This One Line in 'The Devil Wears Prada' Says Everything About Body Image Pressure

For every Andy in the world, there’ll always be an Emily, who’ll both scare and inspire her. That girl is indeed strong. In addition to managing Miranda Priestly’s entire daily life, she’s been carrying an entire load of expectations of how she should look and how she should be. You can squint your eyes at her body image insecurities all you want, but can you really say that her fear of being rejected is unwarranted?

David Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada is iconic for many reasons. Set against the backdrop of the fashion industry, it is often listed among the best fashion flicks of all time. But my favorite thing about the movie is how it satirizes systematic misogyny and body image obsession with a chortle. Frankel’s dig at beauty standards is light-hearted, almost like a roast. You feel the pinch, but you can’t help but smile at the honesty.

One such iconic moment is at the charity event party, when Emily, Miranda’s first assistant, says, “I’m one stomach flu away from my goal weight.”

In this article, we’re analyzing how Emily’s dialogue in this particular Devil Wears Prada scene uncovers the social dogmatism around women’s appearance that dictates their entire lives.

Read on, only if you’re ready for some ugly truths.

The Story

A quick reminder, The Devil Wears Prada follows Andy (Anne Hathaway), a newly graduated journalist, as she navigates the struggles of being the assistant to a high-end fashion mogul, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), with no experience or interest in fashion whatsoever. The job becomes a life-changing experience for Andy as she realizes the superficiality of success, coming face to face with the dark reality of the fashion world.

In addition to exploring complex themes that include the cost of ambition and the superficiality of professional obsession, the narrative beautifully presents the tension between personal identity and societal pressure, especially for women chasing a career (or not).

The Scene

It is a charity event, where the high-profile individuals of the city have gathered. It looks like no less than a red carpet event. Andy walks in, completely transformed into a supermodel who is literally all set to walk the Prada ramp!

Emily (Emily Blunt) is stumped to see the new Andy. She blurts out, “Oh my God…Andrea, you look so chic.” Andy, unsure what to say, literally goes to return the compliment by saying something that Emily is dying to hear. She blurts out, “You look so thin.”

The remark hits Emily like ecstasy, “Do I?!!” As the two women proceed to walk in, Emily tells Andy about this new diet that she is on, specifically for the fashion event in Paris that she is supposed to accompany Miranda to. As per the diet, she needs to starve herself until she is about to collapse, right before which she is allowed to have one cube of cheese.

Andy uncomfortably validates her efforts by complimenting the results once again. Emily says, “I know… I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.”

How Emily’s Remark Embodies the Universal Obsession With a Woman’s Figure

Chances Are Your Mom Will Tell You To Go On A Diet, Repeatedly

Hey, I’m not attacking moms here; just hear me out. Unrealistic beauty expectations from a woman are not limited to misogyny. Heck! Sometimes it’s the women in your life who push you into this abyss of insecurities. From mothers to friends to grandmothers, there are endless female figures in every woman’s life who would remind her how she could look better if she dropped a couple of pounds. The idea is so deep-seated that many times, these women aren’t even aware how they are slowly inducing a feeling of inadequacy in one another.

As a woman who has been bullied all her childhood for her skin tone and weight, it was the people closest to me, and women especially, who had taken it upon themselves to remind me that I wasn’t good enough the way I was.

If You’re Curvy, Shopping Is Not Therapy

Shopping is rather a nightmare for you if you’re a curvy girl. Every ad, every tagline, sometimes even clothing store salesclerks, will remind women that retail caters to certain body types, and curvy is usually not on that list. It’s interesting, actually, because fashion is a hobby and passion for so many women regardless of size, but it tends to be exclusive, or rather, geared toward thinner women. If you’re curvy, fashion can sometimes seem like an elite club that you can’t join until you change the way you look, which is…probably unhealthy and definitely shitty.

Emily Is Part Of The Problem, And So Are We

Let’s begin with Emily first. I am not attacking her here because she is completely opposite to Andy. She is not the antagonist; rather, a kind of her self-aware sidekick. Her heart might be in the right place, but Emily, despite knowing the woes of validating such expectations, gives in to them over and over again. At the same time, she tries to dump similar expectations on the women around her, as if she’s ensuring that it is as bad for everyone else as it is for her.

Right from the beginning, we see her obsessed with how she looks. In her first encounter with Andy, not only does she heavily judge her, but she also comments on her appearance. Even when Andy walks into the office in designer clothes for the first time, thanks to Nigel’s makeover, we cannot ignore Emily’s cold shoulder towards Andy. Although she warms up to her by the end of the film, we do not see much transformation in Emily’s personality.

Emily is us. She represents all of us who’ve been carrying the trauma and oppression of femininity. Tried to lose weight to make your ex jealous right after a breakup? Obsessed about that little belly fat every time you wear a dress? Were you anxious before stepping on a scale? I think you can see the problem here, too.

Emily is an enabler. Her joy at Andy’s compliments that she’s lost weight and then boasting how she’s “one stomach flu from her goal weight” is sheer madness. Sadly, there’s more of her than there are of those who are fighting back.

The Non-Chalance Towards Health Risk

Emily’s nonchalance as she compromises her health to look a certain way is scary. A grown woman spreading herself thin just because she wishes to fit into a certain dress and look a certain way at a celebrity fashion event underscores a certain immaturity and surrender. In Emily’s experience, for women (especially if you are in fashion), your looks decide your fate. Over time, slowly but steadily, Emily has soaked the idea in. Her saying, “I seriously don’t know why Miranda has hired her,” showcases her desperation for validation and also how, even she judges a book by its cover and a person by their looks, despite being a victim herself. But is she the only one?

From teenage girls to full-grown women, I have seen females take up insane diets and develop eating disorders while trying to achieve their goal weight. And it is scary! From Botox to liposuction to crazy diets to plastic surgery, we’re betting our money, health, and self-confidence just to match up to some fashion influencer or model in an ad, knowing full well that every video and picture has gone through multiple layers of editing.

The Devil Wears Prada is a dark dig at a woman's cruel fate, showcasing how they’re living like puppets in a world that is also theirs.

Which is your favorite moment from the movie?