J'taime Emily Cooper
DISCLAIMER: I have written three drafts of this post that have all deleted or disappeared for one reason or another. The only rational explanation I can surmise is that the internet goddesses have had enough Emily Cooper content this week. Alas, here I go. A brief introduction to my feelings about this Netflix series.
image via instagram
Last weekend, a few days after returning from our road trip, I surprised Mike with an open ended “maybe we should spend the spring in Paris.” Mike perked up and said, “yeah, duh”. Forget for a minute the current covid travel restrictions. He has forever been saying how chic it would be to move to Paris. Which is obvious, but he says it in a real way. Like he thinks we should actually do it. And I am the type of person that jumps to more practical questions. Less fun, I know. So when I dropped this casual mention it was obviously surprising but also something that now being a free agent I can actually entertain. The conversation starter was met with a “yeah let’s see!”
That evening Mike found me plopped on the couch in the basement on episode three of Emily In Paris. He saw the cute brunette in her coordinated outfits, her croissant and cafe au lait at Cafe De Flore and it he immediately understood why Paris was on my mind.
If you have gotten this far and do not know what this series is then I guess you are now indebted to me now. You are welcome. Emily in Paris is being called the second coming (read: Gen Z version) of Sex And The City. Which I think is really just attributed to the creator/writer Darren Star and costume designer Patricia Field, both SATC icons. My millennial brain does a different correlation. I see the show as more of a SATC meets Devil Wears Prada meets Gossip Girl with slightly elevated writing. For what its worth, I never got into GG so you can disregard that part if you have strong opinions about the show.
Many people online have already written their reviews about the series. Breaking down the fashion, the faux pas & the cute men. I read about the show last Friday when it premired and before even binging the series I had recommended it to a handful of friends. After watching the first couple episodes I followed up with those friends and edited my recommendation to make it clear that my true pov on this show was that it was junk food. It was not in fact the next gen SATC as some had hoped. My texts were then a whirlwind of Emily Cooper rants & raves:
‘first ep & I had to pause cos it is so cringey’
‘I love that she is a social media manager, lol’
‘I can’t tell if she is supposed to be 20 or 35’
‘thoughts on Gabriel?’
‘so hot’
‘I just binged 3 episodes’
‘I can’t stop watching’
Mike even chimed in on the series and ended up *hate* watching the rest of the series with me too. Jumping in with a few hot takes on the series declaring that he wanted Emily to stop dressing like the joker in every scene. That made me laugh,.
By mid week the internet was buzzing with fly memes (zing!) and, quite similar to my group chats, split decisions on the show. Vogue.com alone has more than ten stories dedicated to the series including: “Dear Emily… We Need To Talk” An Outraged Expat In Paris Pens A Letter To The Netflix Show’s Absurd Protagonist and 5 Reasons Why Emily In Paris is so binge-worthy. My personal favorite headline has been Très Cliché: Deconstructing the Exquisite Tackiness of Emily in Paris.
So after all of this, do I stand by my initial blind recommendation of the show? 1000%. While my initial reaction was junk food I think what it actually turned into was comfort food for me which at 36 years old without any embarassment. If I was 10 years younger I am not sure that I would admit to watching or enjoying this show. So, maybe the demo is 16 year olds and 36 year old women. Aspirational for the teens and comforting slash voyeuristic for the rest of us.
Did it make me wish I was single in Paris, yeah definitely. Did it make me consider spending a few months abroad with my husband and kid? Yup, that too! J’taime Emily, merci beaucoup.
xx Lydia not in Paris