Cutthroat boss Miranda Priestly
Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is the callous and diabolical editor-in-chief in The Devil Wears Prada. She is portrayed as cruel, cutthroat and mercurial, but despite those negative attributes, she also happens to be a great employer. Miranda treats her subordinates in a manner that borders on emotional and psychological abuse.
Miranda successfully spearheads the premier women's magazine portrayed in the film, manages an entire staff and is completely dedicated to her job. Though her methods may be unconventional and, at times brusque, you cannot argue that Miranda consistently delivers as an invaluable Editor-in-Chief. Miranda, otherwise known as the “Dragon Lady” is considered; the cruelest boss anyone has ever seen.
Miranda is the boss everyone dreads and probably hopes never to have -- she is cold, calculating, unpredictable, impossible to please and has expectations that fly out of the ceiling and then some more, yet in a strange way a person whose success they wish to emulate.
Miranda, the most influential woman in the fashion world and prominent editor of the major fashion magazine here called Runway. Despite the fact that Miranda is a moral monster, she is nevertheless the life and soul of the narrative. A rude and irrational figure, her outrageous conduct provides the narrative with its most entertaining episodes. Miranda is presented in such a way that she becomes the proverbial villain one loves to hate. Her existence colors every moment in this novel, including those in which she is actually absent — her great and dreadful spirit seems to hover menacingly even over those times and places that lack her physical presence. Like a powerful witch or goddess, her psyche seems to pervade every corner of her assistant Andrea’s existence, eating away at her personal life and relationships and dominating the narrative with powers that seem almost magical.
Outrageously thin, extraordinarily chic, and fantastically beautiful, Miranda can command a room simply by entering it and, as a result, seems to have no need for ordinary mortal manners and graces. She assumes that there will always be a team of sycophants and servants who will be at her beck and call and who will cater to her every whim. As her personal assistant, Andrea runs endless errands, including not only banalities such as attending to the dry cleaning but also impossible feats such as procuring an advance copy of the newest installment of the Harry Potter books and sending it, at tremendous expense, to Miranda’s children in Paris, or hunting endlessly for a special new restaurant on deliberately insufficient and misleading information provided by Miranda herself.
Miranda is a merciless, sophisticated and cruel woman, making the experience of being her assistant a living hell for every applicant. The working environment is cold and extremely critical, with physical appearance being more highly valued than talent or ability. Andrea realizes she will have to change her simple and plain style for a more fashion-aware and elegant one, in order to gain the acceptance of her ruthless boss and colleagues, specially Emily, her unpleasant workmate. Andrea has an epiphany when she realises that she is expecting to take away experience and contacts from the job while giving nothing in return.
As a gesture to Miranda she drastically changes her clothes and self-image, with the help of Nigel, the magazine's art director. Nevertheless, the job becomes extremely demanding, because of Miranda's tough work routine and nearly impossible tasks, leaving Andrea without a private life with her boyfriend, family and friends.