The Devil Wears Prada - Emily and a History of Workaholics 

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I once had a job where I once came in late and my instinct was to apologize and let my boss know that I drove as quickly as I could. To my surprise, my boss told me to just call in and to *never* put myself in danger for *any* job by doing things like speeding. She reminded me that I only have one life and a company, in the very end, can always find a replacement when you're dead. No job is worth your life.

She was never happy. Never satisfied. Never recognized. And she sacrificed so much. It's like being in an abusive relationship..

Advice I was once given: If you have to push yourself to the edge to give your best, it's not your best. If you stretch a rubber band far enough that it looks like it's about to snap, you don't think "That's good and sturdy", you think "That's not going to last"

The Emily that should be in Paris.

you can spend 25 years working at a job missing important dates family etc but when you get fired or die u will be remembered for 2days and replaced.

I love that people are now discussing how toxic telling people they should pick a "dream job" and once they have it they should be proud of spending all their time on it. You work to live you shouldnt feel like you need to live for work

Can’t wait for the movie about the millennial workaholic simultaneously hustling multiple temporary contract gigs while earning zero employee benefits or respect.

The older generation complains that millennials aren't hard workers and they think that everything should be handed to them. Yet, THEY put millennials in a worse economic climate than before. Many Millennials work multiple jobs because their pay is so little that it doesn't even keep up with the price of living. Millennials are poorer than their parents AT THE SAME AGE. Millennials started pointing out issues with the world and ACTUALLY got off their butts to do something about it (i.e all the current social movements). Yet, millennials are described as "complainers" and "sensitive". More millennials have gone to school than the other earlier generations ever have ESPECIALLY because many of our parents told us/harped on us that the key to success is college. Yet, that same generation doesn't want to hire us and thinks we are "greedy" or "pretentious" because we want higher starting off pay to combat the enormous debt we racked up in college. Plus, they think a degree means absolute shit because "what do we know? We don't have any experience!" Yet, millennials are constantly joked as being the worst generation and that we deserve to get a good swift kick in the butt!

My job is absolutely the tech office that romanticises work and tries to make the space 'fun' and 'liveable' without actually paying us a decent salary of give us time off. I'd rather earn an extra 3k a year than all those free meals and parties my office throws, so at least then I can decide where I'm going to eat or party with my own money.

That study showing ‘women’s success in the workplace is penalized at home’ with less housework being done is so sad. That’s not a partnership 😔

I tried working a job I loved. They took advantage of my passion for the field, worked me to the bone, underpaid with no benefits, and the second I got sick I was fired. Now I work a job that's much more relaxed in a totally different field and after the first few times of being in near panic attacks having to call out, I relaxed and realized that I had paid vacation paid and sick leave, and everyone's attitude is currently "it's just a job, not your life." I really can't explain how fucking relaxing that is

"Modern American culture has a love affair with working yourself to the bone,: Japan: "Hold my beeru"

Great video, but what about Nigel? I think that he fits in Emily's category too, even though he was nicer to Andy. By that point, he was working since he was really young, sacrificed his personal life and even what he liked, adored the magazine and respected Miranda. She acknowledged him too, but that didn't prevent her from stabbing him in the back. And he still stayed there. Maybe he was a workaholic with true passion for the job, but in the end he was still miserable.

This movie introduced me to Emily Blunt and I've been a fan ever since. Somehow, in a twisted way, I think she was the most fun character in the whole movie :)

I adore how Emily represents the person Andy could have become had she stayed under Miranda's thumb at Runway. She puts all of her blood, sweat and tears into pleasing Miranda, but never gets the recognition she desperately craves. Andy almost follows the same road as Emily, but instead opts to quit, and pursue her real passion of being a writer. ☺📝

I wish that whole "9 to 5" mentality was still a thing in the states. Every job I've had since leaving college in 2011 has been pretty much 8:30 - 6 or 7ish and add in that you're never allowed to sign offline because you're always checking emails at night. I've even had jobs as a PA that had me working 80 to 90 hours a week. The work culture in America is so toxic and backwards.

before the video starts, I think that the workaholic trend starts at school as students we get pushed to do our best even if it breaks us

I love the smell of fresh dissection of late stage capitalism and corporate culture in America in the morning.

Yes, BOUNDARIES! I used to be like Emily. In it 110%, always working overtime... ALWAYS ready to throw my plans/my life out the window as soon as I was needed. I came to my senses when I was going through a difficult time and was 10 minutes late two days in a row and my boss took me aside to berate me - I had also worked 4 hours overtime every day that whole month without getting a "thank you" or paid for that matter. My approach to work was unhealthy, dissatisfying and in the end unappreciated. I used to look down on the people who would start packing their things 5 minutes before their workday ended - now I get them. MY time has value and I no longer "live to work".

My mom quit working to raise me and my siblings. She is very smart and driven, has a masters degree, and constantly volunteers, so one day when I was young, I asked her why she decided to quit her job when she could have been very successful. She told me “no one lies on their deathbed thinking “damn, I should have worked more”, but many, many people, lie there and think “I should have spent more time with the people I loved.”’ It really put things into perspective for me

During college, so many people used to give us pep talks about "finding your passion". I thought I was meant to find the job that energized me, that made me want to jump out of bed in the morning, that made me giddy with joy all the time. That's why I kept thinking I needed to switch majors and keep trying different options because nothing was making me feel the way I was supposed to feel. Until I finally graduated with no job and then took whatever job I could, found it was fine, found that I could have a life, and realized I didn't need to find passion - just needed to find something I could live with.

This video has made me realize that society has made workaholics a form of propaganda.

19:55 GOD the moment you said "Emily doesn't have Andy's instict to question conventions that seem ridiculous.." i was like OH GOD i think a lot of us are more Emily than we ever realize. i still remember the day my supervisor was talking about what he thinks the "correct" way to do our job and he asked for opinions from the team members. you know, if we think there're another or better ways to approach our job. but, no one answered and he said he was disappointed that we were just accepting that there's only one "correct" way for the work we do instead of having healthy discussions & communication about it.

I always thought nigel was the hero of that story and everyone else was too preoccupied with superficial things. Nigel was there for the art. he was reading runway under the covers as kid. miranda considers him an equal. and he's amazing at his work clearly since he was first considered for a partnership at another company. and he's never SEEN paris!! honestly if there's anyone deserves the world AND a happy ending it's not andy who hates her job, not miranda who's unreasonable, not emily who blindly worships her boss, not nate whos insensitive and not even their friends, who were SO SHITTY after being given FREE STUFF! It's NIGEL. who, even when backstabbed in front of the world, is still a loyal friend who can only hope. I want a spinoff.

I’ve literally had a breakdown today. Im a college student and juggling 3 part time jobs, school, and mental health. I realized me working a lot isn’t giving me the satisfaction I need and is just draining me. If you don’t find joy in other parts of your life, you end up just being empty without a spark. I’m glad The Take is discussing this issue.

The idea of being a "Workaholic" by choice seems like privilege when you think about people working 3 part-time jobs just to get by.

I’m glad that I live in Sweden. Here schools free even through college, we get alot of maternity leave and a good amount of vacation. Plus health care is very cheap and free for kids up to 18.👍

I find it kind of hilarious that the actor who played Harry Crane in “Mad Men” was also Andy’s friend who knew who Miranda was. Nice little intersection between two workplaces of two different eras

I've had two jobs where the boss was disrespectful and one that expected me to stay late and come in early almost daily. I actually loved the jobs, but I left

the fetishization of hard work is so crazy to me

Boundaries are so important when you enter the workforce, there are some employers that take will try to get you to do more than what they're paying (below minimum wage) you to do and will ask and ask and ask for you to do things they have no business asking you to do if they're not going to pay you for it. Learn to say no, firmly, and they'll either respect you or try to bully you then you'll know whether to stay with that job or not

There used to be a time when a household could get by on a single 40 hours a week job and still get retired with a pension at 60. Now two 40 hours a week jobs don't even cover rent and you'll probably never get to retire. Work as a mean of feminist empowerment is the biggest scam capitalism ever pulled on us. It binds us in corporate chains then ask us to be grateful for it. This is almost soul crushing

Poor Emily. The only Emily who deserved to go to Paris.

"You will never get your boss' respect unless you assert yourself." The best advice I got from my boss and the advice I try to give to my subordinates.

As someone who’s worked in the fashion industry, the industry is in fact populated by angry, bitter, evil people who live to work and think everyone else should too. The make the industry hellish for no reason. 🙄

As an Australian high school student living in an area full of competitive schools, I see this mentality everyday but with extracurriculars and academic achievement. Kids work a part-time job, do multiple sports, play an instrument, and participate in house activities all while juggling their school work. They complain about it constantly as a way to flout their achievements, but I they're tired and sleep-deprived (though I think they see exhaustion as a badge of pride, of having 'done enough for the day'). Its good to have hobbies but to sacrifice mental health for a small sense of accomplishment is NOT worth it. I don't think people realise 'workaholic culture' has been passed down to the younger generation as well.

If Emily Blunt was my bread winner. I'd shout it to the world

Emily Blunt would should have been nominated as best supporting actress for the Oscar . Maybe even won it. I know people who literally don’t know what to do if they are not working. It’s an escape or refuge .

i loved her character so so much emily blunt played her so well and made her so likable

I've always been reluctant to voice my thoughts for fear of immediately being branded lazy. I've just felt for a long time now that I absolutely do not fit the mold of what we're told to celebrate and strive for, at least in the US. Obviously hard work & a strong work ethic is something to be commended, but not when it's to the detriment of your health and wellbeing. I've never been about making a job my life. I see it as a grim necessity to get by in modern life. I've never understood the constant urging to "Be an entrepreneur! Start your own business!" I've always been like wtf I don't wanna start a business - I'm not a business-minded person at all - nor do I personally wanna be bogged down in the whole climbing the corporate ladder culture. It's these certain components of capitalism that encourage greediness and materialism and pressure us into constantly feeling we must do more, more, more on the off chance that we'll get that projected grand prize of making and having more, more, more. I *hate* that we're made to feel ashamed or lazy for having free time as well. Wow, having time on your hands, imagine that?! It's like if we're not booked and busy every single hour of every day, we're - God forbid - being unproductive, the ultimate sin. And I found the part about callings particularly interesting. I'd never thought about it like that, that many of us have been conditioned to believe that our "calling" might come only in the form of structured work as we know it instead of perhaps being derived from a more immaterial or spiritual place. This culture extols working yourself to the bone to a frightening degree, sometimes turning it into a contest of who suffers the most and has therefore earned some sort of masochistic pride from that. Unfortunately it's the reality for so many ppl to be forced to stay in jobs they hate simply to get by, and I hate that. Life just shouldn't be that hard, not in this day and age. I'm so relieved there's been more emphasis on work-life balance lately, but I think any headway we'll make collectively as a society regarding that will definitely take time as all big changes do, unfortunately. And it's clearly not really that people *want* to be workaholics - it's largely a result of the current economic system and what it forces us to do just to survive. One of my biggest wishes is that I could see into the far future to see how attitudes toward work will've shifted and if there will've been another movement that revolutionized how we work/the economy in general. It's pretty crazy how new this whole rigid workday schedule is, considering how the Industrial Revolution and advent of the 8-hr workday were practically a nanosecond ago in relation to all of human history.

Being a homemaker is also a job. Never forget that!

If milennials are "burnout generation" then i fear as a gen z

You guys are seriously underrated, amazing work!

I would say, love your work but don't do what you love. If you work in your love, you might burn out and you will hate what you used to love. If you love your work after finding it, it is far more sustainable --- from me, ex-professional musician turned govt employee

She’s awesome but also a little sad

I learned over the last few years that my obsession with the dream job was making me miserable. I never had a passion that I could turn into in job. I hated not having that. I tried so many different jobs and worked my ass off and it got me nothing. Now I just try to focus on my health and hobbies

Why are you guys promoting better help?

You should do a video analysis like this on aggretsuko's work ethic and how all the characters see work. I think is a really good and interesting series to analyze

"A job is just a job." That could only be said by people who don't need work to survive.

Thankfully in the books Emily would go on to quit runway and do something on her own where she was actually apriciated and happy

I suffered from workplace burnout a few years ago and it's had a dramatic effect on my life overall. We should be able go work to live not live to work, and in moderation. I'll never let my job become the focal point of my life again

not gonna lie, this whole video has stressed me out

I'm always shocked of how enslavering the work system is in the us. you guys don't even have paid maternity leave like wtf and if you dont have a job you dont get access to healthcare??? Why??

Workaholics are not only describing the "employers" but it also describes the life of STUDENTS. Many people have said that I'm ACADEMIC OBSESSED or Workaholic, and I also notice that I'm bad at balancing relationship betweem my friends and family which I usually avoid any ocassions and isolate myself from having but instead I choose to go home and do advance reading, pressuring myself to be better than myself, evaluate my overall performance and etc and I usually releases my frustration to mu family and hearing them "take a break" for me its kinda frustrating becaise if i took a rest nothing is will be done and Its true that when you're workaholic, you'll never feel any satisfaction unless if you achieved smth or given an opportunity but that feeling is just temporary then you're back to your usual set up as a workaholic and this is when people to start viewing you as a BAD GUY or VILLAIN. I remember that when I'm always on the Top of my class I heard some rumors that I sucked up to my teachers, cheated on my exams, and many more ugly rumors, but I know to myself i have never did that so I feel outcasted to all my classmates but I taught to myself that maybe their just INSECURE from what I'm achieving. Also when you're on the TOP its very very SCARY, its very very LONELY and I'm afraid to go down by not making any mistakes or any errors with my performance. BUT still, when I start working I will still sacrifice my life to my career. Remember: THE DEVIL WEARS SULK WHEN THEY SEE YOU SUCCEEDING.

Excellent video in many ways and I hear what you're saying about the workaholic archetypes but I think an argument can be made for switching the interpretation of Emily's and Miranda's archetypes. Miranda makes personal sacrifices, yes, but she * is * brilliant at her job, loves it, and in the end wouldn't trade it for anything. It is who she is and she's content and at times even happy. That's hardly a cautionary tale. Emily grinds herself down, gets sick, gets hit by a cab, and even demoted, because she's pushing herself too hard beyond her limits. So she has neither personal life nor work satisfaction. She's driven much more by anxiety than passion, no matter what her character declaims. THAT's a cautionary tale.

I used to be a workaholic, but I decided to stop once I realized that I was giving far more than I was receiving both time and respect wise. Balance is key.

Maybe Emily got absorved by working for "Runway" because she didn't have a life of her own and goals to follow, she eventually normalize the horrible and demeaning behaviour with time because work was the only part of her life where she recieve a feeback, even if it was a bad one. She really saw herself as just a secondary character that had the unique chance to belong in a company that didn't care about her and could replace her just like that. In other words, if you were going to be exploited at least it would be in a place of prestige as "Runway".

I feel like my mentality is like the 90s, but I live in a time where work is seen as so positive. I want to work to live, not live to work

The work as religion segment was particularly insightful. Well done!

I haven't seen anyone point this out so here goes: the narrator kinda sounds like Rashida Jones 😂

Please do Bree from Desperate Housewives!! :)

The irony is, Emily Blunt who played Emily, lived up to her namesake character because she was damaging her health for her job as she basically had to stave herself to play Emily, a character starving herself. ( Anne Hathaway who plays Andy also more or less starved herself too when filming the Devil Wears Prada).

Funny this came up for me. Today has been one week that I walked away from: a 70 hour a week, Maslow’s crumpled hierarchy’s for needs life. I’ve spent most of the week sleeping. Healing. Dreaming. I worked to fill an empty life. A month ago it broke me. I cried for two days and became sick. I then put in three weeks notice. I was becoming Emily. I hope I find my new path soon.

This hits SO hard. I was and probably am a workaholic. Sold my soul to a boss that never appreciated me, instead using me because he knew I could be pushed over. I was afraid to fight back because there was no one to cover me if things went wrong and I also had a mentee to take care of. I slogged at work, and even didn't go to the hospital for stitches when I had a bad fall. Instead I went to work and pretended to be okay, as my boss was disinterested even when I showed him a pool of blood on my shirt. During the time that I wasn't working, I was too tired to have a social life or love life. Like the video said, I sacrificed my sense of identity to be what I thought my boss wanted. A couple of months back, due to some circumstances, I resigned. My mentee got bullied by my boss too and resigned a month later. I am still haunted by the past and am sometimes worried that the work adrenaline-junkie in me will make the same thing happen again. But I think my experiences have taught me that at the end of the day, your company will always eventually find someone to replace you, but you only have one life and can *NEVER* replace yourself.

Weirdly, and maybe this sounds mean, I always viewed Emily as kinda incompetent and thought this was, why she was sorta stuck and Andi got ahead of her. She was a much faster learner, more creative. Emily was sorta there for the glamour of it but she was never given any lines that showed this whole commitment thing had something deeper to it. Some higher goal besides getting to wear nice clothes.

This is EXACTLY why Scandinavia is the best damn place to live on earth today!

I think there's a 4th character type: the "Overworked Mess" who can barely keep it together, and that feels like where Emily falls.

This is very well researched and articulated video but I'm just here quietly cackling at all of Emily's lines throughout😂😂

2006? All I remember on seeing the Devil Wears Prada was that 1 - I am not going to ever get a cell phone because I do not want to be a slave to the phone like Andy was. and 2 - I dont want any kind of job that is so busy like Andys job was - and Emilys too - since Andy started off as Emilys assistant. You will be pleased to know that I still dont own a cell phone (the landline still works perfectly OK) and I dont have a job in the corporate world, thank goodness. I work for myself and I can do this casually. I used to work in the corporate world - but that was back in the 1980s and 1990s before the internet exploded. It was a rat race back then. I certainly would not want to work in it now since all that tech exploded either.

This video made me realize how much I LOVE the original narrator of The Take. Her voice has so much warmth, character and emotion. Great job, voice woman! 👏🏻💕

I know we are focusing on women but Stanley Tuccis character exemplified this too....

There's a reason why as soon as I leave the office I disconnect from it. No answering emails, no overtime (since my particular field doesn't really allow it). My parents, when they saw in my first job that I was being pushed around, took me aside (my dad specifically) and told me "a job is a job. It comes and goes like money. But there is one you. Jobs will never respect you or reward you for being "good" so you have to draw a line and stick to it. Don't let them push you around just because you're young." I still live by that.

She won’t ever admit it but Andy was the closest thing she had to a true friend…that was until the Paris thing.

So when I left my retail job/floor supervisor of 7yr my boss pretty much gave me the”don’t let the door hit you” kind of goodbye now I work with seniors and even though it’s not a cool job nothing beats seeing their smiling faces in the morning, hearing their life stories getting their warm hugs goodbye. Now I’m home by 5pm and get to be with my kids so screw you old job. Workaholic life is shit. I moved on to more appreciated pastures

I’m very respected in my work place I gained it over two years, and keep going up, and I’m honestly afraid of failure but my boss believes in me more than I am, and my husband supports it, every day I feel so lucky to just do what I love and still grow in my career

I don't see Emily as a workholic For me she is more like a person terrified about what is going to happen to her if she fail to Miranda And I think that's the reason she work so hard, she is in a toxic relationship with Miranda

Admittedly it's been a minute since I last saw the movie but I had never realized what a tragic character Emily was.

Things are different in different parts of the world. Here in Norway we have a completely different attitude where we work to live and not live to work. People enjoy paid holidays and time with their families more than working until you drop,.

I mean...I got fired for having a panic attack while trying to stock a cooler so...I wouldn't call myself a workaholic.

Hands down, one of the best videos with the most powerful messages this channel's ever produced.

gosh, the videos this channel puts out are INCREDIBLE. thank you so much for all the thoughtful insight and time you put into this content! it's such a joy to watch!

no thanks, my first boss was a VP with a team of 100 under them and lectured me for taking work home saying “I’m not taking it home so why are you - it’ll be there tomorrow” so I stick to it, I do 8-4 and I’ll work later if it’s absolutely essential but if it can be done tomorrow I’m gone at 4 on the dot

This video genuinely transformed my outlook on life. I just started college and don't know what major to pick because I never stopped to think about how my future career doesn't have to be the center and focal point of my passions. I think "dream job" and "workaholic" mentality is advertised on such a high pedestal that it's hard to think that your sense of fulfillment in life doesn't have to have anything to do with your source of income.

This channel deserves way more subscribers. Always a great breakdown!

the capitalist and bankers dont only sell their product, they also sell an idea of what makes a patriot (work hard and spend money harder)

I like that, "being workaholic will not make you the next Miranda Priestly"

You guys are killing it. Thank you for all these videos.

I enjoy watching your ¨take¨ on topics from movies and tv shows but analyzing them to a deeper level. Great job people !!! keep it up and thank you.

Miranda must have loved Emily. Emily doesn't get fired no matter what.

this video really made me rethink my career choices. making changes right away - thanks!

I love this video, well-researched and on point. I learned a lot.

I love the speech of the voice in this videos, the flow, the engaging content. Great job!

At first I didn't get why such a harsh voice was talking about poor Emily like this- I mean she got intona car crash for crying out loud. Then I realized she did all that to herself and had someome spoken to me like that when I injured my back trying to do better at work, I wouldn't have nerve damage. Take care of yourselves.

Yeah...healthcare is a place where this is very true. I'm not even a surgeon or someone who has people's lives literally depending on them. But we're required to download work email and work texts/pager on our phones...so all day long I am getting messages from work. Regardless of if I'm on call or if it's a weekend or a holiday. All. Day. Long.

So powerful, thank you. I really needed something like this today

I feel like school is an important part of this discussion. I often feel like I need to devote myself to schoolwork... for what? 'My future'--just like Emily devotes herself for hers, to get ahead. Ive gone to school sick, tired and miserable--but i can't quit.

Loved this so much 🙌🏼

On the other hand, throughout human history, people had to work to get their food, shelter, everything - by hunting, fighting, collecting firewood, water, tending to others, whatever. Now, we do it via getting money. Also, we get more (food, fun, stuff, free time, whatever). So it's a normal condition (even animals, or indeed plants, have to put in an effort, or die). Maybe the question isn't so much about whether one has to work or not but rather whether it is worth it, and what it does with us as person? What impact we can have, etc.? And movies and TV shows reflect that?

Watching this video and reading the comments really resonates with me right now. A few weeks ago I had a health scare and it was a huge wake up call and realisation for me that for the past decade since graduating from medical school I've been burning the candle at both ends and I need to slow it down a bit. Like so many other people, working night shifts, doing way too much overtime, getting called in to work on my days off, sometimes not having more than a 30 minute break for lunch all takes it's toll. My husband (who is also a total workaholic) and I have been having a lot of discussions about how we definitely need to adapt a 'work to live not live to work' philosophy into our lives. It's good to have a great work ethic and to want to strive in your career, but when it crosses the line into being a workaholic and being consumed by your job, that's when boundaries are needed and you need to take a few steps back. I love my job and I'll always give it my best but I need to stop pushing myself to the limit. That's a lesson so many people need to learn in life.