When I watched Emily in Paris last Fall, I had a lot of thoughts about the show, but amongst them was not that it would be nominated in the “Best Comedy” category of the Golden Globes. “Emily in Paris” is one of those shows you just can’t look away from, but not for good reasons. When Emily, a marketing executive from Chicago, moves to Paris to work with a new firm on their social media strategy, her inability to speak French or understand anything about French culture lands her in some difficult, often awkward situations. While all of that is happening, she is also growing in popularity on instagram, and slowly becoming an influencer.
The plot in itself has merit. “American girl moves to France, doesn’t speak French, hijinks ensue” is a show I would watch and probably enjoy. With “Emily in Paris”, the introduction of the influencer subplot and the whole emphasis on the marketing world is just kind of odd. Of all the fields Netflix could have chosen to glamorize, they chose marketing? Emily could have owned a bookstore or been a writer. The marketing related stuff is just boring. The whole point of Emily’s marketing career is that she brings this Parisian marketing firm to the realization that social media is amazing, and is the best tool for marketing. While that perspective has merit, there’s something about the romanticization of social media that doesn’t sit right with me. Why don’t we make a Parisian show where the characters hate social media and all throw their phones into the seine? Why, in a world where our lives revolve around consumerism and technology, did we have to make a show that glorifies the both of them.
Another issue with the show is it’s writing. Some of the things that supporting characters and even Emily herself said made me shudder with second-hand embarrassment. There were simply too many exclaims of “yas queen” and “hashtag goals” to take this show remotely seriously. Sometimes it could make sense as a satire, but then you remember that it was written completely seriously.
By far the worst thing about this show is the central romantic conflict. Emily has a neighbor one floor below her who is an up and coming chef. They have their little cringe-inducing romantic moments and it becomes clear early on that he is the major love interest of the show. Emily also has a friend, a sweet, kind, cool-french-girl type who shows Emily the ropes of living in Paris. It turns out that Emily’s neighbor and her friend are dating. Does this stop her from kissing her neighbor? No! This made me so angry. I understand that he keeps flirting with you, Emily, that doesn’t mean that you need to keep kissing him. The whole point of this relationship was to show that audience that “ha, french relationships are so messy, what are you gonna do,” because all the french characters kept talking about how messy their own love lives were. Does that then make it okay for Emily to keep seeing (and kissing) her best friend’s boyfriend? This did not sit right with me. It made me hate every character in the show except for Camille, the cool french girl best friend. Justice for Camille. I hope she gets her own spinoff, “Camille in Paris”. She deserves it after being dragged through that mess, and for being a good friend to Emily despite Emily being so annoying at first.
The major takeaway from Emily in Paris is that it’s a great show to watch if you just need an escape from all the madness of the world. It is dramatic, mindless tv that will get your mind off things for a bit if you can get past some of the more awkward, cringe-inducing moments.