Study Guide for “The Devil Wears Prada” (David Frankel, 2006)

1. What is the importance of the opening shots of the film? How do they serve the film?
2. Whose point of view is the story told from? What clues are available for identifying the narrative voice in the film?
3. What does the film tell us about the concept of beauty?
4. What does the “Runway” magazine symbolize in the film?
5. Discuss what binary oppositions the film is built upon. How do these oppositions help you understand the characters depicted and the issues dealt with in the film?
6. Identify what “satire” means and then discuss to what extent and in what ways “The Devil Wears Prada” can be called a satirical film.
7. Identify what “melodrama” means and then discuss to what extent and in what ways “The Devil Wears Prada” can be called a melodrama.
8. Would you consider the ending of the film conventional? Why? Why not? Explain.
9. Discuss the following quote from the film: (In a restaurant in Paris, Andy tells Christian) “If Miranda were a man, no one would notice anything about her except how great she is at her job”.
   

© Ali Nihat Eken, Istanbul, September 2008
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