Emily in Paris: love, drama, controversy

The new Netflix show Emily in Paris, which premiered on Oct. 2, has been making waves. As it was created by Darren Shay, known for creating movies and shows like Sex and the City and Beverly Hills: 90210, many had very high hopes for a strong female lead whose life is filled with drama and romance.

The show revolves around Emily Cooper, who moves to Paris with her job at a marketing firm and must navigate her new work and love life in Paris.

Actor Performance:

6/10

Lily Collins as main character Emily Cooper does a decent job of portraying her character. She manages to acceptably embody the American newcomer at a Parisian marketing firm, but her acting does seem a little forced and unnatural.

Additionally, her acting did seem a little slapstick and over dramatic at some points, which clashed with the romantic-comedy vibe of the show.

The rest of the actors however, do a great job of portraying their characters. However, many of the French men in the show come across as incredibly creepy.

While I’m unsure of the motivation behind this decision, I would argue that it is completely unnecessary and the show would have been better without it.

Plot:

7/10

The plot was very light and fun, yet incredibly predictable. The romances, along with Emily’s work life, were cliche and very typical, which did not make the show very enticing.

That being said, the light nature of the show keeps you engaged. Additionally, with each episode lasting around 25-30 minutes, it’s incredibly easy to just sit through and not even realize that you have finished the entire first season.

Writer Creativity:

4 /10

What really brings this show down is its script and writer creativity.

With lines such as “the entire city looks like ratatouille,” and “I would bon appétit him,” I had to fight the itch to skip through the ten episodes of the show. There was also an attempt to add funny anecdotes that simply did not deliver, making it quite cringey.

Costume Design:

2/10

With the show being set in Paris, one of the fashion capitals of the world, one would assume that the costume design would be out of this world.

However, all of Emily’s outfits are horrendous to say the least. They are so incredibly out of place and make her stick out like a sore thumb.

While this could have been done on purpose, it would have been quite easy to make Emily stand out in outfits that were pleasing to the eye.

The show itself has managed to garner quite a lot of criticism with its portrayal of Parisians and French culture.

The show perpetuates many French stereotypes from Emily’s constant beret wearing to the insinuation that the French are lazy.

To further understand the stereotypes portrayed in the show, Margaret Bannon ‘21, who studied abroad in Paris in the fall of 2019, shared some of her thoughts regarding the show.

“I loved the show. My roommate and I watched the whole thing in two days,” Bannon said. “I thought it was so fun, even though it was very unrealistic in its depictions of life in Paris.”

“French people can seem cold and rude, but in my experience they’re really proud of their culture, and just want people to learn about it and treat it with respect,” Bannon explained.

“While the show was super fun and entertaining, it seemed like Emily moved to Paris and made minimal efforts to speak the language or learn how to be polite and adapt to a new set of cultural manners and norms, and still expected everyone to be nice to her and welcome her with open arms. My study abroad program taught us this, and lots of other basic manners, before we went to Paris, so I was surprised that no one clued Emily in.”

Bannon added that the show romanticized Paris as a city.

“Paris is the most beautiful place in the world, but Emily in Paris definitely made it seem more glamorous than it is.” Bannon said.

“There are tons of beggars and homeless people, everyone smokes so the air always smells bad, areas around monuments are packed with tourists, and Emily would for sure have gotten pickpocketed.”

Bannon also pointed out what she believed to be improbable about Emily’s experience in the show.

“It was also very unrealistic that she never rode the Metro. Paris public transportation is pretty great and everyone uses it, even my upper-class host family who owned cars,” Bannon explained.

Finally, Bannon agreed that the costuming choices were questionable at best.

“And her fashion was horrible! French people are so fashionable, but in a very understated and sophisticated way; Emily would have gotten some weird looks on the street.” Bannon said.

The show Emily in Paris may not be the most accurate portrayal of life in Paris, but even with its cringey and cheesy lines, it is a good “no need to pay attention” watch.

Overall:

5.5/10

~ Tanvi Iyer `22