by Tatiana Rodriguez ‘23

The recently released Netflix show, Emily in Paris, takes the audience on an adventure with Emily, played by Lily Collins, as she lives in Paris as an American who doesn’t speak “Francais.” Emily works for a French marketing firm where she has the job of providing an American perspective while she explores famous France landmarks and pursues a love interest. Despite the entertainment the show brings, all the drama is made up of many misrepresentative stereotypes of French and Americans.  Despite this flaw, the show still does a great job of keeping the audience engaged with drama and romance. 

The show follows Emily as she explores famous French landmarks and pursues a love interest, Gabriel, who stands out to Emily because of his patience and gentle personality. This was a rare find for Emily as the other men that she found in France were the stereotypical aggressive flirts who are too direct and straightforward. This stereotype of French men rushing into relationships, though not realistic, led to many twists and turns through Emily’s love life.

Emily is living through social changes where her French coworkers are stereo-typically mean and insulting. Most of their insults are directed at her ignorance of French culture as she even chose to not learn the language. This lack of understanding of cultural differences caused Americans to be self-absorbed in their own countries. This stereotypical representation of Americans as self-absorbed is obviously a generalization since many Americans take the time to learn new languages and appreciate different cultures.

Despite Emily’s struggle in Paris as she does not know the language, Emily’s optimistic view on life keeps the show lighthearted as she takes some of the inconveniences in her life and reminds herself that it’s “la vie”. This optimistic attitude helps her reverse troubling situations she is in and helps her correct the mistakes she makes, especially in her career. Even when Emily at first accidentally makes an important client hate her but with her optimism and persistence, she quickly transforms his hate for her into love. 

Emily in Paris is a great and eye-opening show that allows the audience to be invested in Emily’s crazy new life in France as she overcomes cultural differences and challenges. Despite the many stereotypes including those of ignorant American tourists, the show did a great job engaging their audience. The humor, drama and lightheartedness of the show keeps the audience waiting to hear more about the adventures Emily took throughout Paris. 

Grade: B