Lily Collins stars in Netflix series “Emily in Paris,” directed by Darren Star. Photo from insider.com
For the people out there wishing to immerse themselves in a life of culture after college, “Emily in Paris” is the furthest thing from reality. Take every cliche about Paris, put it in a bowl, mix in pink glitter and an endless stream of money and privilege, and you’ve met Netflix’s new 10-episode guilty pleasure.
Before I completely rip the show apart, I would like to say that I did finish it in a day. I enjoyed it for its sickly-sweet love lines and high-end fashion, but I’d say almost everything else falls short.
In short, this show reminded me of every girl who ever studied abroad and still hasn’t stopped talking about it (I know because I was that girl, albeit studying in Italy instead of France). The main character Emily is met with the life-changing opportunity of moving to Paris after her boss at the Chicago marketing firm where she works gets pregnant and can’t go. So, extremely unqualified and non-French speaking Emily drops everything, as if she doesn’t have a family or a boyfriend or expenses, and makes her way to France.
Once there she tries her luck as a social media influencer and literally within seconds she is famous for what I can only describe as terrible-angled selfies, cringey hashtags and a total lack of appreciation for French culture other than baguettes, pastries and the occasional boomerang of gorgeous architecture she knows nothing about.
Emily is hurt when she gets to work at the French marketing firm she has been assigned to and realizes no one likes her. But wouldn’t you also hate the cliche American who came into your French workplace not knowing a single French word, yet acts like she can do your company wonders?
After a few days, everyone somewhat warms up to Emily, although she’s constantly causing trouble by trying to “think outside the box.”
However, work isn’t the only thing Emily is messing up; she is also an awful friend. Emily breaks up with her boyfriend as soon as you would expect with just about every hot French guy going after the cute American. So, when she finally kisses her attractive downstairs neighbor, things are finally looking up for Emily. That is until she realizes he’s dating Camille, a girl she had befriended a few episodes before. Let’s just say the way she handles this had me wondering how Lily Collins could go from the beautiful and quaint character Rosie in “Love, Rosie” to a secretive and manipulative basic b****. However, with all of that being said, I had a hard time not rooting for Emily to end up happy in the end.
Overall, I both hated and loved this show. There is something extremely off putting about hearing Lily Collins without a British accent, but I must admit it did have me wondering if I could afford to live just outside the Eiffel Tower; I can’t, I checked.
Rating: 5/10