Netflix’s romantic comedy TV show Emily in Paris starring Lily Collins is the target of French critics. The TV show that has cliché French stereotypes annoyed French criticism since Paris was reflected as the city of fashion, romanticism and croissant. The TV show created by Darren Star is full of chic clothes, dazzling spaces and incredibly attractive stars. But this glamour did not prevent the TV show to be a target of criticism.
Here is the plot of the TV show: The doors of Paris are opened to Emily who has been working in an American marketing company when her boss gets pregnant and can’t go to the new company orientation that has been purchased in Paris. Emily who does not a single French word starts working to give an American perspective of the company in Paris.
While most French critics and audience found it a bit exaggerated to feel honored with cultural ignorance, they strongly criticized the high cliché and absurd plot to show Paris as a theme park. While one of the critics in The Hollywood Reporter described the TV show as a surprisingly watchable TV show with an easily understood plot, costumes and characters, the critic objected lead character, Emily, as follows, “Emily is a bold, fun and arrogant character. She comes to Paris to bring an American perspective to a French brand but she doesn’t even think that cultural ignorance is not a power but a weakness.”
Charles Martin from Premiere said the following, “The TV show tells us that all French people are bad and lazy, they do not come to work before noon, they constantly flirt, the do not understand loyalty, they are sexist and their relationship with the douche is questionable.”
A critic from Sens Critique said that Emily in Paris portrayed an unrealistic Paris similar to Amelie, the screenplay writers will give a baguette to every French character and French people are portrayed as smoking, flirting people who go to work when they are bored.
RTL said they have never seen such a cliché Paris since Gossip Girl episodes in Paris and Devil Wears Prada and the city is described as the unrealistic city of Moulin Rouge, Coco Chanel, baguette and Ratatouille.
Our French sister website Allocie.fr got 2.9/5 from the audience and most of the criticism is barbed. For example, a user defines the TV show as embarrassing and said the TV show is ridiculous and the acting is bad and another user said, “This could be a great TV show if it did not caricature French people. In this series, French people are arrogant, dirty, lazy and reckless… but thankfully this American young girl is coming to show us how to live life. It is pathetic, I am wondering why French actors accepted to play in this TV show.”
One of the Allocine authors said, “A lot of French are angry against the clichés but we are the people who have a prejudice against others. Calm down, this is just a TV show and there is nothing bad about it. I think it was fun.”
One of the most criticized aspects of the TV show was that Emily becomes an influencer with thousands of followers and likes with simple photos she shares on Instagram.
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