For this assignment, I decided to explore Emily in Paris. This is a Netflix Original TV show about a young adult American from Chicago that moves to Paris for an unexpected job opportunity. Once she makes her move to Paris, there is definitely a culture shock. Her American culture and the culture in Paris clash as she tries to adjust to the challenges of life in Paris all while juggling her career, love life, and friendships.
Although it may seem like this is not harmful to anyone, the closer you look the entire show is completely ignorant of French culture. The show is centered around the fact that Americans are superior. When Emily started working at her marketing firm here in Paris, the majority of her coworkers were very mean to her. Later on, it was explained that the reason why they were mean to her was that her “American thinking” is so next level that it inspires them to work harder. After all, they are “intimidated” by her work ethic. This makes the viewers believe the stereotype that the lifestyle there is super laid back and no one takes their job seriously. It makes the audience believe that Americans are superior to other foreign countries. In this case, the French are the “Other” while Americans are depicted as the “One”. In almost every episode, the show makes Emily miraculously “save the day” because she knows what is best for the company and that she is very experienced with social media, unlike the French. They make her out to be the hero in this TV show but really it is just plain ignorant. Since this show has come out, it has received a lot of backlash from major news outlets in France in which they called the show embarrassing. Despite all of this backlash, this show was renewed for a second season. I really hope that if they do decide to come out with another season, it should be a completely different approach from what happened in the first.
Lily Collins plays Emily