Review: "Emily in Paris"

Author: Capuano, Leah

default_culture.jpg"

Have your dreams of going to France been crushed by COVID-19?

Don’t plan on filling the baguette-shaped hole in your heart with the new Netflix original series, “Emily in Paris.” 

“Emily in Paris” stars Lily Collins as Emily Cooper, a young workaholic who moves to Paris when she receives a job promotion at a popular French marketing firm. The show follows Emily as she adjusts to a new life of flamboyant outfits, a viral Instagram page, a vicious boss, boy problems and, worst of all, a complete lack of understanding of the French language or culture.

Throughout the first season, Emily’s blatant overconfidence and complete obliviousness make her nearly unbearable. She constantly impedes on her colleagues and judges her friends, and her only noteworthy qualities are her extravagant peacoats and bucket hats. She makes no effort to learn the French language, cuisine or traditions, and expects the locals to accommodate her. In one of the many clichéd scenes, Emily orders a steak at a chic bistro but quickly sends it back to the chef, claiming that the meal was undercooked. After arguing with the chef, it’s only when she actually takes a bite that she learns that the customer can, in fact, be wrong.

On top of the insufferable protagonist, the show’s secondary characters only encourage the negative stereotypes towards Parisians. Emily’s coworkers ridicule her for arriving at the office before 10:00 a.m., every male character is unnecessarily flirtatious and she often questions the hygiene of her neighbors. For a show that tries to demonstrate the unifying impact of social media, its characters only seem to incite further cultural ignorance.

Unfortunately, it seems that those fantasies of fondue and the Mona Lisa are just going to have to wait.