Why Emily in Paris isn't worth wasting time

On October 2, 10 episodes of Emily in Paris were published on Netflix at once. The project looks like an ideal formula: the incredible Lily Collins plays the main role, sparkling Paris became the scenery, Darren Star is responsible for the success, who gave the world Sex and the City, and Patricia Field, who had a hand in the outfits of the same Sex in the Big the city”and“The Devil Wears Prada”. Sounds delicious? Yes! But something just went wrong.

Sluggish plot

The viewer knows very little about the main character Emily Cooper (Lily Collins): she works for a marketing agency in Chicago and is dating a cute but sad guy. Her boss was supposed to go on a business trip to France, but bad luck - she was too carried away by farewell sex and became pregnant, so Emily would have to go to Paris instead of her.

Emily is delighted: before her eyes, a dream is coming true (however, we do not immediately find out that the heroine had her at all). Paris greets the girl unfriendly. The French constantly grin at her ignorance of the language, the numbering of floors, which in France starts from zero, is confusing, in a new apartment the shower immediately breaks. Colleagues deserve a separate "enrages". The office immediately called the fighting and proactive Emily a redneck, the spectacular boss-shrew (Philippines Leroy-Beaulieu) pours out impossible tasks. And on the horizon, as luck would have it, a seducer-neighbor appeared, but it just won't work to have an affair with him. The only thing that pleases me is Emily's new hobby - a blog on Instagram, which is gaining frenzied popularity.

The plot seemed to be pulled from the best works of the two thousandth. The evil boss rushed from the office of the lady-boss from the movie "The Devil Wears Prada", the main character does not let go of her smartphone, like the characters of "Gossip Girl", and all women's conversations look like a retelling of "Sex and the City". Throughout the series, it seems that we have already seen all this somewhere, but only 15 years ago it was more interesting.

They tried to make the story modern, adding talk about sexism and the Me Too movement, but Emily still desperately needs a man by her side, lets the leadership wipe her feet on herself and opens her mouth to His Majesty Glamor - and this is in 2020. Watching is simply boring - the series does not declare anything new and shocking.

Characters-masks

You don't start to empathize with Emily Cooper right away, and this is understandable: the viewer is not told anything about her or her past. Lily Collins' perfect eyebrows are not enough for the character to form like a puzzle. After a couple of episodes, we finally see that the heroine is inventive, open to the world and does not give up after the first failure. But why Emily is so eager to fight is not completely clear. Is she afraid of losing her job? Do you dream of staying in the most beautiful city on the planet? Holding on for love? Don't rack your brains, you won't know.

The main character's friend, Mindy, is a Chinese-Korean girl who only appears when she needs to discuss the details of last night and giggle. The handsome neighbor rarely speaks a phrase longer than one sentence. Colleagues are stereotyped idiots who give out only stupid ideas, and most importantly (damn it!), Protest against Emily's innovative American proposals.

The only more or less alive person at this carnival is the French boss of the main character. She is attractive and intelligent, perhaps the only one who makes funny jokes, and painfully intertwines work and personal life, because the agency's main client is her lover. All this, however, we have already seen - but this plot replay was successful and diluted a series of flat characters quite well.

There are too many stereotypes

The series collects absolutely all the clichés about the capital of France and its inhabitants. The heroine maintains a blog in which she notes important details: Parisians endlessly smoke (even after fitness), come to work at eleven, are obsessed with sex and perfume. The French themselves, as expected, did not agree with this interpretation: critics accused the French criticized the Netflix series "Emily in Paris" for stereotypes and cliches of the series in offensive and flat stereotypes.

Defenders of "Emily in Paris" are of the opinion that the series, on the contrary, sneers at the Americans and their view of Europe. Indeed: Emily flaunts the streets in an idiotic red beret, mispronounces every five minutes and constantly imposes her view of the world on others, calling it American values.

The problem is that, no matter how you look at the story, it turns out to be overflowing with stereotypes. It doesn't matter about the French or the Americans, because it looks equally ridiculous. Moreover, already in the first episodes you will hear cliche jokes about Germans and Chinese as well. Aren't there too many clashes of cultures for one simple story?

Paris overdose

It would be strange if the series "Emily in Paris" did not tell anything about Paris - but there are somehow too many cities here. Awkward moment? We show the Eiffel Tower. Did the heroine fall in love? Urgently in the frame of the shining Eiffel Tower. Did the viewer get bored? It seems the time has come for the Eiffel …

In Sex and the City, the heroines sang New York, the capital of France here. But in that project, at least they had sex, and in "Emily in Paris" they only sickeningly praise baguettes and narrow streets. At some point, the viewer is also imbued with the city: the beautiful sound of the language, languid landscapes and the sight of seductive buns with chocolate. But the place becomes an obsession, repeats itself from series to series, and eventually loses all its romantic flair. We do not see uncomfortable sides and secret places - just a gloss of the same type, from which the eyes begin to ache.

The crunch of a French loaf is delicious for the first time, but if you eat bread for five hours straight, it gets boring. The same thing happens with Emily in Paris.

But cool costumes

The series attracts with an endless series of outfits, from which the face stretches. Costume designer Patricia Field repeated the success of her past projects and even rhymed some of the images: Emily's dresses echo Carrie Bradshaw's clothes, make you look closely and peer into details. The heroine looks contradictory: she wears heels while real French women prefer comfortable shoes, wears fringed handbags and strange colorful costumes. But watching this parade is a pleasure. Especially if you miss the 2000s style.

The costumes of Emily's boss also deserve special attention: she dresses discreetly and at the same time extremely sexy. The Philippine actress Leroy-Beaulieu is 57 years old - and this is a great rarity when the heroine is not deliberately tried to be younger, but emphasize the virtues of age and its inherent strengths. In general, if you look, then for the sake of this.

Emily in Paris is a series that can be watched in one evening: each of the 10 episodes is half an hour long. Another thing is that you hardly need to waste time on it - the characters are not charming at all, the views of Paris quickly get bored, and the stereotypes simply enrage. Although the project may appeal to those who desperately miss the 2000s and grab any opportunity to nostalgic. However, then it is better to revise "Sex and the City". After all, why a mediocre copy when there is a cool original?