Communication Concepts

Film Analysis PaperForthis assignment,you are to engage in the movie “the Devil Wears Prada” on a critical level. This means that I am asking you to apply the multiple communication concepts you have discovered through this course against the movie you choose. In other words, what you are doing is putting together theory (course concepts) and practice (the life world of the movie).Specifically, you are to choose 4of the concepts below in order to a) explain them and then b) show how they work in the movie. Your paper should be a minimum of 2full pages in length. Communication Concepts From The Text (Choose 4)
1.Communication as a foundation for personal life, relationships, professional success, and civic life
2.Regulative and Constitutive Rules guiding communication
3.Nonverbal behaviors of Kinesics, Haptics, Physical Appearance, and Artifacts
4.Nonverbal behaviors of Proxemics, Environment, Chronemics, and Silence
5.Ineffective Listening, Pseudolistening, Monopolizing, Ambushing, Selective, Defensive, Literal Listening
6.Self-Disclosure
7.Conflict
8.Cultural Adaptation, Resistance, Tolerance, Understanding, Respect, Participation
9.Significant & Generalized Others, Reflected Appraisals, Self-fulfilling Prophesy
10.Relationship Dialectics
11.Five Phase Model of Dyadic Breakdown.

ANSWER

Communication Concept

Communication Concepts

The Devil Wears Prada: Film Analysis

The Devil Wears Prada is an interesting and captivating movie. From the emotional rollercoaster that its scenes take one through to the inspiration and motivation that it gives to its viewers, it is a film that one cannot get bored watching now and then. The film can make one cry, laugh, get angry, and still invite them to go on an extravagant shopping spree. The Devil Wears Prada focuses on Andy Sachs, a graduate of Northwestern University, in her journey of starting and building a successful career. She gets employed as a second assistant of Miranda Priestly, the chief editor of a top-selling magazine (Frankel et al., 2006). Miranda Priestly is a very powerful and merciless person who treats people with cruelty and meanness. In this paper, the various layers and concepts of communication such as social comparison theory, social judgment theory, managing emotions, stages of relationships, and interpersonal conflict will be defined using examples from the film.

Social judgment theory can be easily and quickly observed in The Devil Wears Prada. When Andy Sachs first joined the organization, Miranda, her first assistant, and the art director, Nigel, portray a negative attitude towards her. They looked down on her for her lack of fashion sense and thought that she had nothing to bring to the table. As the film progresses, however, their opinion of her changes as she keeps proving to everyone that a sense of fashion or style is not a requirement to survive and thrive in the journalism industry. Andy goes through all the challenges posed by Miranda, overcoming them and impressing Miranda in the process. The social comparison theory is also observable in the film, where individuals tend to compare themselves to others to develop a positive self-image or foster self-improvement (Buunk & Gibbons, 2007). Andy Sachs was a care-free, funny, and simple woman when she started working for her firm. After a year of working in the fashion industry, everything seems to have changed. She became more careful about what she wore, how she looked, and how people thought about her style.

All the changes observable in her style and behavior can be attributed to the people she worked around. Andy got a new haircut, started wearing designer clothes, and even lost weight to fit in the designer clothes. She even drifts away from her friends and her boyfriend, trying to fit in the crowd she worked with and associated with. She and her boyfriend, Nate, used to be a romantic couple that would hang out and enjoy late-night grilled cheese, mocking Miranda and the others working with her for being stuck-up and obsessed about their fashion and physical appearance. This changed as Andy got more absorbed into her job. Nate tries to make Andy choose between her career and the relationship, obviously intimidated by the changes he observed in her. This is an example of an interpersonal conflict where peoples’ interests tend to clash. The conflict takes a toll on their relationship, even though they end up back together in the end.

Emily, Miranda’s first assistant, is a person who is deeply absorbed into the fashion industry and her job. Unlike Andy, she was conscious of her diet and physical appearance, only taking a cube of cheese for lunch. When she got involved in a car accident and was stuck in the hospital, she became hysterical and too upset that she started overeating and taking food rich in calories, abandoning her earlier focus on maintaining a particular “perfect” physical appearance. Andy tries calming her down and helping her manage her emotions. By showing Emily the names of people that she would meet in Paris, and reassuring her that she would do her best in her place, she made her feel better and manage her emotions (Frankel et al., 2006). We can also observe various stages of relationships from the relationship between Andy and Miranda. At the earlier stages of their relationship, Miranda comes off as an overworking, heartless, cruel, and surface-level person. As they continue working together, Andy breaks the surface layers of Miranda and makes her show a new side that people did not know existed, showing viewers a caring mum who is not heartless like everyone thought. Self-disclosure is evident as Miranda continues showing a different side of her to Andy.

The Devil Wears Prada is a great film to watch on any day. It portrays many communication concepts and conveys good lessons on how to relate with colleagues and friends. It shows that we should never judge people too fast since they may have a different side that can only be shown if we take time to know them better. It also teaches people to be there for their friends in times of need and teaches them that it is important to strike a balance between work and personal life.

References

Buunk, A. P., & Gibbons, F. X. (2007). Social comparison: The end of a theory and the emergence of a field. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(1), 3-21.

Frankel, D., Streep, M., Hathaway, A., Tucci, S., Baker, S., Blunt, E., … & McKenna, A. B. (2006). The Devil Wears Prada. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.