Samantha Kilbane
December 1, 2020
COMPSTD 1100
A television show that I recently watched that had very similar aspects to the themes of this course is the new Netflix show “Emily in Paris”. The show depicts a twenty-something year old female who moves to Paris for a year to work with a marketing company based in the city. Emily explains many times throughout the show that her role in the company is to provide an “American perspective” to how the firm is advertising and selling the various products for the companies that they represent. This single season show consists of 10 episodes that are full of clashing cultures. Emily’s co-workers often do not agree with her opinions, lack of ability to speak French, and overall American lifestyle. Emily is consistently placed into the role of “other” as it takes her time and experience to adjust to the French way of life. This is simply evident when Emily is constantly having to ask what is being said in a conversation when everyone around her is speaking French and she only knows English. Emily’s boss at her new company in Paris very much reminds me of Kincaid and her opinion’s on the negativity surrounding tourism. For example, while working in Paris, Emily creates an Instagram account specifically to document the things she sees and does in Paris; the boss finds this account to be extremely distasteful and disrespectful to the people of Paris, as the photos she posts is putting Paris on display for the rest of the world. Although Emily is not technically a tourist as she is in Paris for work, her boss constantly reminds her that she is the “other” while she is in Paris. “Emily in Paris” brings up some very stereotypical aspects of both American and European lifestyles, however I feel the point of this was to highlight the power of identity based on location. Emily is steadfast to her American identity while in Paris; this clashing of identity based on culture is what makes Emily appear to be the “other” in the show.