Married to a Mensa

When love is real but doesn't seem to last, we "gird our loins" and get on with our lives - or perish. "Gird your loins" is a line from the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci. The subtitle is Hell on Heels. Some years ago I wrote a screenplay and entered it in the 7th Annual International Screenplay Competition organized by the American Screenwriters Association and Writer's Digest. It took one year to write. I was speaking with agents. It was later retitled Married to a Mensa. Even though it didn't win any awards I received a Certificate of Participation which made me very happy. Thank you for listening.

The Devil Wears Prada - Plot (source: Wikipedia)

Andrea "Andy" Sachs is an aspiring journalist newly graduated from Northwestern University.  Despite her ridicule for the shallowness of the fashion industry, she lands a job as junior personal assistant to Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, a job that "millions of girls would kill for". Andy plans to put up with Miranda's excessive demands and humiliating treatment for one year in the hopes of getting a job as a reporter or writer somewhere else.

At first, Andy fumbles with her job and fits in poorly with her gossipy, fashion-conscious co-workers, especially Miranda's senior assistant, Emily Charlton. After a dress trial meeting in which Miranda berates her in front of the entire team, she approaches art director Nigel to help her learn the ropes in the world of fashion. She begins to dress stylishly and starts showing effort for the position, accommodating all of Miranda's whims and fancies. Problems arise in her relationship with her boyfriend, Nate, who increasingly finds her spending all her time at her new boss's beck and call.

Miranda starts to notice Andy's changed appearance and commitment and begins to give her more responsibility and complicated tasks to handle. Slowly but surely, Andy becomes more glamorous and begins aligning herself, unwittingly at first, to the Runway philosophy. She gradually begins to outperform Emily at her job. Emily, meanwhile, is consumed with the thought of attending Paris Fashion Week as Miranda's assistant, and starts to lose her health by attempting extreme diets. At a charity benefit, she fails to provide information about a guest making his way to meet Miranda. Andy manages to save Miranda from embarrassment and is rewarded by being asked to replace Emily as Miranda's assistant at Fashion Week. Miranda tells Andy to inform Emily that she won't be going to Paris, but when Andy calls Emily, Emily is hit by a car and ends up in the hospital. Andy then tells the recovering Emily the news and Emily is infuriated. When Andy tells Nate she is going to Paris, he is angered that she has become what she once ridiculed, and they break up.

In Paris, Andy learns from Miranda herself about her impending divorce. Later that night, Nigel tells Andy that he has accepted a job as creative director with rising designer James Holt. Further, Andy spends the night with an attractive young writer, Christian Thompson, who reveals to her that Miranda is set to be replaced by Jacqueline Follet as editor of Runway. Feeling bad for Miranda in her current situation, Andy attempts to warn her but does not manage to get through.