Fairy Tale and Film

10 Things I Hate About You
, when 
she admits to being scared at the prospect of a relationship, Andrew 
readily and publicly admits to the same feelings, affirming an interest-
ing equivalence between them. For the most part, the film clearly seeks 
to elicit sympathy for Margaret (largely due to her bereavement and the 
effect it has had on her) and affords her a level of respect other generic 
examples distinctly lack. Refreshingly, she gets her man without having 
to grovel, and presumably keeps her job too.
While 
The Proposal
manages to avoid the pitfalls of other rom-coms 
adopting the humbled heroine motif, it also makes some pertinent 
references to the question of women in the workforce, particularly 
those who make it to the top of their profession. When Margaret sacks 
slacking male colleague Frank at the start of the film, his response is 
an outraged public outburst, terming her a ‘monster’ and a ‘bitch’ and 
seeking to hurt her where he perceives her to be most vulnerable: ‘Just 
because you have no semblance of a life outside of this office you think 
that you can treat us all like your personal slaves. You know what? I feel 
sorry for you because do you know what you’re gonna have on your 
deathbed? Nothing and no one.’ She coolly responds by dubbing him 
‘lazy, entitled, and incompetent’, before having him escorted from the 
premises, but although his words don’t make a dent in her demeanour, 
we realise, as the film progresses, that he’s touched a nerve. What is the 
point of everything she’s achieved if she has no one to share it with? 
It is this ominous question that hovers unsettlingly around many of the 
rom-coms featuring haughty heroines. Contemporary ‘Cinderella’ tales 
may progressively aim to reconcile romantic concerns with the need 
to forge good career prospects, but the anti-feminist warning, unsubtly 
stated by Frank, is that a career alone is worth nothing at all. 
The Devil Wears Prada
(David Frankel, 2006) similarly centres on the 
relationship between a ruthless female boss and her apprentice, albeit 
one that is platonic in this case, and with a boss who never quite defrosts. 
Generally considered to be a pastiche of 
Vogue
editor Anna Wintour, the 
formidable Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) treats her assistants with 
barely concealed contempt. New girl Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) takes 
a job as Miranda’s PR at high-profile fashion magazine 
Runway
in order 
to gain valuable work experience – considering the position a stepping 
stone to her dream job at 
The New York Mirror
– yet the demands of her 
boss are such that Andy soon finds herself sacrificing everything for 
her, including a boyfriend who resents the time she is no longer able to 

---

40 
Fairy Tale and Film
spend with him and his similarly underachieving friends (who consider 
her a sell-out). The fact that he doesn’t make enough money to meet 
their rent may contribute to his resentment, yet while his failure to be a 
supportive or understanding partner suggests the end of their relation-
ship is no great loss, a core aspect of this film warns against women 
striving too hard and losing sight of what is supposedly most important. 
Indeed, its tag line might as well read ‘beware ruthless ambition’. Andy 
gets the customary makeover to impress her boss, trading in her former 
preppie look for a chic new style. Her boss barely seems to register the 
change but increasingly comes to rely on her, while Andy’s respect 
increases, stating an evident double standard at work in affirming that 
if Miranda were a man she would receive no criticism for her brusque 
demeanour. Sadly, the film must nonetheless vilify Miranda as a warn-
ing against losing one’s integrity. When her position is threatened she 
rallies with a list of employees she vows to take with her in setting up a 
rival magazine and exploits a long-serving colleague (Andy’s confidante 
at work and in-house fairy godmother) to stay ahead in a treacherous 
business. This is the wake-up call her protégé needs. Having witnessed 
Miranda’s marriage recently ending, Andy realises it’s lonely at the top, 
and that single-minded careerism is liable to end any relationship – a 
point that is hammered home when she embarks on a night of passion 
with a smooth-tongued Lothario who simply uses her to get at her boss. 
Not only does she quit her job, Andy resumes her relationship with the 
unsupportive deadbeat by the end of the film. Better the devil you know, 
it seems, than having no one at all, as her time with Miranda has taught 
her. Lest we think that her mentor has been easily discarded, we realise 
that she has played a pivotal role in Andy’s future career, providing 
the reference needed to get her dream job, turning from fledgling fash-
ionista to serious journo. Miranda’s final wave from a taxi cab and rare 
smile suggests a fleeting camaraderie between them. Like the heroine in 
‘Baba Yaga’ (aka ‘The Household of the Witch’ ATU 334) Andy has served 
an essential apprenticeship and returned home, having learned to be 
tenacious and to work hard, yet also a valuable lesson in humility.