If anyone in Disney's promotion department had even an ounce of reverence, the red carpet (cinnabar, really) at the DWP2's Lincoln Center premiere would have been cerulean, the color Miranda Priestly memorably explains to her be-spectacled, be-sweatered, be-fuddled assistant in the original was “selected for you by the people in this room.” But if the first film argued that taste is essential cultural work, the rollout of the second has implicitly argued… nah [2]. The social media embargo lifted last night, giving all the influencers, TikTok girlies, and micro-celebs that minced out of David Geffen Hall post-screening a 36-hour head start on the critics, who won't enter the discourse until midnight tomorrow — presumably after weekend ticket sales pop.
But there's always a room and there are always people in it. The question the second film seems to pose is whether or not we're better off if Miranda is one of them. Yes, she's an above-it-all bitch. But being above it all is her job – the whole point of the Priestly caste. The influencers in the tent last night were trading distribution for relevance. The whole point of Miranda and critics like her is that they do not trade; they represent the interests of consumers (colored, ofc, by their own preferences) with deep integrity. Without a Miranda in the room, no one has that job. Only the marketers are left. They pick fucking cinnabar.
