Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Thinner, The Better


     In the movie, The Devil Wears Prada character, Emily Charlton is the ideal model of fashion perfection. The director portrays her as the fashion forward assistant of the famed Runway editor Miranda Priestly. As protagonist Andrea receives her new job, to follow in the footsteps of Emily, Emily teaches her the ropes, presenting herself as the dominant one. Emily is extremely thin, yet extremely fashionable. Throughout the movie all Emily does is rave about her trip to Paris with Miranda. In preparation for this trip Emily says, "See, I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything. And right before I feel I'm going to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. I'm one stomach flu away from my goal weight." This quote embodies the very fashion industry and the culture that we live in. Character, Emily Charlton who was probably no more than 100 pounds found that she should starve herself in order to be picture perfect in Paris. Here arises the stigma for those who want to be in the fashion industry or be beautiful even to be thin. 

     Today's society glorifies the slimmer woman and the muscular man. These things have become ideal and have shaped the minds and bodies of many. Emily is one of many girls starving themselves to find perfection. The media shapes what we as a society considers acceptable and beautiful and for years what is acceptable and beautiful has been small and thin.

     Not only does this quote show society's dire need to be thin but also portrays the extremes people will go to in order to please other people. Both characters in The Devil Wears Prada Emily and Andrea were willing to somehow alter their appearance in order to fit the role Miranda saw for them. Although the movie is fictional it goes to show that people of our culture go to extreme measures in order to appease those around if they are bosses, or family etc...

       A discourse analysis of this quote brings the reality that our society will do just about anything to fit into a stigma set by people we don't even know personally.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

3 comments:

  1. Melanie VadneyFebruary 20, 2012 at 10:02 PM

    I agree with you there, but I think even in taking the discourse analysis further we could examine the theme of "the thinner, the better" on the levels of our society as a whole. Even from a young age, we have this image of what looks good and what isn't good. This hasn't historically been the same, as it has changed with the times. One of the major things about the theme in the Devil Wears Prada though, is that the whole goal of the fashion industry is what looks best. I think this itself could also be well qualified for a discourse analysis as a theme.

    ReplyDelete
  2. rickradvanskyFebruary 21, 2012 at 4:10 PM

    This quote is rather disturbing. It's a shame that some people feel this way, as it just so happens that the "desirable" look can be (and most likely is) dangerous to achieve. Although it's chilling, this quote was a good one to take a look at. As you mentioned in your last blog post about the controversy of the movie, a quote like this seems to quickly sum up why there was an uproar. It certainly speaks on behalf of the dark side of the industry, and has influence over some girls who watch it, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KeonaFebruary 21, 2012 at 8:47 PM

    I agree with Rick that the quote was a really good choice to look into. It's a shame that people actually tend to think and act like that. The modeling business is a very tough critic world that has girls starving themselves to look like what they think is beautiful. Why does a size three have to be the image they want to portray. This quote certainly defines the modeling world.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)