Emily in Paris has become the talk of the town and for all the right reasons. The Netflix series is about an American girl, Emily Cooper, and how her life is upended as she’s sent to Paris for work. Her boss hates her despite her best efforts, her love life becomes a complete mess, all while she’s trying to learn how to live in a new city.
The rom-com has everything one could ask for - a stunning cast, lots of romance, some amazing fashion moments and a decently interesting storyline. But while Emily in Paris makes for a short and sweet watch, it had some problems that I just couldn’t get my mind off.
1. Moving to France without knowing French!
Moving to a new country without even knowing its language properly certainly required some courage on Emily’s part. But what put me off was how unrealistically they portrayed the entire situation. Whenever Emily was having difficulties communicating, someone magically came to her rescue, always. This is not to say that I don’t believe in the inert goodness of human nature, but people are seldom so willing to go out of their way to help a complete stranger.
Many moments of the show took me back to this particular scene from English Vinglish where Sri Devi’s character is struggling to place an order for coffee. The panic, the humiliation and the fear were all so realistically shown there. One place where Emily in Paris failed for me is in showing what it actually takes to live in a new city, all by yourself.
2. Emily’s instant social media fame
In simple words, Emily moved to Paris, documented all the ‘touristy things’ she did on Instagram and boom, she was a social media star. When did the climb become this easy?
It takes more than a few good selfies to become an influencer! Considering how the show talked about marketing and social media management here and there, I expected better.
3. Romance, but too much of it
Almost every guy Emily met seemed to flirt with her or fall for her. She moved out of one relationship and dived into another, not to mention the constant tension between her and Gabriel.
I mean come on, it’s difficult to make friends in a new place, let alone have so many flings. I’m all for romance but this typical ‘boys swooning over the heroine’ plot makes me roll my eyes!
4. The French stereotypes
Don’t even get me started on this! Emily in Paris was a bunch of French stereotypes being thrown around. It showed the French people as rude and arrogant, and theFrench men as casanovas. And of course, it showed that the people there are lazy, that they don’t love their jobs and only work for the sake of it. We’re in the 21st century, hello!
5. Emily was the problem and the solution, to everything
Emily had the answer to every problem, big or small, that her firm Savoir faced and her idea always did wonders. What perturbed me was how she always had just the solution at the tip of her tongue. It was perhaps her experience and skills, but how could she one up everyone every time?
The point is, not all your ideas will be huge successes and that’s okay. That’s life. But this show seemed to glorify its protagonist, instead of making her human.
Emily in Paris is undoubtedly a lovely show, but with its many inherent faults, it falls short of becoming a fan-favourite classic. What’s your take on the show?