Guilty Pleasure Of Binging Emily In Paris And Why The Show Does Not Have To Do Better

Emily In Paris Review: Sometime in 2020, I sat down to see what all the fuss around the Netflix show Emily In Paris is about. I am often drawn towards shows with pretty faces moving around in scenic locations and Lilly Collins has been a favourite for a long time. Naturally, the sun was up again and I had watched the entire season one in one night. It was comfortable and yet deeply frustrating.

Basically, the first season explored how the female protagonist can get away from anything and everything with her endearing smile. She takes pride in being ignorant and sees Paris with the lens used in hundreds of American films. The show is so fixated on painting the French as the laziest and problematically open-minded in the world that even people with no connection to the country feel offended.

And of course the protagonist is perfect. She carries the American capitalism with her and shames the French for their laid back attitude towards life. She is perfect at her job and even when thing are impossible to fix, she comes out with flying colours waiting for her employee of the month trophy. Her chirpiness if nauseating and her "problems" seem foolish. She is a social media manager and feels as if she does the god's work. Like Darren Star's characters in Sex And The City, his Emily too wants to "find love" in whichever city she moves to. There is no way that at least a couple of people on the Golden Globe jury panel were not rolling their eyes before nominating the series for "Best Comedy Series". Even the writer of the show was shocked at the nomination.

Emily in Paris review: Television serves the purpose of removing us from reality. Emily's out-of-the-world problems and her fashionably tragic life leaves nothing for the imagination or analysis.

She might just be the happiest girl in the world but then of course white women do have it easy almost always. What really frustrates me about her is her insanely trendy wardrobe. Its bright, flashy and basic. Emily loves what she wears. In fact her basic style is celebrated in the show by giving it the French term ringarde. After I pulled another all-nighter to finish watching the second season of the show in 2021, I finally understood what I really like about the show. Its comfortably predictable. Emily will always comes out of tricky situations in a perfect outfit and she never fails. Even when she fails, she gets another shot at it without bringing shift in the plot of the series.

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The show makes one think deeply about what they expect from television shows. Sure, we like to watch intelligent stories where the protagonist is faced with realistic issues. Where the protagonist is neither a hero nor a villain. Even when it comes to comedy, the evolved audience of the day appreciates social commentary and satire. Something to gain from. However, we also have to admit that television serves the purpose of removing us from reality. Emily's out-of-the-world problems and her fashionably tragic life leaves nothing for the imagination or analysis. It is right there unfolding in front of us. She is wooden and cheery with hardly any depth to explore in her character. No tension to figure out the next twist in her story.

The second season did have some moments when the show tried to appear a little more serious. Emily who has been the greatest fan of the work culture in America is finally seen as the wronged one. She is the young, overly-enthusiastic person who wants to do well in her career and does not even realise how she was being used by her beloved boss. To stir anticipation for the third, the show ended on a cliff-hanger. Emily has to decide if she will take the path less travelled or do the practical deed. One thing is for sure, she will stay in Paris and we will get more and more reasons to hate-love the show.

Views expressed by the author are their own. 

When is Emily in Paris Season 3 coming?

Emily in Paris season 3 has been commissioned, and that too along with Season 4. Netflix has green-lit the third and fourth season of the show due to its widespread popularity among the viewers. Dates have so far not been announced.