Netflix’s ‘Emily in Paris’ Incites Hilarious Memes

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You may have noticed suddenly that everyone is posting a “The only Emily that deserves to be in Paris” meme on Instagram featuring Emily Charlton, the character from The Devil Wears Prada, who couldn’t go on a trip to Paris because of mono. 

If you’re not up to date, this meme was inspired by one of Netflix’s original new shows, “Emily In Paris,” and the collective agreement that the main character does not deserve to be in Paris for all that she’s done.  

The Show

Written by Darren Star, the man who created Sex and the City,  “Emily in Paris” features Emily, a midwestern native, who moves to Paris for a job opportunity, but finds herself struggling in every aspect of life. She struggles to succeed with work, have a healthy love life, and adjust seamlessly to the new European culture. 

With only ten 30-ish minute episodes, it’s an easy show to binge. And an even easier show to love-to-hate for being so unrealistic.

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Love Life

Now, we can’t blame Emily for having issues with work and adjusting to a new country’s lifestyle. Those can be difficult. But what the internet seems most upset about is the way the main character handles her love life. It’s a complete ten-steps-backwards in terms of female relationships in media.

First, Emily kisses Gabriel, her downstairs neighbor, not knowing he is in a relationship with her sweet friend, Camille. Pretty innocent since she didn’t know Gabriel had a girlfriend, we’ll let it pass. After she finds out the two were in a relationship, Emily decides to not tell Camille about it (red flag) and tries to focus on being friends with Gabriel. 

There was a quick second there where we thought the three characters were going to be a thrupple, but that was short lived. 

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And then there were some moments where we hoped Emily and Camille would ditch Gabriel altogether and just be a couple themselves.

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Unfortunately that’s not what happened. Instead, Emily and Gabriel keep flirting and “trying to be friends” until eventually Emily kisses him AGAIN! Fully knowing that he is in a relationship with HER FRIEND! Very frustrating. Camille has been so nice to her and helped to acclimate her to French culture. And then, instead of confessing to Camille, Emily sleeps with Camille’s younger brother. It goes from cringe to cringier real quick. Then in a controversial plot twist, Camille and Gabriel suddenly break up, and Gabriel and Emily end up sleeping together. We can only imagine “gender in the media” professors are having a field day with this one, and so is the internet. 

Nobody likes Emily! She is a frustrating main character for the 2020 woman, showing a blatant lack of respect for her friend’s relationship. 

And most people think she DEFINITELY did not deserve to be in Paris. They should have sent The Devil Wears Prada’s Emily Charlton to Paris instead.

But we should probably be placing more blame on Gabriel. He was the one in a relationship after all. He always knew he was in a relationship but he let Emily kiss him anyway, and treated Camille poorly. 

But of course everyone lets him get away with it because he’s so attractive.

Everyone is standing behind Camille. She was nothing but nice to Emily, the least she deserves is the truth, whether that be from Gabriel or Emily.  

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Emily’s Instagram

The next thing that is inspiring so many memes and comments is how unrealistic and basic Emily’s influencer Instagram account is. In a subplot, Emily starts posting pictures of her time in Paris and starts gaining lots of followers and partnerships. But her feed is super basic! Many people have pointed out how it kind of looks like a ‘bot,’ fake, account but are indulging it, inspiring more memes. 

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Not to mention these vague oversights:

Portrayal of France

Speaking of the strict privacy laws in France, there has been a small uproar over the portrayal of France in the TV show. 

On the French entertainment site Sens Critique, one reviewer wrote that you “have to strongly love science fiction to watch this series, knowing that Parisians are mostly friendly, speak irreproachable English, make love for hours and that going to work remains an option. The writers may have hesitated for two or three minutes to stick a baguette under each Frenchman, or even a beret to clearly distinguish them, on the other hand, they all smoke cigarettes and flirt to death.”

Cultural magazine Les Inrocks described Emily’s Paris as “the unrealistic city of the Moulin Rouge, Coco Chanel, baguettes and Ratatouille.” 

Yet somehow, it’s still good

But honestly as bad and unrealistic as this show may be, it was still fun to watch. 

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So as bad as it might have been, we’re still semi eagerly waiting for season two. 

 

 

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