Director David Frankel hired artist Alexis Franklin to hand-paint an AI-style meme of Meryl Streep for the film "The Devil Wears Prada 2" [1].
The decision highlights the growing tension between generative artificial intelligence and traditional artistry in cinema. By mimicking the aesthetic of AI-generated content through human labor, the production avoids the ethical and technical pitfalls associated with algorithmic art while commenting on the medium itself.
Frankel said he tapped Franklin to create the specific image of the character Miranda Priestley [1]. The resulting artwork was designed to look like the distorted, often surreal images produced by AI generators — a style some critics refer to as "AI slop" [1]. Despite the digital appearance, the work was executed by a human hand [2].
The film is releasing this weekend [3]. The use of a human artist to simulate a machine-made image serves as a meta-commentary on the current state of digital media and the fashion industry's relationship with technology.
This approach allowed the production to maintain full creative control over the visual output. Hand-painting the meme ensured that the specific nuances of Streep's character were preserved, which can be difficult to achieve with current AI prompting tools [1].
Observers have noted the irony of the production's choice. As one commentary noted, "Art? Made by humans? Groundbreaking!" [3]. The phrase mirrors the famous dismissive tone of the Miranda Priestley character from the original film.
“Director David Frankel tapped artist Alexis Franklin to hand-paint an AI Meryl Streep meme that appeared in the film.”
This production choice reflects a broader industry trend where studios seek the 'look' of AI for thematic or aesthetic reasons but prefer human artists to avoid copyright disputes and labor conflicts. By simulating AI art manually, the film critiques the ubiquity of generative media while adhering to traditional production standards.
