Emily in Paris: Expectation Vs. Reality
If you tune into modern culture, you’ve definitely heard the show Emily in Paris referenced in conversation over the past few weeks. Netflix dropped it’s new binge-worthy original on October 2nd, making us all want to promptly drop out of school and book a one way ticket to Paris.
If you aren’t familiar with the show, we’ll break it down for you. Emily, the show’s young and bright protagonist, takes an unexpected promotion and trades her life in Chicago for an apartment (with an impeccable view) in Paris. Emily’s new role in France is to bring an “American perspective” to Savoir, a luxury marketing firm. The show follows Emily as she navigates Paris, jumps over hurdles with her job, and builds an online presence on her Instagram account: @emilyinparis. There may be a little bit of romance in there too… but we’re not about spoilers.
I’m sure we’re all dying to know: if we followed our urge to move abroad, would there be croissants and wine and a sexy French neighbor boy waiting for us when we stepped off the plane? Netflix paints a beautiful picture of a fantasy life in Paris, but the show has received some criticism for being unrealistic and stereotypical. We’ll let you know right now, berets, hygiene, rudeness… pretty much every French cliché you can think of is in this show. We’re going to take a deeper dive into how representative Emily in Paris is to actually living abroad in France, and don’t worry, we promise not to kill the fantasy.
We asked Sarah Bellinger, an Elon student who studied abroad in Paris and a fan of the show, to give us a little insight on how her experience in Paris compares to Emily’s. To all of the dreamers out there, we’re excited to tell you that many of the things Emily does throughout the show are a reality of Paris. Strolling through the magical Van Gogh exhibit at Atelier des Lumières, being blown away by French pastries and going on a champagne tour in Champagne are spot on. You’ll just have to be really well connected to secure yourself a stay in a château on your tour. What can we say? Paris is a pretty magical place.
Although her experiences are comparable to real life, many details of Emily’s life in Paris are dramatized or unrealistic. One distinct difference Sarah pointed out was that Emily made several French friends immediately upon her arrival, which is not always easy to do. But the show also portrays French people as being very rude and looking down on Americans, which is not always the case. “I didn’t encounter any mean French people,” Sarah says. “They were very friendly and most of them wanted to talk to me either in French or in English.”
Another big fan critique of the show is that American culture is frequently placed above French culture. The show really only portrays what Emily expects Paris to be, and doesn’t dive deep into French culture in a way it definitely could have. Emily makes little effort to actually immerse herself into the French culture and expects it to mold around her. Her role in her new job is literally to teach her coworkers the American way, which is universally referenced as “the right way to do things.” This part of the show is very unrealistic. French culture and American culture are very different, but the American way of life can’t be thought of as the superior option.
Emily also doesn’t make a big effort to learn and communicate in French, which we have to admit is a little disappointing. Although it is a reality of Paris that many people speak both French and English and it’s entirely possible to navigate your way through the city without speaking much French, we would have loved to have seen Emily challenge herself more and plunge a little deeper into her life in Paris instead of expecting others to step up and match her.
The biggest point to keep in mind when binging this show is that it represents a fantasy, not a reality. Sarah shared with us that a lot of what Emily does is what she thinks she should do in Paris, such as “drinking a million glasses of wine a day and going to buy flowers and getting a croissant and taking a picture of it,” which are things you can do in Paris, but it’s very different from actually opening your eyes and welcoming in a new culture.
If you ever find yourself in Paris, do your best to fully immerse yourself in the experience, because France is a pretty amazing place. “When I was there it was a big thing, where you were there to learn from their culture, because there is a lot to learn,” Sarah said. Push yourself to experiment with the French language, ask questions, strike up conversations with anyone you can, and let Paris do the influencing on you… Oh, and remember that French floors start at zero, not one.
All this being said, we still adored the show, and so did Sarah. It’s an easy and fun watch, a great way for abroaders to relive their experience, and a pretty iconic way to live vicariously through Emily and fulfill your deepest Parisian fantasies if you’ve never been. Paris really is a dream.
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