'The Devil Wears Prada': One Stomach Flu Away from Perfect

 

If you can run in heels, do so as fast as you possibly can to see 'The Devil Wears Prada.' I'm billing it The Most Fun Movie of the Summer.

Somebody (I think USA Today?) said the audience for this film is 79% women. If that's true, the remainder breaks down like this: 18% gay men, 2% metrosexual/questioning, and 1% straight dudes who got dragged to the theater by a their wife/girlfriend. Read: This movie is very gay.

There's nothing gay on the surface, mind you. Even Stanley Tucci's Nigel -- almost a gay everyman in this film -- isn't that gay. (Actually he's very gay, but it's just so beside the point in the script. Brilliant!)

No, what's so deliciously homo about this movie is very old-fashioned: It's got style, attitude, and a bitch you love to hate and hate to love. It almost harkins back to Hollywood's Golden Age. Think Joan Crawford in 'Mildred Pierce,' or Bette Davis as Margo Channing in 'All About Eve.' Razor-sharp lines flow out of Meryl Streep's geniusly crafted Miranda Priestly like so much bling: "The details of your incompetence do not interest me." 

Every gay man worth his Manolos-for-men has a favorite line uttered by Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine, Roz Russell or, again, Joan Crawford, in George Cukor's iconic and beloved-by-the-gays 1939 masterpiece, 'The Women'. I predict that 'The Devil Wears Prada' could join the ranks. In 20 years, don't be surprised if gay men throw around lines like "I'm one stomach flu away from reaching my goal weight."

At least I hope so. If they do, it would mean that gay men haven't been completely, boringly mainstreamed. It would mean we still hold on to that certain je-ne-sais-quoi that makes us special. I saw 'The Devil Wears Prada' at the Gateway Cinema in Fort Lauderdale. The audience was at least 60% gay. Have you ever noticed how we laugh at stuff other people don't? There's just a nuance that we pick up on. A sense of irony mixed with camp surrounded by a feverish appreciation of women who aren't afraid to let people know this isn't their first time at the rodeo.

Meryl Streep is superb in this role. Very few actresses could imbue a character with so many horrid behaviors, while still revealing a vulnerability that makes viewers see that she's only human (dressed like a goddess.) Anne Hathaway is a likeable Cinderella you can't help root for, especially when she's up against Emily, the hysterically evil step-sister/colleague.

I know the film is a comedy/drama, but it also doesn't miss the chance to point a well-manicured finger at the twisted business that is fashion, plus women's body image issues, bad bosses and selfish ambition.

But mostly, it's a romp. A mad-dash ride with the top down, Hermès scarf blowing in the wind, dishing the dirt with your best girlfriend.

That's all.

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Tags: The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep, Movies