"Prada" is a Charismatic

This review is from: The Devil Wears Prada (Full Screen Edition) (DVD)

"The Devil Wears Prada" is a staple in my personal movie library. Rarely has a lioness been more enticing or vicious in corporate America as Meryl Streep's "Miranda Priestley." Priestley is equal to task to Michael Douglas' "Gordon Gekko" in the movie "Wall Street." But, why do we love these characters that would do anything to achieve and maintain professional success? I believe "...Prada" is a microcosm of the world. Most people are afraid to wholeheartedly go after the "Brass Ring." When we see the likes of a Miranda Priestley (Streep) entering onto the world stage, we love and loathe her simultaneously for her viciousness as well as her victories. While she may exhibit somewhat psychopathic tendencies, she is not the shrinking violet many would have her be. In fact, her subordinates become victims of the "Stockholm Syndrome." While the fashion industry isn't a philanthropic endeavor, the characters become sucked into her vortex, enamored by the passion and sheer excellence Miranda puts into her vocation. Meryl Streep was edged out by Helen Mirren's "The Queen" for the Oscar, but it's Streep's riveting performance that keeps me repeating the experience.

Watch "The Devil Wears Prada" to be entertained and educated about the ways of the world. The most salient one liner in the movie was Streep's divulging a truism of contemporary society and its pursuit of acclaim, fame and fortune, "Everyone wants to be us."

Related: Charisma

Charisma: Can Minds Be Opened?

The idea of a completely open mind is a misnomer. For a true open mind to exist, one must have a blank slate of experiences without any preconceived notions. As soon as a person begins to have experiences, she ceases to have an open mind, holding close to ideas and paradigms that help make sense of the world. Invariably, your value comes in creating a greater awareness whether it is accepted or not.

As pattern-seeking individuals, our paradigms help us make rapid sense of how the world operates, using these patterns to protect us physically and emotionally. Our experiences come through personal encounters or vicariously through others. As such, new information will do one of three things to a person's paradigm: 1. Transform or shift, 2. Expand, 3. Fall by the wayside. In transforming or shifting a paradigm, the individual has accepted a new pattern of thinking that supersedes a previous thought pattern. Depending on the malleability of the person's willingness to change, this transformation may be smooth or a tumultuous intrusion.

The new mode of thinking is antithetical to the previous thought pattern. The individual willingly chooses to change paradigm, because she has found greater protection with deeper awareness. Secondly, the individual will expand her paradigm by building on supplemental information that solidifies current modes of thinking. Semantically, this might be viewed as a transformation or shift, but in this view, the person is not releasing a viewpoint, but merely adding to the accepted belief system. This might be defined as experiencing a moment of clarity. Finally, information may fall by the wayside, because it has hit upon a mindset that either doesn't see the value or outright rejects the notion. The person doesn't get it or see the relevancy. The most important point to remember is that information is consistently filtered to occupy one of these spaces. You want your ideas to transform or expand, but hopefully never fall by the wayside.

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