Fashionable Clothing and Conflict

In conflict, people that are involved have different goals that they would like to achieve. People in conflict usually pursue four different type of goals. These goals include Topic Goals, Relationship Goals, Identity Goals, and Process Goals. In a particular movie called, "The Devil Wears Prada," one particular scene demonstrates that the parties involved want very different things. The goals they are trying to achieve are topic goals, however, their goals are very different. In this clip, we see a brand new intern at a top fashion magazine, Andrea, as she and her new boss, Miranda, have a conflict over fashion.
View Clip Here:Miranda and the Cerulean Sweater
Miranda wants to keep her magazine at the top of the totem pole. She works very hard and very diligently to ensure that she has the best content in her magazine and that she is up to date on the world of fashion. She is smart and driven. Andrea, on the other hand, needed a job. Her goal in this situation is to work for Miranda to gain experience in the magazine industry. Andrea has no care or desire for fashion. The two women have very different topic goals as they want very different things. Their interaction results in the following conflict: Andrea believes that fashion and clothes is just, "stuff." This comment makes Miranda very angry. Miranda then defends her argument, that fashion is beyond "stuff" with facts from the fashion industry. The two women have different topic goals. In the end, however, Andrea sees that Miranda was correct in her statements about fashion being more than just stuff.