Growing up, 2000s comedies were a huge blind spot for me. My mom showed me the big dramas and thrillers of the ’90s and eventually the classic comedies of the ’80s, while my dad showed me the big pop culture staples of the ’70s and ’80s. But when it came to movies as they were being released, I was just too young to watch or care about many of the big comedy and drama hits of the new millennium. One of those blind spots is “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Sure, I was aware the movie existed. I’ve had a huge crush on Anne Hathaway for as long as I can remember, and knew she was in the movie with Meryl Streep, which is why “The Devil Wears Prada” even happened. But for 12-year-old me, this was mostly “that movie about fashion,” and I could not care less about fashion at the time. Indeed, for the longest time, I was convinced the movie was about fashion designers.

So imagine my surprise when the sequel was announced, and the trailer for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” showed me that it is NOT about fashion designers, but about journalists working at a fashion publication. That I have a longstanding passion for. Not only is journalism my chosen profession, but I love watching media about journalists — I am in the small group of people who genuinely and unapologetically love Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom.”

This is to say, I finally gave “The Devil Wears Prada” a chance. My extremely hot take? This movie is great, actually. The cast is phenomenal, the story is excellent, and Meryl Streep is an icon. It’s got everything you want in a movie, including one of the worst boyfriends in a major motion picture.

“The Devil Wears Prada” is not technically a movie about journalism, but the film does capture the hardships of that world. Most importantly, it captures the excitement of journalism and the exhilaration that comes with accomplishment.

The film mostly focuses on the bad, of course. Andy’s editor and boss, Miranda (Meryl Streep), is irrationally demanding, making her work at all hours of the day and night and assigning her impossible tasks. This makes all of Andy’s friends, boyfriend, and even her parents worry about how much the job is taking out of Andy. They have a point, of course.

And yet, seeing Andy slowly come to like the world of fashion she previously scoffed at, going as far as to actually learn about and care about the clothes she wears, hit right at home. Sure, Andy is well aware that her boss’ demands are ludicrous and that the job is consuming her entire life. But why can’t a girl find joy within the harsher parts of her work? We see how Andy begins to appreciate her boss’s recognition of a job well done and the respect she earns from her co-workers.

She even comes to enjoy wearing the outfits she once considered stupid and not worth the money. There may be a lot of downsides to the job, but finding those small joys is what makes life worth it. Then there’s Andy’s boyfriend. Good thing Adrian Grenier is not back for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” because Nate is an absolutely horrible boyfriend. A guy who complains about Andy’s work hours despite working at a restaurant, notoriously a job with unsociable hours. Plus, he is horrible at making grilled cheese!

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Meryl Streep steals the whole movie in her role as Miranda Priestly. Miranda is the intimidating editor-in-chief of the fictional “Runway” fashion magazine who everyone either admires or hates — usually both. It’s well known that Miranda in “The Devil Wears Prada” is based on the very real former “Vogue” editor Anna Wintour, who was initially bemused with the movie.

Miranda is a complex character, one who becomes even more fascinating after many years in the media. Yes, she’s meant to be a horrible boss, and she is. Miranda yelling at Andy for not finding a trip out of Florida in the middle of a hurricane is horrendous and absurd. Yes, this is a woman so obsessed with her work that it’s caused not one but two divorces. She cares so little about people who aren’t her that she has her assistants tell her the names of people she’s met several times at events because she doesn’t care to learn them.

And yet, Miranda is still an admirable editor who managed to keep a magazine afloat and on top of its industry for many years. She might be horrible to work for, but at the very least, she genuinely cares about her work and its impact. She isn’t trying to prioritize the bottom line and screw people to save some money; quite the opposite, she is notorious for wasting the publisher’s money with last-minute changes. 

Watching “The Devil Wears Prada” hits differently in 2026. The news is filled with big corporations whose owners are cannibalizing their companies, or with newspeople selling their souls under corporate pressure. By comparison, Miranda at least has integrity (maybe a bit too much of it).