On having fun.
We are more than six months into the newest hellscape dimension here in the US and it makes me sad that no one can just enjoy something for what it is, or leave it alone if they’re not interested. I’m talking, of course, about Netflix’s newest offering, Emily in Paris.
Originally developed for the Paramount Network, Emily in Paris follows Lily Collins as Emily, a successful American woman who is given the chance to move to Paris and continue her work in marketing at a company called Savoir.
The reviews of the show are shitty, and the internet is ablaze with hot takes about how bad it is. But is it, really?
The complaints here are threefold:
- It is too tropey and/or similar to Darren Star’s previous shows.
- The show does not accurately portray French culture
- The outfits are too fancy for a middle class girl
For the love of god, while the world is on fire, can anyone enjoy anything? Our president is malfunctioning, our democracy is suffering, Black people and Trans people are fighting for their lives, and we have Great-Depression levels of unemployment due to a pandemic.
Maybe it’s the PMS talking and the lack of good ice cream in this apartment (which I will rectify after writing this), but I just want to grab you all by the shoulders and shake you up a little bit and say, can’t we just have nice things? Can’t we just enjoy something for what it IS, rather than what we’ve projected onto it and believe it SHOULD be?
Let’s break this down.
Complaint: The show is too tropey and/or similar to Darren Star’s previous shows.
You must be new to TV, or movies, or books, or the concept of “universes.”
When you watch a Ryan Murphy show, and complain it’s too campy, YOU are the problem. You are not the audience for his shows.
When you watch a Shonda Rhimes show and complain it’s too dramatic, YOU are the problem. You are not the audience for her shows.
When you watch a Darren Star show and complain that the characters are assholes and the couture is too fancy, YOU are the problem. You are not the audience for his shows.
Let’s be real — did you go to Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet and complain that they used guns instead of swords, or contemporary music? Artists make stylistic choices.
Don’t tell me you sat through all of Sex and the City, thought it was bad, and moved on to his next show. Don’t tell me you sat through all of Younger, hated it, and moved on to Emily. You wouldn’t. You shouldn’t! You’re just torturing yourself.
You don’t have an Emily in Paris problem, you have a Darren Star problem. Now that we’ve figured that out, feel free to go watch This is Us or whatever.
As for tropes, more on them in a moment, but I will say this: All writing is based on tropes and archetypes. HOWEVER, as a writer myself I agree that life is best lived reading and watching FRESH takes. So sure, I’ll give it to you that this show can fall a little flat on NEW tropes. And guess what? I’m sure Netflix has a very long list of people who have dazzlingly fresh takes and new stories to tell, and THEY weren’t looking. Netflix chose to play it safe and purchase a title about an American Girl in Paris, which is a huge, well-known trope that should not be shocking to you. It is not the fault of Star, for creating a show from a formula he knows works wonders and brings in the numbers. But if you’ve read more than one James Patterson novel, I don’t want to hear it. You can remove yourself from the complaint line.
The second complaint, which ties into the first, is that the show does not accurately portray French culture. Damn, you don’t say. If you’re coming to the show for an authentic look at the French, you’re expecting way too much. I know the show is riddled with stereotypes, but that’s not the point of the show. The point is the drama, the flair, the beauty of the sets and the outfits and the backdrop of Paris, meant to evoke American fantasy, not please the displeased. Think of it as Parisien Porn. When you open up that incognito Pornhub tab, are you looking for authenticity? Or a quick wank? This show, for me and other Americans lusting after Paris, is a quick and juicy rendezvous with a lover in a striped shirt and a beret. Authentic? No. But it gets the job done.
I’m not saying that an authentic show about France wouldn’t be nice — it WOULD. I’m taking recommendations, please!! But this show in particular does not promise you authenticity. You projected it onto the show when you decided to watch despite your ire for Darren Star shows, popular tropes, and general fun. In the words of Jamie Lee Curtis as Lindsay Lohan as Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday, you’re a fun sucker. FUN SUCKER!
The last complaint is that the characters, specifically Emily, dress above their means. You should know what I’m going to say to this if you’ve made it this far: You should know by now that if Carrie Bradshaw could never afford her apartment or clothes in real life, let alone a single Jimmy Choo, or if broke, divorced Liza could pretend to be 20 at 40 and live in Brooklyn, economic background does not matter to this man when it comes to style. In a world where even reality TV is fake, fake TV is NOT meant to be reality.
All of this is to say that no one made you watch ten episodes of Emily in Paris. You did that yourself.
