Emily in Paris – drama series review

First up, wonder if this Netflix drama will be released in France!! There is so much of animosity and mocking of French customs and way of working that, it is borderline cynical/abuse. The fact that work life balance being taken so seriously in that country, where weekend working is illegal, no business discussions on parties and meets outside of office hours, relaxed in-time and out-time setup, their love for their mother tongue (I really liked that part, even though as a tourist would’ve been quite difficult to converse) their way of seeing relationships, even their movies, every single thing have been shown in poor light. Irony being, while she views the infidelity of her boss as an aberration to US way of living, she ends up with her own and conveniently tags herself as being accustomed to French ways!!! What is surprising is, for a person into marketing and supposedly a maverick social media user/content creator, the lead character is oblivious of the expectations while taking up assignment on a new country. She seems genuinely perplexed by the culture and customs of the new country and tries to force her version onto her peers and colleagues, that obviously meets with resistance and coldness. It is hard to believe that some one can be so unprepared in these times and age while taking up an onsite opportunity. If you are able to overcome that glaring hole, the rest of the situations that follow are natural for someone who is ill-prepared for her role. The entire 2 season of this series is a dolled up version of all Hollywood chick flicks and can be dubbed as “Sex and the city” meets “Devil wears Prada” and other Sandra Bullock - Anne Hathaway– Catherine Heigl movies. With Instagram playing a key role throughout the series, every shot seems like a still picture meant for a post or reel on the app and is obviously colorful and beautiful. When I googled about the leading lady was surprised to know that she is the daughter of Phil Collins!! She has also produced the second season and has more or less ensure that the either the camera is on her or through her eyes, literally echoing the title of the series. Paris has been shown in its glamorous touristy view point possible and for that may be French tourism office can throw a bone or two at the crew. Initially I thought the lead lady must be a teenager looking at how thin and small she was plus her kiddish facial expressions. Later realized the amount of coating that must’ve gone behind those layers and layers of makeup!! Nippon paint and Asian paints could compete for sponsorship in upcoming seasons!! But her actions are quite well suited for this chick flick series and is cute at times. She carries the entire series on her shoulders true to the title. For a series primarily built around marketing, with fashion being one of the key aspect, every single character are dressed up to the T, irrespective of the scene or situation. They are always at their sartorial best even for emotional scenes, which are hardly a couple of minutes in the 10 hour long series. At half hour per episode, the series is quick and fast paced with no melodrama even though there were situations where double love triangle situations that could’ve lead to cryathons. Neither the characters nor the story line takes itself too seriously and it is always easy going. In fact one of the characters even cries out loud at the lead lady, how she can be so positive all the time!! Even for situations that would test the nerve of any one, the best she reacts is a slight lifting of eye brows and cheek achingly smiley all the time. Some of the songs are really good even though totally in French. It was recommended as a comedy series by a friend of mine and I binged watched the whole series in 4 days!! It does make up for good screensaver kind of a series with its beautiful shots of Paris and other areas of France. Nothing else much on offer.