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By Coren Feldman
Emily In Paris is Netflix's new show about a woman (Emily) who moves to France (Paris) without speaking any French. It has been heavily promoted and as I write this, it is currently at the top of Netflix's "Top shows in the US" list.
So what is Emily In Paris, and why are so many people watching it?
Emily is an annoyingly upbeat woman who works for a PR firm in Chicago where she's dating a character who is so underdeveloped you can't reasonably assume that they're going to stay together. Her boss is supposed to move to Paris for a year to help integrate a French company the firm acquired but then has to change her plans at the last minute when she realizes she's pregnant, which I guess means she has to stay in America? Now Emily has to go instead, but wait! She doesn't speak French! Just think about all the hijinks that will ensue when she has a hard time saying things. The show doesn't really move past this one plot point, for the most part.
Emily starts an instagram (did she not already have one?) for her life in Paris and quickly gains TENS of followers. This number keeps ticking up throughout the show as Emily - who I might add is a social marketing strategist - posts the world's worst instagram photos.
In Emily's new five floor walk-up apartment she learns (and constantly forgets) that in Paris they count floors differently so she keeps trying to unlock her hot downstairs neighbor's apartment. HMM. I WONDER IF THEY WILL GET TOGETHER WHEN HER AND HER BOYFRIEND INEVITABLY BREAK UP.
The firm Emily is now working at is wary of the merger and they hate her as a result (and because she doesn't speak their goddamn language), especially her boss who's "not a feminist" and is having an affair with a married client. But Emily keeps having "good" ideas for social engagement that always end up working out, despite her boss's objections. She also has MenWritingWomen 1990's takes on feminism, like how an ad featuring a naked woman walking past a row of men is sexist. Hot take, Netflix.
Ultimately, Emily In Paris fails on all fronts: It's a show about Paris whose protagonist can only relate the city to Ratatouilles and Moulin Rouge, a show about marketing where ad campaigns are complete nonsese, and a show about romance with no character development or compelling relationships (or a strong grip on what sexual encounters look like).
Watching this show is like seeing someone accidentally drive a golf cart into the sand, and then get out and desperately try to push it. Is it good? No. Is it kind of fun to watch how horribly wrong something can go wrong? Absolutely.
Coren Feldman is the founder of CorenTV. He once saw Emilia Clarke in person and she was just as he had imagined she'd be: Behind a plastic tarp and talking to reporters.