You might be surprised to find Betty Suarez on a list for unprofessionalism as she is defined by hard work, personal integrity and a commitment to following her dreams rarely found outside of Disney movies. But Betty's strengths are also her weaknesses: she regards missing family gatherings for work as a betrayal, she's incapable of delegating and her willingness to help people mean that she's often surrounded by chaos. Usually this works out in her favour because this is a feel-good show but turning up to an interview at a fashion magazine in a novelty poncho after doing laughably minimal research hardly shows commitment or respect for her future employers. This is handled a lot better in The Devil Wears Prada where the protagonist is given a stern talking down by Anna Wintour stand in Miranda Priestly for not showing due respect to the fashion industry. Whether you agree with her or not, it's definitely not a good idea to have open contempt for the industry which pays your wages. The show also has a tendency of framing it as unfair she pitches articles which interest her and is passed over for ideas more relevant to the magazine's house style. Which is ridiculous. A huge part of being a journalist is learning to write in the house style of the publication you work for. And while it's commendable to maintain a sense of journalistic ethics it's at best naive and at worst a little pig-headed to ignore your employer's house style because it doesn't interest you.
Kate Taylor has a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing and an MRes in Creative Writing. Her nonfiction, reviews and other articles have appeared on Cuckoo Review and Mookychick as well as WhatCulture. Her fiction has been published in Luna Station Quarterly, Eternal Haunted Summer and in anthologies by Paizo and Northumbria University Press. She is 23 and lives in the North of England.
