How is ‘Emily in Paris’ creating discord among European leaders?

What do you think of Netflix’s ongoing hit show Emily in Paris?

A beautiful-looking bit of escapist rom-com fluff posing as a travelogue that deals with intercultural exchanges?

Or a continuing piece of hot trash that indulges in every insulting cliché about the French that ought to be carted out to the poubelle of humanity before anyone else is submitted to another dose of harmful bilge about an ignorant, vapid and irredeemable American millennial aping Carrie Bradshaw who is not only unwilling to accustom to the country that welcomes her but instead peddles mind-numbing bullshit that only delights delusional Instagram-obsessives with Disneyfied Parisian guff that makes you want to hysterically pelt the titular white privilege-incarnate heroine with hardback copies of Honoré de Balzac’s “La Comédie Humaine” in a final attempt to make her and her makers realise they’ve created the dystopian equivalent of “cringe” in serialised form?

(By the way, Emily – ‘poubelle’ means ‘bin’. Just making sure, since you haven’t bothered to even attempt to learn the sodding language after four sanity-corroding seasons.)

Judging by the length of the self-indulgent rant above, you can guess where we stand here at Euronews Culture.

However, we know that French President Emmanuel Macron might not agree with our tirade, as he’s gone on the record to say that he thinks it’s “good for the image of France,” adding that the show is “super positive in terms of attractiveness for the country.”

In a recent interview with Variety, Macron shared that he’s “super proud” of a cameo appearance by his wife Brigitte in the fourth season of the show. She plays herself in the second half of Season 4.

“I was super proud and she was very happy to do so,” Macron said. “It’s just a few minutes, but I think it was a very good moment first for her.”

However, he draws the line at making a guest appearance of his own.

“I’m less attractive than Brigitte,” the French leader said in the interview published Wednesday, when asked if he’d been invited to make an appearance. 

However, there’s trouble afoot.

In the second part of Season 4, Emily heads to Italy for a “vaycay”. And Rome, be warned: Macron wants Emily to come back to the French capital in future seasons.

“We will fight hard. And we will ask them to remain,” Macron said. “‘Emily in Paris’ in Roma doesn‘t make sense,” he added.

Cue Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri reacting to Macron’s comments.  

“Dear Emmanuel Macron don’t worry: Emily is doing very well in Rome,” Gualtieri responded on X. “And then you can’t control the heart: let’s let her choose,” he added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Gualtieri also said that he spoke about Macron’s comments with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

“We see Emily’s move to Rome as confirmation that our city is becoming more and more important, and we are quite relaxed about Netflix production decisions. They know what they are doing,” he said, adding: “To be honest, we think Mr. Macron should just relax.”

How about everyone takes a chill pill.

Where there was once discord, allow us to sow harmony.

ADVERTISEMENT

How about we invite everyone to sit down, watch a couple of episodes of Emily in Paris, so that European leaders realise that while the show may boost tourism, it’s nothing short of the stereotypical kiss of death for your respective countries.

Let’s not fight. Instead, can we not all collectively say Adieu / Buonanotte to Emily in Paris once and for all?

Additional sources • Variety