Late Night

Let’s imagine Devil Wears Prada set in a contemporary tv night show hosted by a darker and harsher Ellen DeGeneres or a female version of Jimmy Fallon if he was as nasty as Bill Maher. Add some cross-cultural conflict from The Big Sick – women fighting for power in Late Night are also of different backgrounds and races. What comes up is a super clever critique of deep ingrained sexism (practiced by both sexes) but also ageism and of course, well hidden, racism. Emma Thompson, playing the Late Night Show host is as great as Meryl Streep in Devil. Anne Hathaway’s role goes to a congenial Mindy Kaling (known for The Office which she wrote and starred). She also based the script for Late Night on her own experience of an ambitious Indian American starting a career in showbusiness and asked Nisha Gantara, another woman of Indian decent with lots of tv jobs in her portfolio, to direct, which adds authenticity to this subversive neo-feminist comedy.