I HAVE TO SAY…

Below is a slightly edited version of the podcast episode. You can listen to the full episode above, by clicking play, or listening wherever you get your podcasts.

Today, I have to say…we’re ranking some of Anne Hathaway’s releases from the 2000s.

The movies I’ll be focusing on are Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries 2, which came out in 2004, The Devil Wears Prada, which came out in 2006, and Bride Wars which came out in 2009.

I rewatched them all this past week for this episode…and if you’re wondering why I chose The Princess Diaries 2 over the first one it’s because I like the second one better…but if there ever is a third movie, I just might have to rank those. 

I know these aren’t all of her performances, and you might think she’s had better ones, but these are the ones I have access to rewatching and that came out in the same era.

I’ll be ranking these movies based on:

• The Story
• The Main Character and Her Arc
• The Side Characters
• The Antagonists
• The Romance 
• The Message and Takeaways

So thank you for joining me. Thank you for being here. And let’s get started.

The Story

Starting with the story, I will be scoring this category based on how interesting and invested I was in the plotlines and the world building of the movie.

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted spends the first ten minutes or so setting the scene. There are fairies, ogres, giants, and elves in this kingdom and as a baby Ella is given the gift of obedience. 

Throughout the story, we learn about the hierarchies that exist between the species in the world and we learn that Ella isn’t a fan of the King’s politics. The King’s politics are actually a big part of the story, though there are people who don’t care about politics and only care about Prince Char because they find him attractive.

I was interested in the world and while rewatching it, I felt like this movie was ahead of its time. I believe this is based on a book, but I haven’t read it and you know adaptations aren’t always true so…I was surprised with its examination of discrimination and segregation.

The main plotline of this movie is about Ella and how she is trying to get rid of her gift of obedience because the gift is actually a problem in her life. On her journey there are a few stops and encounters that happen which aided in the world building or the story in some way.

We get the Cinderella trope, because she has a stepmom and evil stepsisters and while her father is out of town, she’s expected to serve them.  

Outside of Ella’s storyline, we get Prince Char’s. Prince Char is next in line for the throne, and blindly believes his uncle has everyone’s best interest at heart and he believes the story that his uncle told him about the ogres killing his father.

There wasn’t a scene in the movie where I felt annoyed or was just waiting for it to end. The tone of the movie is pretty silly despite its examination of real world topics, which made it fun, though it could be over the top at times. The story made me laugh out loud a few times, though I do have a small complaint I will get into in the next section.

So, for the story, I give Ella Enchanted a 4.5 out of 5.

The Princess Diaries 2

In Princess Diaries [2], the main plotline is about Mia doing what she needs to so that she can successfully transition into becoming Queen. This is the second movie, so the world is pretty built out already. We know that the media is eager to get whatever footage they can of her and isn’t afraid to put her business out there, which means the impressions she makes are everything.

The movie nicely starts out giving us a rundown of everything we missed in the years between her stepping into being a Princess and graduating from college.

In this movie, we see more about how the citizens respond to Princess Mia and how much they respect the titles and their royals. We also know how much they value their traditions and cultures and see Princess Mia do what she can to honor them, including getting proposed through an arranged marriage, about a week or so if I heard correctly after it was announced that she had to be married.

The problem though, is that another family wants to crown and is willing to sabotage Mia and play with her emotions, her heart, and her image in order to get their chance of taking the throne.

In the story, we also get some brief moments of Joe and Queen Clarisse, who are trying to figure out what their lives will look like and if they’ll be together if and after Mia takes the throne.

I ate this story up, so I’m giving it a 5 out of 5 stars. I really have no complaints here.

The Devil Wears Prada

In The Devil Wears Prada, the world is a reflection of ours. We know that Miranda is an important figure, not only in her industry, but in the world. She’s a legend to the outside world and a terror to those who know her, but her opinion is important. If she likes you, doors will open and if she hates you, you’re finished.

The plotline really follows Andy trying to get Miranda to like her so that she can use her as a reference in the future so she can be a journalist.

The problem is that Andy is in an industry she knows nothing about and works for the worst boss in the world. We see Andy navigate her job without losing sight of who she is and why she was there in the first place. 

Rewatching this movie, I think that overall it was interesting, but I do have some issues with the execution, but I’ll talk more about that in a different section.

For the story, I’m going to give this one a 4 out of 5.

Bride Wars

Bride Wars follows two best friends who have dreamed about their wedding day since they were kids, envisioning the same venue, the same wedding planner, and the same month to be married in. 

Fast forward to the present and they both end up engaged, eventually finding out that there was a mistake and their weddings were booked for the same time at different areas of the same venue. 

Instead of being each other’s maids of honor, they have weddings on the same day and their friendship turns into a rivalry for the best wedding, where they sabotage each other.

The movie was funny, though I think to be truly invested in it, I had to suspend belief a little bit because I have some issues with the plot…were they really friends? Ah, we’ll get into it later.

For the story, I’m going to give this one a 3.5 out of 5.

The Main Character and Her Arc

Moving on, I will be judging the main character and her arc based on if I thought Anne Hathaway’s character was interesting with some depth and if the character arc was satisfying.

Ella Enchanted

When she was a baby, Ella was given the gift of obedience. No matter what anyone said, if she was told to do something, she had to do it, even if it was a figure of speech.

For example, Ella was told to dig into her birthday cake, so she literally stuffed her face with cake. Ella was told “bite me” so she bit the person and her mother told her to never tell anyone about her gift, so throughout the story, she can’t reveal it to anyone.

We see how this gift haunts her throughout the movie, which puts her in situations that embarrass and endanger her and brings her sadness because she is made to do things she doesn’t want to do.

I found her character and her character’s dilemma to be interesting and I really felt bad for her throughout the movie.

There was some humor thrown in, like seeing her suddenly know how to fight because she’s told to kick people’s asses, and seeing her sing and put on a performance, but her story really is tragic, and I felt for her.

Ella’s character is also interesting, because she’s opinionated and strong willed, she just literally can’t act on it.

I enjoyed seeing her talk politics and push Prince Char into seeing a different perspective. When Ella isn’t being told what to do, she’s passionate about species’ rights and goes against the status quo, not wanting to bow down to the King or the Prince just because of their titles.

I don’t know if Ella really grew throughout the story, or if she was just able to break the curse. I guess because of how she broke the curse, there was some character growth there. And I mean we do get a complete story from the journey Ella went on. And she does end up getting a happy ending. 

So, from a character and character arc perspective, I’ll give Ella a 4.5 out of 5.

The Princess Diaries 2

In The Princess Dairies 2, Mia has just graduated college and is being prepped to take the throne.

Though Mia is older and more sure of herself, she is still looking to make a good impression, especially because she’s being challenged for her title as Queen by the Viscount and the Viscount’s nephew, Lord Nicholas.

Mia is a likable character to me. She’s funny, charmy, clumsy, endearing, and she means well. She seems like a typical 21 year old to me, just slightly more mature because she’s about to be Queen.

In the eyes of Genovia’s citizens, Mia can come across as unpredictable. Because of her clumsiness, she isn’t stereotypically what people would expect from a Queen because she’s not as elegant or as poised as her grandmother is. Mia is also an outsider to Genovia’s customs since she is American and isn’t from there and she only visits Genovia in the summer in between classes. I believe that’s what one of the characters said. 

Still, Mia makes an effort to learn about her citizens and what’s going on in their lives throughout the movie. She learns Genovia’s customs, learns how to lead, and is even okay with going through with an arranged marriage because of her desire to honor Genovia and to take her rightful place as Queen.

But Mia finds herself in scandal after scandal which adds to the pressure of how she comes across. Mia remains impulsive, trying to listen to her heart when she can, pretty much up until she can’t, and even then, it’s clear how much she is struggling with the idea of marrying for duty instead of love.

I was invested in Mia’s arc, from seeing her learn her duty as Queen to looking for a husband and feeling torn about her love life to finally taking a stand and finding a way to stand up for herself and fight, not just for herself but for future Queens.

Though things were hard at times for her and she was on an emotional rollercoaster in different ways, Mia always got up and did what she needed to do and in the end she enacted change.

So for the character and her arc, I give Princess Mia a 5 out of 5. 

The Devil Wears Prada

In The Devil Wears Prada, Andy is a journalist looking for a job when she gets the opportunity to work for Runway, which is a fashion magazine.

In the beginning, Andy hates her job and her boss and I get it. Her boss is overbearing and people are judgmental, but she is working in the fashion industry, and to be successful in her job, Andy decides to learn her industry and look the part, which causes the people around her to notice how she’s changed, becoming the person that she used to make fun of.

I have conflicting feelings about how all of this ended up playing out, which I’ll get to more in depth in the later sections, but I found Andy’s character to be a little pretentious and she is called out for her attitude by Nigel.

Andy’s in a position that millions of women want, and she’s consistently reminded of that. And while Miranda is awful and she really shouldn’t be treating her employees the way she treated them, I understood Nigel’s point of view. Andy needed to quit or get with the program. 

For me, it’s okay to like fashion and it’s okay not to like fashion, but if she didn’t like it and didn’t want to use this opportunity to get the job she wanted, then it wasn’t really worth it to continue on if she didn’t need the money. They insinuate that she does when she takes the job, but her boyfriend tells her she should quit so it leads me to believe it’s not a current issue. That part is a little bit unclear.

Over time, Andy does end up adjusting and growing in the role and as a person. Her confidence improves and she does become a different person. Andy thrives in her job and makes the impossible possible, and even at the end of the movie, Andy remains flexible, deciding in the moment what serves her and who she wants to be.

Andy ends up having a full circle moment, but her time with Miranda wasn’t a waste. She ends up learning a lot from Miranda and Runway and she got the reference she needed.

So, just based on the main character and her arc, I will be giving Andy a 4 out of 5.

Bride Wars

In Bride Wars, though there are two main characters, I’ll be focusing on Anne Hathaway’s character for this part.

Emma tends to follow vs. lead. She concedes a lot and so when the issue of the wedding date comes up, it was assumed that Emma would be the one to change her date and the defiance in me understood where she was coming from when she refused.

Even though I don’t know if we’re really shown that she is a pushover, we’re told repeatedly throughout the movie that she is a pushover. I can’t think of a time where she actually gave up what she wanted for someone else, though it’s clear that that was her issue and by the end of the movie, she realizes that she can actually be in the spotlight when and if she wants to. She doesn’t have to always give up what she wants for someone else.

She also realizes what she wants in a partner and what she isn’t getting.

So, I mean…there is an arc that Emma goes through, but I don’t know how invested I was in it, in hers or Liv’s arc honestly. 

I also felt like a lot of it happens off screen and we’re told through dialogue more than actions how to feel about what’s going on.

Like we see her fiancee be unsupportive a few times, but his unsupportiveness, to me, came out of nowhere. It made me feel like, “Oh. So we’re doing this now,” though by the end I was happy things turned out as they did.

So, I would give Emma’s character and arc a 3.5 out of 5.

Supporting Characters

I will be rating some of the supporting characters based on if they added anything to the plot or the main character’s journey, and if they were fun to watch.

Ella Enchanted

In Ella Enchanted, the characters I will be focusing on are Arieda, Ella’s best friend, Mandy, Ella’s house fairy, Slannen, the elf Ella saves and who she convinces to help her on her journey, and Benny, Mandy’s boyfriend that accidentally got turned into a book.

I’m going to save her sisters for a different section.

Ella’s best friend, Arieda, isn’t in the movie much, but she did add to the character’s journey, because ending their friendship with no explanation was one of the really hard things Ella had to do that she didn’t want to do. 

Arieda definitely was used to aid the plot and show just how horrible that curse was for Ella, but she was only in the movie for like five minutes total if that. Maybe that’s a stretch but she really wasn’t in the movie long at all. If it was more than five minutes, it definitely less than ten minutes which on the rewatch was disappointing. I was happy to see Parminder Nagra. Loved her in Bend it like Beckham.

But anyway, around that point of having to end her friendship with Adrieda, she was fed up and wanted to reverse the curse and that event jumpstarted Ella’s journey.

Ella’s house fairy, Mandy, is a constant in the story. Her main purpose is to give us the fairy’s perspectives on the world. She knows about Lucienda and warns people of her antics, but is able to help Ella by giving her her boyfriend, which is the book. Mandy is the only person since her mother died that knows about the curse, so she is someone Ella can confide in at times. 

But Benny and Slannen are the two other characters that Ella spends a lot of the story with and they get to know each other and become friends as the story goes on.

Both of them were important to the plot and to the character’s journey. 

Slannen being turned into a book was actually fate to me because he was able to guide Ella throughout the story so she knew where to go and anyone could see what was going on by asking him while he was a book.

Slannen and Benny were able to free Ella and save the Prince and the kingdom because of Slannen’s power.

Slannen and Benny both also provided comedic relief with their jokes and playful taunting towards each other.

Benny is different from what people stereotypically expect from his species. The law says elves 

are entertainers, expected to sing and dance, but Benny wants to be a lawyer. Through Benny, we get the elves’s perspective, so his character shows first hand how the current Kingdom’s laws affect people.

He’s a character that not only aids Ella but gives more insight into the world and challenges it as it is now, giving hope to what it could be in the future.

So, I would say that Ella’s supporting characters all serve a purpose and sometimes they made me laugh so I give it a 4 out of 5.

The Princess Diaries 2

For The Princess Diaries 2, I will be focusing on Asana, Lily, The Lady Maid’s Joe, and Queen Clarisse.

Asana wasn’t in the movie for that long, but she was played by Raven-Symone so of course I’m going to mention her.

The scene where she sings on stage with Queen Clarisse lives rent free in my mind. I loved them singing together and hearing Raven’s songs featured in this movie was everything.

Asana was really a character to give a Raven cameo, if we’re going to be honest, but she is really there when Princess Mia and Lord Nicholas meet for the first time. Mia is talking to her and they’re catching up when Mia steps on Nicholas’s foot.

So Asana gets points for that!

Lily makes a return in the second one too, giving Mia a friendly face and listening ear while she navigates being out of the states.

There’s been conversations popping up recently online about how Lily is a bad friend in the first one, and I haven’t seen that one in a while so I have no comment on that, but in this movie, Lily was a real one. She was there to help support Mia and help her get what she wanted.

When Mia was looking for a husband, Lily and Mia were looking through eligible bachelors together with Joe, Queen Clarisse, and Charlotte. When Mia was trying to impress Andrew, Lily was telling her to take her sunglasses off so they can make eye contact and telling the lady maids to back off so that they could bond, and when Mia was torn between her duty and her heart, Lily listened to her, eventually telling her, “she’d shoo whoever she wanted her to shoo” and encouraging her to be impulsive.

Lily was a pretty great friend in the second movie and she made me laugh.

The lady maids also made me laugh because they were really unserious. They knew everything, but also played clueless. Mia wasn’t used to having shadows, and I get how they could be annoying for Mia, but they also provided distractions when it mattered and were fun additions.

Joe did not play about the Queen or the Princess. When he threatened the Viscount, telling him, “If you hurt my girl you answer directly to me and whatever crimes I commit against you, remember I have diplomatic immunity in 45 countries.” I said oop. 

Because of his job, Joe also knew everything and was able to tell Mia the truths of situations that come up, which helped her form decisions based on reality instead of what she believed to be true.

I just love Joe. He’s such a great character.

And Queen Clarisse surprised me, because she was very supportive. There were so many times where she could’ve respectfully gone off on Mia because Mia made some very public mistakes, but every time the Queen reassured her. She never pushed her and in the end the Queen told Mia she didn’t have to choose duty over love just because that’s what she did. 

The Queen and Mia’s relationship really grew for the better and I really enjoyed the playfulness, and trust and support that the two of them shared.

So, if it’s not clear, I’m giving the supporting characters in The Princess Diaries 2 a 5 out of 5.

The Devil Wears Prada

In The Devil Wears Prada, the supporting characters we get are Andy’s boyfriend,Adrian, Andy’s friends, Lily and Doug, and Nigel. 

Her coworker, Emily, and her boss, Miranda, I will talk about in a different section.

Starting with Andy’s boyfriend…and some of this I’ll get into in the romance section but I just want it on the record that I wasn’t a fan. He was meant to challenge Andy and so he served a purpose, but he wasn’t really fun to watch to me.

I think similarly about Andy’s friends. They challenged her and provided an outlet for us to know about Andy’s inner thoughts and how they changed as she continued working for Miranda.

But I think at times, they were also unsupportive in a way.

For a lot of the movie, Andy’s changes were pretty harmless. She changed her wardrobe and gained more knowledge about the fashion world, and she came bearing gifts.

Although Lily did catch Christian kissing Andy on the cheek,and Andy could’ve stopped that, Lily says, “the Andy I know is in love with her boyfriend,” and I just felt like…so she can’t change? She can’t decide she wants something different?

And I’m not saying Andy should cheat on Adrian or anything, but if they broke up, would that be a problem for Lily? It’s just the wording of it and I know it was to bring us back to the fact that Andy is changing because of her job, but… I don’t know…something about it just doesn’t sit right with me.

Though Lily became an opposing force alongside Adrian when it came to Miranda and Andy’s job, Doug was impressed by Andy’s new position. He had a lot of fashion knowledge himself, enjoyed the gifts, and to me, it seemed like he was living vicariously through her, which sort of subtly paralleled the story that Nigel told about what the fashion world meant for him.

Nigel’s character had a lot of tough love. He started off throwing shade at Andy constantly, but he also educated and molded her. Nigel was probably the most important character to her growth because he helped her with her styling and with technical terms about the fashion industry and the ways of Miranda, but he also gave Andy some solid advice that motivated her. 

The situation between Miranda and Nigel at the end also woke Andy up and she realized that she didn’t want to be like Miranda.

Nigel was really pivotal to Andy’s journey.

So, for The Devil Wears Prada supporting characters, I thought that the supporting characters all served a purpose, regardless of how I personally feel about them, so I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Bride Wars

In Bride Wars, I will be focusing on the wedding planner, St. Claire, and Deb and Kevin who become the maids of honors to the bride. 

I’ll be talking about the husbands and Liv’s characters later. There were also some friends that popped up but they really didn’t add anything except maybe a little humor and showing women in different stages with their love life and in marriage.

St. Claire narrated the story and was messy because why was she telling Emma and Liv what the other was doing. I know that Liv steals a binder at some point, which St. Claire didn’t know about or how did she not notice that something was missing? Or did Liv copy it secretly? I don’t know, but St. Claire did tell Liv that Emma said she didn’t need to show off at her wedding with how much she was spending, or something like that, which was messy. Like, she did not need to run that back to her.

St. Claire also provided a bit of humor, giving each bride the same speech in the hopes of cheering them up. And the entire movie is a result of the fact that one of her employees messed up, so…she was a key part of the story.

Deb and Kevin were both there for vibes. They were fill-in maids of honors since Emma and Liv lost each other. Deb had no decorum, which was hilarious. When she shouted “THAT BITCH” while they were talking to St. Claire, I was cracking up. 

In a conversation with Deb is when Emma sticks up for herself and tells her that her wedding day is her day and she doesn’t want to hear about Dev complaining about anything anymore. That all she wants is to be supported and catered to.

Kevin helps Liv sabotage Emma and because of his inaction at the end, which I think he thought that Liv was trying to sabotage her…or maybe I misread it, but he didn’t end up switching the tapes, which is really when everything officially went to shit, which ended up being for the best so…

So the supporting characters definitely added to the plot and character’s journeys, but I could leave them or take them, so I rate them a 3 out of 5.

The Antagonists

Next, I will be judging the antagonists based on if their confrontations were fun.

Ella Enchanted

Ella’s stepsisters, especially Hattie, were her biggest haters. They moved into her house and then proceeded to torment her. When they caught on to the fact that she would do anything they said, they upped the stakes, trying to embarrass Ella at school, telling Ella to go home in the middle of a protest, telling Ella to steal, and forcing her to end her friendship.

To make matters worse, Hattie is the president of Prince Char’s fan club, so when she’s promised an engagement to Prince Char just doesn’t hesitate to give up Ella’s secret to the King, who then uses that to get Ella to do his bidding.

Hattie was really the worst, with no redeeming qualities and I don’t really think her beef with Ella was deserved because she was doing a lot of that without even knowing that Prince Char had an interest in Ella. She was mean for the sake of being mean, and I know there are people like that, but for something I’m watching and critiquing, I wouldn’t say that her beef was justified, even though it did add to the plot. 

Hattie’s jabs only landed because of Ella’s gift or curse or however you want to think about it…and I know it’s by design because of the Cinderella theme going on, so I guess I accept it for what it is.

The other antagonists we get are the King and his snake. They aren’t just antagonists to Ella, but to Prince Char and the entire kingdom, spreading lies and propaganda, enslaving the giants, discriminating against the elves, scapegoating the ogres, and creating enemies to appear as the saviors so they can maintain power. I forgot to say earlier, but The King and his actions gave Lion King Vibes too with the evil uncle who commits a terrible act and blames it on someone else so that he can take power.

The King and the snake were villainous until the end, and it was comical and embarrassing that they ended up being their own demise. Like how do you forget you poisoned the crown?

So I think all the antagonists added to the story. I don’t know if they were really good oppositions to Ella because they really just benefited from her gift. Once the curse was broken, they couldn’t control her anymore, and they weren’t successful in putting up a fight. 

At least Hattie wasn’t. The King had some potential when he called on those ninja soldiers, but Benny was able to rally the giants to help fight, so…by the end it did feel a bit anticlimactic, especially when he was responsible for his own death…

So, for this one, I give the antagonists a 4 out of 5.

The Princess Diaries 2

The antagonists in The Princess Diaries 2 are the Viscount and Nicholas as well as Parliament in a way.

The second we meet The Viscount, we’re told that he has bad intentions. When Mia’s tiara gets knocked off by a waiter, he says, she should be careful because someone might try to take the crown from her…someone like him.

The Viscount decides that he wants his family to rule over the Kingdom, and proposes it to his nephew, Nicholas, who is eligible for the crown.

The Viscount is the one who reminds Parliament about the marriage law and rallies Parliament to force Mia to marry and then he both alone and along with Nicholas decide to sabotage and embarrass Mia at any opportunity that they can. And the Viscount lowkey pimps out Nicholas, encouraging him to seduce Mia so that the engagement will be called off, making Mia ineligible to take over the crown.

The way that The Viscount sabotaged Mia was rough, like someone really could have gotten hurt if the horse got more out of control when it was shown a fake snake. 

But his main strategy was using Nicholas. Nicholas did a lot of the heavy lifting, with flirting, teasing, and verbal sparring with Mia. He really got under her skin because she liked him and he played with her emotions.

Though some of Mia’s slip ups were her own doing, like chasing after a chicken, which Princesses don’t do, and locking herself in a closet with Nicholas, and then falling into a fountain with him, and then spending the night with him, Nicholas and his uncle didn’t help matters either.

The Viscount was a great villain and Parliament was a great barrier. It was completely believable that Parliament would block Mia from being Queen without a husband and also believable that over time, their minds were swayed.

I believed The Viscount’s reasoning, which was really that he was power hungry and saw an opportunity to take power. I could also believe that he didn’t think Mia was a good fit to lead as an outsider to Genovia. 

And all of the moments where they faced off were entertaining to watch.

So, I’ll be ranking the antagonists a 5 out of 5.

The Devil Wears Prada

In The Devil Wears Prada, the antagonists are Miranda and Emily and Nigel at times. Well, lowkey, everyone was an antagonist for different reasons, depending on how you look at the movie and where your stance is on everything that went down.

Miranda and Emily very clearly torment Andy though, insulting her fashion choices and looking down on her whenever they have an opportunity to. 

Miranda accepted Andy into the role because she said she wanted to try something different than what she usually goes for, which is people who worship her and the magazine and people who are attractive, but aren’t very smart, which was exactly the dig to Andy that it sounds like.

Emily didn’t believe Andy would last as long as she did and though Emily was helpful at times, her instructions were also vague at times too. In certain situations, it did feel like there was a competition between them about who could do their job the best and once Andy started dressing better and doing well in her position, Emily didn’t really know what to do or say to her. 

Eventually Emily stops hating on Andy, but she keeps the line of them being just coworkers, not interested in getting to know her or what goes on in her life.

Emily only really seemed thankful to Andy and was thankful that Andy was there when she helped her out by providing the name of someone Emily couldn’t remember because she was sick. But Emily was an opp for a while, helping to make the environment rough for Andy.

Nigel eventually warms up to Andy when she starts making an effort but he also made some insane comments to her as well.

Miranda was very clearly a terrible boss. She expected Andy to get her a plane during a hurricane, expected her to get an unreleased copy of a book, constantly talked down to her and treated her like a robot, and was just inconsiderate and rude.

She got the reputation of being horrible for a reason, but because of the power she holds, people cater to her and her whims.

But the thing is, all of these characters were funny, whether intentional or not and I both hated and loved them…

Andy’s friends though…I mainly hated them. And though I said it earlier, I just want to reiterate that I think her boyfriend, Adrian, and Lily, were opps too at times, because why were they not happy for her just because she was finding success in a job that was apart of the fashion industry. But I’ll save my rant for the messages section,

And give the antagonists a 5 out of 5.

Bride Wars

For the antagonist in the Bride Wars, I’ll be focusing on Liv, Emma’s best friend. 

Let me get my soapbox real quick because Emma and Liv should not be friends!

I know that friends fight and fighting with people you know can be petty sometimes. People aren’t perfect.

But they both know how important their wedding days are to the other. They’ve been dreaming about getting married at The Plaza, to have St. Claire as their wedding planner, and to get married in June since they were children.

With Liv’s parents, who passed away, having an important day in June, I understand why Liv wanted to keep the date for herself and wanted Emma to change her date.

But also, I get Emma being frustrated that Liv would assume Emma would cater to what Liv wants and just concede to her. It was her dream too and we’re shown that when they were younger it was always Liv’s way or no way. We’re shown that Liv is calculated and cold and doesn’t show her emotions, which makes it easy for her to steamroll over people when she feels like it. I mean she ruined her own proposal because she couldn’t be patient and wait for her partner to propose.

So we know their dynamic has always been that Liv leads and Emma follows or that Liv gets what she wants and Emma concedes, and I get Emma being tired of doing that.

What gets me about their friendship though, is that the wedding gets turned into a competition instead of being an unfortunate situation.

Liv tells Emma, “Your wedding better watch it’s back.” and then they both just go low with the digs at the engagement dinner with Liv telling Emma she’s settling and Emma talking about how Liv had a big ass at prom. 

Just Terrible! Crazy work! And I don’t even think that’s the worst of it.

And then from there with the sabotaging, Liv messing up Emma’s spray tan so she looks orange, Emma sending Liv chocolates so she can’t fit in her wedding dress, Liv stealing Emma’s wedding planner book, taking her DJ from her, and sabotaging her with the video that plays at the wedding, and then Emma turning Liv’s hair blue and crashing and outshining Liv’s bachelorette party…which both of their dancing was eh…but that’s not the point.

The point is that they were supposed to be friends and they did the most to sabotage each other because they were mad at each other. That’s a terrible friendship!

But since I’m not ranking it based on their friendship, I’ll give this a 5 out of 5.

The Romance

I will be judging the romance based on if the main character and her love interest had chemistry and if I was rooting for how things turned out.

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted has enemies-to-lovers vibes. Ella doesn’t like Prince Char because she doesn’t like the Kingdom’s laws and finds the Prince responsible or at the very least complicit.

So when they meet, unlike his fan club, Ella is unimpressed, which peaks the Prince’s interest because she treats him like a regular person.

Char and Ella had great chemistry and shared some deep moments talking about their lives. Char is one of the few people in the movie that realized that Ella always does what she’s told without pushback and he’s the only person who makes sure she knows that she doesn’t have to do certain things that he says. He gives her a choice, which few people do in the movie, and she still chooses him. It was really cute and it had me smiling.

And even though it was cute, I wouldn’t be me if I said that Prince Char’s ignorance about the country he is next in line to rule was not cute! It was not an attractive quality!

When Ella tries to keep her distance from him because the King demands Ella to kill him, Char asks Ella if it’s their politics is what she’s worried about because in modern terms Char would be considered more apolitical whereas Ella is more liberal. 

And so Char says that their politics aren’t important and, “What’s important is in our hearts because love can conquer anything.”

And I’m like okay sir…I get the sentiment but like…we’re talking about people who are being enslaved and discriminated against and who don’t have any rights and you’re literally in a position to fix that. I don’t know if love can conquer difference of an opinion that way…

But they do get married and have a happily ever after.

So, I am going to take off a point for that though because…yeah…but I’ll give them a 4 out of 5.

The Princess Diaries 2

Princess Diaries 2 is kind of a love triangle, but I guess not really because it’s clear where Mia’s heart lies. I guess it’s more of a duty over love situation, though I did wonder why she couldn’t just marry Nicholas. But then, actually just kidding, because I get and support that the whole point is that she shouldn’t have to marry anyone because the law is sexist.

But…lowkey I think this movie is a less materialistic version of what the Materialist was trying to do with one of its messages, when it comes to choosing practicality over love. 

Because the responsible thing to do would be to marry Andrew and make it work. Her grandmother chose duty over love and Mia wanted to honor her family and be a part of the generations that led Genovia. She didn’t want to be the reason the crown was no longer in her family line, even though she, “wanted love, not fondness.” And if you’ve seen the first movie, you know how much she romanticizes love. She loves love and believes in storybook happily ever afters. 

But Mia and Andrew were friendly. Good together on paper. Comfortable with each other. And Andrew was supportive of her doing this to be queen because he believed in her. He also didn’t make fun of her clumsiness. I think he found it cute because in the scene where they are announcing their engagement, he tries not to laugh as she knocks over a flower pot and then picks one up in solidarity with her as they walk away together, which was really cute.

But still, they give off just friends vibes, eventually admitting there is no spark, but coming to terms with the fact that this is their duty. And even when Mia says she can’t do it, Andrew thanks her for saving him from having to do the right thing and the thing that’s expected from him.

 At some point Nicholas tells Mia, “It’s a shame you’re not attracted to him,” which she mindlessly agrees to, and then hat leads to more flirting and sparring between the two of them.

Mia whacks him with her fan saying, “She loathes him” and Nicholas does the same back. And then, Nicholas surprises Mia with a kiss. It was a kiss that made her leg pop and that she settled into until she remembered she was engaged and that was inappropriate. So, she pulls away, but it doesn’t stop Nicholas from making advances, which is how they end up in the fountain together.

Nicholas and Mia have that spark, ‘cause you know love and hate are two sides of the same coin. They challenge each other and they can keep up with each other, and their chemistry is unforgettable. Their situation is why I love a hate-to-love trope and rivalry trope.

Because although Nicholas started off wanting the crown, he had a change of heart. Even when he still wanted the crown, while he was talking to Queen Clarisse, he agreed that Mia is “sensitive, bright, and caring,” and that was even before he realized and his uncle realized that he had fallen in love with her. He bowed out because he wanted her to be happy and because she had shown and he believed that she actually really did care about the people of Genovia. 

Although Mia and Nicholas started off on the wrong foot, or maybe it was the right one because he said that she could step on his foot anytime. But then she found out he was the Lord after her crown, so then it really was the wrong foot…so even though they started off on the wrong foot,  they couldn’t deny what was happening between them.

They had amazing chemistry and banter and I was rooting for them, so I have to rate the romance a 5 out of 5.

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada also kinda has love triangle vibes. Andy starts off the movie with a boyfriend and they’re pretty cute and comfortable at first. I would say that they had pretty good chemistry together, but as Andy becomes more of a workaholic, her boyfriend becomes more annoyed with her job and her commitment to Miranda.

And when Andy changes up her look to fit into her role, Adrian starts to become a bit of a hater. He finds fashion and the industry to be superficial and vapid and though there are undoubtedly aspects to that in the fashion industry and in society in general, I think his thinking is very-black and-white for no reason. Smart journalistic people can care about fashion and people in fashion can be smart.

Andy did miss his birthday, and I get his disappointment about that and why he was mad. I think he was justified there, it’s just that sometimes, things happen, and this is a job she is doing for money. Miranda is a person she needs to impress so she can get a good reference from her.

I do think Andy changed, but the jury’s still out on if it was for the worse or for the better, and maybe they just grew to become incompatible by no fault of anyone. Which is why the fact that they left the door open with each other at the end of the movie was pretty disappointing, to me. I just didn’t think he was supportive at all, constantly complaining to her about something she genuinely didn’t have control over, though she might’ve had a choice over if she stayed or if she quit.

So yeah, I wasn’t rooting for them to get together, but I also wasn’t rooting for Andy to end up with Christian either and I’m glad that they didn’t.

Though they did sleep together and they did have a more fiery chemistry than Andy and Adrian’s comfortable chemistry, Christian was obnoxious. He did do her some favors, but I don’t know…their relationship to me seemed more like a fling to me than anything else. A situation where you take what you need until you don’t want it anymore and throw it away. That’s how I viewed Christian at least, maybe that was intentional.

So yeah, I did enjoy Andy and Christian together more, but I was rooting for her to end up single. I thought that she did, until I rewatched it, and was disappointed to see that Andy and Adrian left the door open for each other because Adrian lowkey wasn’t great.

So, I give the romance a 3 out of 5.

Bride Wars

The romance is not a big part of Bride Wars, but because the premise is that both Emma and Liv are getting married, there is a parallel between the two about what their relationships look like.

Watching it, I first thought that Emma’s fiance, Fletcher, was sweet. He proposed with a ring in a film canister in the privacy of their home, but in hindsight, I should’ve known they were going to break up because it didn’t feel as romantic as Liv’s and Daniel’s.

And it’s not because of how Fletcher proposed, or even what he said, which was about how he’d be happy spending his nights watching a movie and eating chinese food with her. I just didn’t feel anything when they got engaged.

And then Fletcher kept making sneak disses about Liv, which, I agree with him to be honest. I didn’t have a problem with that because I thought everything he was saying about Liv being selfish and essentially saying she wasn’t a good friend was true.

But what bothered me about Fletcher was the big fight that they had about how Emma had been acting lately, saying she’s been,”mad and tense and excited” and that he didn’t “know how to deal with this.” He even asked,  “Is it something with the wedding or is it permanent?” And those are all direct quotes…

And then Emma said what I was thinking which was basically like yeah I’m sure in our long lasting marriage I will feel those emotions again and then he said and I quote, “You’re being…not bitchy…but in the neighborhood.”

After that argument, I was like, oh yeah, Emma you better leave him.

So when Emma runs into Liv’s brother, Nate, and they have a cute moment where I did feel something between them, I was rooting for them.

So the movie ended up how I was hoping it would when it came to Emma, and with Liv too, because Daniel was pretty supportive and gave Liv some good advice. He even told her he wanted to see her emotions and he didn’t want her to be perfect.

So there are sprinkles of romance in here though a lot of it was off screen and in the end, I got what I wanted, so I’ll give it a 4 out of 5.

The Message & Takeaways

Lastly, the message and takeaways, I will be judging this on how satisfying the ending of the movie was, if the message of the movie moved me, and if it still holds up. Every movie does say something, even the unserious and playful ones. 

Ella Enchanted

So, as I was thinking about how Char and Ella in Ella Enchanted get married and how he tells her love is enough to conquer their political differences, I was going to say that in the end Char came around, but I actually don’t know if he enacted change and freed the giants and rewrote the laws. I genuinely can’t remember if change actually takes place or if we gloss over all of that and it’s supposed to be an unsatisfying assumption…

But what I know for sure is that the message of everything you need being inside of you was unsatisfying. You mean to tell me all Ella had to do was believe in herself enough and have a strong will and the curse would just stop?

I guess this is a “your thoughts are your reality” situation, but I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by how it ended, because everything could’ve been avoided. I didn’t feel like everything she went through was necessary to get to that point. If she was meant to be with Char, they would’ve met in a different way… 

The movie also led me to think about blind obedience and how dangerous it is. Though it wasn’t Ella’s fault, she was blindly obedient, putting her life in danger or getting into messed up situations because of her inability to say no.

She got lucky several times that other people were able to come in and save her, but things could’ve ended up differently for her and they could end up differently for you if you never say no and always do what is asked of you.

Char was also blindly obedient to his uncle, which is crazy because his uncle’s evilness came off of him in waves, so Char really needs to work on his intuition. And I know that’s his family and he had no reason not to trust him, but Char didn’t question him at all, and that’s another lesson. 

You should be critical of the things you’re told and the world around you. Don’t just believe something because someone you trust said it. One day you might find out they’re untrustworthy. 

But also, ignorance is bliss, but it’s also a privilege, because while Char didn’t know what was going on, some elves were dreaming of a day when they could have the right to do what they wanted, and giants were wishing for the farm lands back and to stop being slaves. 

So I think this movie has some good messages and for the most part, it still holds up. I’ll give it a 4.5 out of 5.

The Princess Diaries 2

The Princess Diaries 2 is about following your heart, realizing that the law can be flawed, and that it’s time to change outdated laws. At least that’s what I took away from it.

Though I said earlier that Mia should’ve married Nicholas, it was really important that she didn’t get married at all and that she instead publicly challenged the law in a format where citizens can see it.

The idea that a woman has to be wed to lead a country but men don’t is such a ridiculous double standard. It’s sexist and not based on anything and even though in the past it hasn’t been enforced, the fact that it was a law meant that if they ever did enforce it, which they did for Mia, the law gave them the right to be sexist.

It makes me think about what’s going on now in the US and how protections now are being overturned to give people the right to discriminate and gerrymander and be racist…

But let’s not go down that path right now…

Mia also follows her heart and what she wants, instead of doing what she feels like she has to do. She honors herself, though it took the whole movie for her to do it. I don’t think changing the law crossed her mind though. Someone had to prompt her to even start a motion, so I’ll give her a pass.

I give the messages and takeaway a 4.5 out of 5.

The Devil Wears Prada

So I started off saying I have a lot of conflicting feelings about The Devil Wears Prada, and I still do. I think my main problem with this movie is that it tries to sell to the audience that Andy changed for the worse, and I don’t buy that. Yeah she took Paris from Emily, but they really were not friends. Emily treated her like shit for half of the movie, and in a way this was a promotion for Andy. Who passes a promotion on a once in a lifetime experience? 

I get Emily’s disappointment, but Adrian and some of her friends being unsupportive about it…I just don’t get it. I think the writers were afraid of making Andy actually unlikeable so that they could redeem her and because they didn’t make her unlikeable enough. It just became a hard sell for me that she changed for the worse. 

The movie could’ve ended where she kept her new sense of style, which she genuinely seemed to enjoy, and became a journalist. Andy was afraid of losing her moral compass, but also did nothing really to me where she crossed any moral lines. If she actually cheated on her boyfriend, I could see it. If she had pushed Emily in front of a bus or sabotaged Emily in some way so that she could go to Paris, I would get it. If she started criticizing Lily, Doug, and Adrian for their fashion choices or just started being an asshole and bitchy, I would get it. But none of that happened, so I just am not connecting with what the movie tried to sell.

From this movie though, I know that the message is not to lose yourself for any reason.

 But, if she quit when Adrian told her to, who knows how the movie would have ended. Would she be happy with the job she got? Would she have self reflected on what she wanted and who she wanted to be?

My biggest gripe with this movie is actually the fatphobia and the boxes that it creates both through Adrian and with how the movie actually ends.

It somehow defends the fashion industry, with Miranda talking about how even that ugly sweater she’s wearing is a result of decisions made in the room she’s standing in right now, while also tearing down, the fashion industry with people constantly telling Andy she’s too smart and nice to be successful in that position and with Andy saying everything they’re doing is insignificant….

So…yeah…I don’t know how I feel about that on the rewatch ‘cause it’s very much a preference thing. There’s nothing wrong with caring about fashion and there’s nothing wrong with being indifferent about it, but there is a problem when people from either side tear the other down because of preconceived assumptions. 

Like it was very wrong for them to continuously tear down Andy’s looks and call her fat (as an insult) when she’s clearly not fat, and it was wrong of Adrian to hate on them so much and act like they’re all stupid and brainless. 

I think it did provide some commentary on toxic work environments a little bit. If anything, Miranda’s behavior is even worse looking at it through today’s lens because it was so inappropriate and had to be illegal…some of the rules and requirements she did.

Overall though, I don’t think this movie holds up in the same way I thought it did, though parts of it are fun and funny. I just don’t think the message it was trying to get across landed for me. 

So I give this a 3 out of 5.

Bride Wars

Bride Wars is a pretty unserious and playful movie, so the only real takeaway I got from the movie is to be careful about who your friends are.

The movie tries to frame it all as if sometimes your soulmate is really your best friend.

St. Claire, the wedding planner says, “Sometimes in life there are bonds that can never be broken…there’s a chance the one person you can count on for a lifetime is the person who has been standing beside you all along.” And she was referencing Emma and Liv, but also maybe Emma and Nate since they end up together…

But…actually, I would also say that this movie kind of also tells you to be careful who you marry. 

We see parallels of how Emma’s fiancee and Liv’s fiancee treat their outbursts. Emma actually got lucky that everything played out how it did, because that marriage would’ve been rough.

So, make sure the person you’re marrying actually likes and loves you, not just the idea of you or who you once were.

And you know what, this movie shows that people change. Liv and Emma fell into the trap of assuming their roles. Liv was the harsh and cold leader and Emma was the sensitive, warm and reserved one. 

But people can change and people can want something different than they did before and that’s okay. Liv learned to feel her emotions and cry and Emma learned to speak up for herself and to embrace the spotlight.

You also gotta apologize when you’re wrong. Emma and Liv were both dead wrong at different moments in this movie.

I don’t know if this movie holds up forreal, but if you search for it, there are some good lessons

So, for the takeaways, I give this movie a 3 out of 5.

If you made it here, thank you for reading or listening. These four movies are different from each other, but they all had something to offer whether humor or commentary about the world or just pure entertainment.

The Princess Diaries 2 came out on top followed by Ella Enchanted, The Devil Wears Prada, and then Bride Wars.

And honestly, I’m not surprised and I should’ve guessed it because while I was rewatching The Princess Diaries 2  a few days ago, I was laughing, smiling, and having a really good time, especially compared to the other rewatches.

I really hope we get a third one!

And wow, 2000s movies are so fatphobic it’s crazy!

But that’s all I got for you this week. 

Next week I’ll be doing a reality tv chat, but stay tuned for any changes

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