The movie, The Devil Wears Prada is full of ideologies; more specifically the ideology of the fashion industry. The fashion industry has deemed itself to be mostly concerned with appearance, whereas every woman must be attractive and fit into a size "0". In this movie, the protagonist Andy does not fit the ideal image of a fashionista which conflicted with her new job as Miranda Priestly's assistant. Following her interview Andy learns that Miranda may not hire her due to her non- existent fashion sense and her unawareness of the magazine, although Miranda does hires her for being unlike her traditional employees.
Andy is unlike the traditional female. She doesn't find that she must put too much effort into her appearance or conform to the stereotype of the other females, she calls "the clackers". She is a journalist with no interest in fashion or being the ideal size "0". Her only interest in a job at the magazine is to boost her career as a journalist. She is constantly criticized for her frumpy sweaters and loafers. Surrounded by skinny girls in designer clothes Andy soon feels that she is the underdog, especially since she's is the "new girl".
Most of the audience, including myself would wish that Andy kept her non- conformist like ways, but instead she decides in order to do well in her job she must dress and act like her fellow colleagues. Her conformity only follows the female ideology of the fashion industry and is eventually her downfall. Although Andy does move up in her job at Runway, her social life goes up into flames. She loses not only her fiancee but her very best friends as well.
In all, this story teaches us if we follow the roles that society creates for us instead of being ourselves it will ultimately turn out to for the worst. Like Andy many of us struggle with becoming what we're not in order to please others, but instead of being like Andy we should remain true to what feels right for us and in turn we will be successful.
I think it's kind of interesting to look at how the concept of "perfection" comes into play throughout the movie. It's a central theme, with Andy's obliviousness toward the concept of perfection, and then her eventual struggle for it. Even in her growth as a character we can observe the effects of that struggle because it essentially changes who she is as a person, as you mentioned with the loss of her fiance and friends. Andy's narrative of change throughout the movie lets us observe the cost of her change, which I think is important.
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