So I watched both seasons of Emily in Paris at 2AM last night instead of writing a paper that was due the next day because… Brain damage?
First of all, I just want to say that Emily in Paris deserves all of the bad press it’s getting. Xenophobic? Yes. I mean, did you see that bit about the French admiring Emily so much because they were “intimidated” by her?
Racist? Yes. Having an Asian actress say that the Chinese are mean to you behind your back is still racist, especially if the actress isn’t even Chinese in the first place. Also, I love Ashley Park, but there is no way anyone would ever peg her as a Chinese person who spent a little time in boarding school. No way. Even if she spoke perfect Chinese (which she doesn’t, by the way, her accent is horrendous, especially if she’s trying to act as a Chinese woman), she has an unmistakable American-ness to her. Chinese girls, on average, do not look or act like her, and I am surrounded by Chinese girls who are both wealthy and in boarding schools. They do not look like her. And when the only black character in the first season has no personality except to be a cartoonish source of exposition for Emily? And when everyone, absolutely everyone we see in the show is somehow white, even though Paris is literally one of the most diverse cities in the world? And Petra? God, I can’t begin to start on everything wrong with this show.
Terrible writing? Yes. There is no storyline except Emily struggling in Paris because everyone is somehow weirdly mean to her? I mean, I’ve been to France. I’ve been to Paris as an American, and while not everyone goes out of their way to speak to you in English, no one was blatantly mean to me the way they are in the show. And how on Earth are we supposed to root for Emily when she is not only extremely pretentious about what she thinks is right, and when she cannot even bother to learn the language of the firm that she is literally going to work for for an entire year? I can’t begin to express how much I would dislike Emily if she ever worked with me. Ew, no thanks, next.
Horrible fashion? Yes. To quote a random YouTube commenter: “Emily in Paris makes you wonder if the clothes are pretty or if she’s just skinny.” Trust me when I say those clothes are not for the average person, but Lily Collins is conventionally attractive and so they work on her. Great, good for her, but in no way does that mean these clothes are fashionable or even pretty to look at.
Sexist? You bet. It’s 2022, and we still have shows where the entire plot revolves around two women fighting over a man. Who is a chef and clearly has no idea what he wants. I refuse to believe that he has so many redeeming qualities that not only does a workaholic and smart (I think she’s supposed to be) Emily and a successful, confident, intelligent, kind woman like Camille would want to fight over him. Like where is the appeal? What is so amazing about him? And for God’s sake please let Camille have more of a personality. All she ever does is talk about the chef in season 2, and I cannot begin to express how much that annoys me (P.S. I did learn about the Bechdel Test, which is a test that is meant to gauge how sexist a show is based on how much of the dialogue between two female characters is about a man, so I guess Emily in Paris wasn’t an entire waste of my life?)
But I will say, this show has one, and one only, redeeming quality: Sylvie Grateau. I won’t lie, I have no idea what happens in the show after the first season (I started spacing out and skipping the parts about Emily and her new beau and Camille because I really do not give a crap about Emily anymore) in terms of the main storyline, but I will die for Sylvie. I can’t even begin to tell if it’s because Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu is awesome or if it’s because the writing was surprisingly good for her character, but I think it’s the former, because there are still parts about this character that make me want to bang my head against the wall. I will say though, that I love this representation of an older woman who is not only sexually active but is also still sexually desired. There’s still this social belief that women past a certain age just suddenly lose their desirability, and as middle-aged actresses prove, that’s not true. In fact, there is a specific type of sexy to a woman who is confident in her own skin, and often times that comes with age. So hoorah for Emily in Paris for Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, because she is the only really why I kept watching and why I will probably watch seasons 3 and 4. Save me.
Happy Saturday!!
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