misses her boyfriend’s birthday celebration, all he asks for is accountability from her, and she doesn’t seem to give it to him fully. He doesn’t antagonize her; he antagonizes what her job is making her do and the person she’s becoming because of it. I don’t recall there being a moment in the movie where she has an honest conversation about how her outlook has changed, barring a few sentences said in passing toward her boyfriend and friends. Wouldn’t anyone get upset if their friend or girlfriend puts work over them without clearly communicating these changes?

And then there’s the Miranda of it all. Miranda is the villain of the movie. The actual, main, central villain. She’s a part of a self-selecting population of loathsome, miserable human beings. She’s aware of what she’s sacrificing to hold on to her title at Runway because she truly believes she’s irreplaceable, among other beliefs that hinder her from behaving in a way that allows her happiness. I could write an entire dissertation about Miranda and the movie in its entirety, but I want to focus on talking about the boyfriend lest my brain implode.

I need other people’s opinions. What am I missing? It boggles my mind he’s perceived as the villain at any point in the movie. And more importantly, I can’t believe this has taken up a significant amount of brain space that I felt compelled to write about it.

#or honestly just report me #it's embarrassing in my grown ass age that i've thought long and hard about a chick lit movie #it's a great movie though i love it #tucci gang 4ever

[halimuyak]

HAVANA ROSE LIU as ISABEL Bottoms (2023) dir. Emma Seligman

#bottoms #havana rose liu #faceclaims

[halimuyak]

No more tears.

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957) dir. Leo McCarey

#peter x jean #deep sigh but also loud scream #an affair to remember

[halimuyak]

i’m realizing that i have so much time. i have time to grow my hair long. i have time to cut it all off and then to grow it back again. i have time to discover new hobbies and give up on things that no longer serve me. i have time to grow and change and travel and change my opinions and live differently than how i am now. i have so much time. take a deep breath and slow down

#good soup #text

[halimuyak]

@photo.destruction

#maxine x matthias #people #idk what my gif tag is i'll figure it out eventually

[halimuyak]

HOLLIDAY GRAINGER AS LUCREZIA BORGIA | THE BORGIAS

#maxine x matthias #the borgias #let's not talk about it

[halimuyak]

#adeline rudolph #maxine brandt #matty took this photo fr

[halimuyak]

The High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) control room, Sydney, Australia. Photo by Brett Patman

#interiors #coronado

[halimuyak]

shaking crying just want to rp mutants in a tin-lead group

please you are so sweet dkdjsksjskds well get off anon and lemme talk to you rq

[halimuyak]

what about next gen c23 👀

now wait a minute

[halimuyak]

i do wanna run it (c23) with you!!! i never got to be a part of it but it looked like sm fun.

oh god bless you that’s so sweet dkdjslssjfshs and it was fun! but personally that whole thing has run its course and uhhh i got some other ideas cookin instead

[halimuyak]

whispers bring back c23

sure you wanna run it with me

[halimuyak]

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) dir. Christopher McQuarrie

#mission: impossible fallout #vanessa kirby #who tf knows what my tags are