Young Peolple and the World of Consumerism

Pair Work

The Devil Wears Prada – Plot keywords

As you know, films can be used as an excellent tool to learn and improve any foreign language, namely English. Below there is a list of keywords you can find in the film. Look up for the ones you don’t know in a dictionary. Add more words/expressions to the list.

Betrayal
Museum
Integrity
Career
Career Woman
Haute Couture
She Devil
Dinner
Clothing
Northwestern University
Coffee
Hurricane
Journalism
Model
Journalist
Pretty Girl
Gown
Boss
Husband
Spouse
Skirt
Glasses
Friendship
Wife
Work
Photo Shoot
Assistant
Job Interview
Urban
Job
Fashion
Coat
College Graduate
Chef
Boyfriend
Hospital
Cell Phone
New York City
New Job
Confrontation
Twins
First Job
Writer
Magazine
Paris
Satirical
Apartment
Boots
Birthday
Fashion Industry
Driver
Car Accident
Glamour
Poncho
Shoes
Steak
Incompetence
Ambitious Woman
Editor
Fish Out Of Water
Demand
Blockbuster
Mother
Miami Florida
Based On Novel
Actor Shares First Name With Character
Twist In The End

Time for you to act!

Study the dialogues and role play them in class. Try to be rid of your cheat sheet by memorising your speeches.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)


Miranda Priestly: I don't understand why it's so difficult to confirm an appointment.

Emily: I know, I'm so sorry, Miranda. I actually did confirm...

Miranda Priestly: The details of your incompetence do not interest me. Tell Simone I'm not going to approve that girl that she sent me for the Brazilian layout. I asked for clean, athletic, smiling; she sent me dirty, tired and paunchy. And RSVP yes to Michael Kors' party, I want the driver to drop me off at 9:30 and pick me up at 9:45 sharp. Then call Natalie at Glorious Foods and tell her no, for the 40th time, no, I don't want dacquoise, I want tortes filled with warm rhubarb compote. Then call my ex-husband and remind him that the parent/teacher conference is at Dalton tonight. Then call my husband. Ask him to please meet me for dinner at that place I went to with Mossimo. Also, tell Richard I saw all the pictures that he sent for that feature on the female paratroopers and they're all so deeply unattractive. Is it impossible to find a lovely, slender, female paratrooper? Am I reaching for the stars here? Not really. Also I need to see all the things that Nigel has pulled for Gwyneth's second cover try. I wonder if she's lost any of that weight yet. [seeing Andy]

Miranda Priestly: Who is that?

Emily: Andrea, my God! You look so chic.

Andy Sachs: Oh, thanks. You look so thin.

Emily: Really? It's for Paris, I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.

Miranda Priestly: Do you know why I hired you? I always hire the same girl- stylish, slender, of course... worships the magazine. But so often, they turn out to be- I don't know- disappointing and, um... stupid. So you, with that impressive résumé and the big speech about your so-called work ethic- I, um- I thought you would be different. I said to myself, go ahead. Take a chance. Hire the smart, fat girl. I had hope. My God. I live on it. Anyway, you ended up disappointing me more than, um- more than any of the other silly girls.
Miranda Priestly: No. And I've seen all this before.

Jocelyn: Theyskens is trying to reinvent the drop waist, so actually it's...

Miranda Priestly: Where are all the other dresses?

Lucia: We have some right here.

Nigel: Stand, watch and listen.

Jocelyn: And I think it can be very interesting...

Miranda Priestly: No. No, I just- It's just baffling to me. Why is it so impossible to put together a decent run-through? You people have had hours and hours to prepare. It's just so confusing to me. Where are the advertisers?

Jocelyn: We have some pieces from Banana Republic.

Miranda Priestly: We need more, don't we? Oh. This is- This might be- What do you think of... Nigel: Yeah. Well, you know me. Give me a full ballerina skirt and a hint of saloon and I'm on board.

Miranda Priestly: But do you think it's too much like...

Nigel: Like the Lacroix from July? I thought that, but no, not with the right accessories. It should work.

Miranda Priestly: Where are the belts for this dre- Why is no one ready?

Lucia: Here. It's a tough call. They're so different.
Miranda Priestly: [Miranda and some assistants are deciding between two similar belts for an outfit. Andy sniggers because she thinks they look exactly the same] Something funny?

Andy Sachs: No, no, nothing. Y'know, it's just that both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y'know, I'm still learning about all this stuff.

Miranda Priestly: This... 'stuff'? Oh... ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.

Miranda Priestly: You thought I didn't know. I've known what was happening for quite some time. It just took me a little while to find a suitable alternative for Jacqueline. And that James Holt job was just so absurdly overpaid that of course she jumped at it. So I just had to tell Irv that Jacqueline was unavailable. Truth is, there's no one that can do what I do. Including her. Any of the other choices would have found that job impossible and the magazine would have suffered. Especially because of the list. The list of designers, photographers, editors, writers, models, all of whom were found by me, nurtured by me and have promised me they will follow me whenever and if ever I choose to leave Runway. So he reconsidered. But I was very very impressed by how intently you tried to warn me. I never thought I would say this, Andrea, but I really, I see a great deal of myself in you. You can see beyond what people want, and what they need and you can choose for yourself.

Andy Sachs: I don't think I'm like that. I couldn't do what you did to Nigel, Miranda. I couldn't do something like that.

Miranda Priestly: You already did. To Emily.

Andy Sachs: That's not what I... no, that was different. I didn't have a choice.

Miranda Priestly: No, no, you chose. You chose to get ahead. You want this life. Those choices are necessary.

Andy Sachs: But what if this isn't what I want? I mean what if I don't wanna live the way you live?

Miranda Priestly: Oh, don't be ridiculous. Andrea. Everybody wants this. Everybody wants to be us.

Emily: When I am not here... Andrea, you are chained to that desk!

Andy Sachs: But what if I have to...

Emily: What? No! Nothing! One time an assistant left the desk. Oh, because she sliced her hand open with a letter opener, and Miranda missed Lagerfeld just before he was about to board a 17 hour flight to Austrailia. She now works at TV Guide.

Andy Sachs: Man the desk at all times. Got it.

[Andy is on the phone taking a message] Andy Sachs: Can you please spell 'Gabbana'? [Person on the other line hangs up] Andy Sachs: Guess not...

Andy Sachs: She hates me, Nigel.

Nigel: And that's my problem because... Oh, wait. No, it's not my problem.

Andy Sachs: I don't know what else I can do because if I do something right, it's unacknowledged. She doesn't even say thank you. But if I do something wrong, she is vicious. Nigel: So quit.

Andy Sachs: What?

Nigel: Quit.

Andy Sachs: Quit?

Nigel: I can get another girl to take your job in five minutes... one who really wants it.

Andy Sachs: No, I don't want to quit. That's not fair. But, I, you know, I'm just saying that I would just like a little credit... for the fact that I'm killing myself trying.

Nigel: Andy, be serious. You are not trying. You are whining. What is it that you want me to say to you, huh? Do you want me to say, "Poor you. Miranda's picking on you. Poor you. Poor Andy"? Hmm? Wake up, six. She's just doing her job. Don't you know that you are working at the place that published some of the greatest artists of the century? Halston, Lagerfeld, de la Renta. And what they did, what they created was greater than art because you live your life in it. Well, not you, obviously, but some people. You think this is just a magazine, hmm? This is not just a magazine. This is a shining beacon of hope for... oh, I don't know... let's say a young boy growing up in Rhode Island with six brothers pretending to go to soccer practice when he was really going to sewing class and reading Runway under the covers at night with a flashlight. You have no idea how many legends have walked these halls. And what's worse, you don't care. Because this place, where so many people would die to work you only deign to work. And you want to know why she doesn't kiss you on the forehead and give you a gold star on your homework at the end of the day. Wake up, sweetheart.

Emily: [talking about Andrea] I absolutely have no idea why Miranda hired her.

Serena: Tell me about it. We were in the Beauty Department and she held up this Shu Uemura eyelash curler and said "What is this?"

Emily: [laughing] I just knew that when the first moment I saw her, she was going to be a complete and utter disas... [Andrea walks in with a new outfit]

Andy Sachs: [answering the phone] Miranda Priestly's office... No, she's not in right now but I'll leave word... OK, thanks. Bye.

Emily: [shocked by Andrea's new look] How... Are you wearing the Ch...

Andy Sachs: Chanel Boots? Yeah, I am. Serena: You look good. [Emily's mad about what Serena said] Serena: What? She does... Emily: Oh, shut up, Serena.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458352/quotes (adapted )