Devil Wears Prada 2 Has Something Important to Say. No, Really.

A strange overlap of the Met Gala, a new movie, and the death of an importat business media journal

The Met Gala happened. Devil Wears Prada 2 opened. MIT Sloan Management Review shut down (see yesterday’s post). Somehow, these aren't completely separate stories.

The Met Gala is a strange ritual, especially when it's funded by a billionaire everyone's already mad at. But I'll leave the commentary about class and privilege to others (who will be far funnier). But it's no coincidence that the movie the Devil Wears Prada 2 also came out this weekend.

My wife and I went to see the movie for light relief after loving the original for 20 years(!). It was fun — the bitchy lines still land — but it turned out to be about some heavier themes. Besides the obvious swipe at billionaires (including one with a strange Bezos-like laugh), the core of it, without spoiling too much, is the collapse of media. A once all-powerful media god (played of course by Meryl Streep) is brought to nearly begging sponsors for their support and having to listen to young McKinsey consultants about brand building.

This all hit me because, almost the same day, I learned MIT Sloan Management Review was being shuttered. Media was my first industry (after being a cocky consultant at BCG, so that scene hit home also)…and my first work passion. I worked at Time Magazine, then MTV, once super-influential brands that have faded. This sector is important, offering everything from entertainment to functions democracy genuinely can't do without. Information, sure, but shared touchpoints as well.

The 30-year splintering of media has broken us into separate realities, and that fragmentation made division, fear, and manipulation much easier to sell.
I know how that sounds. Gen-Xer mourning an era that's gone. Maybe.

But the long-term decline of traditional media is partly due to its conversion from something that informs, inspires, or enteratains into, god help us, "content".

You know when even the seemingly lightest movies (on paper) are heavier, the world is serious. And good media helps you navigate and understand it a tough world, even while making you laugh. So, and yes this is odd to say, thanks to Devil Wears Prada 2.