Elizabeth Day: Emily in Paris is the trashiest show on TV – and I love it! Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life Elizabeth Day This is the trashiest show on TV – and I love it By You Magazine - October 25, 2020 In these pandemic-riven times, my WhatsApp groups have become the equivalent of meeting up for a gossipy coffee with friends. If we can’t see each other regularly in person, at least we can check in over text, ask how we’re feeling and share important thoughts on the state of the nation (by which I mean: collective cooing over Professor Chris Whitty and discussing which online grocery service is doing the best deal on margarita mix). Quite often, there’ll be a rant that lasts over several messages. In the past, the topic of these has included terrible exes and tricky family dynamics. But few things have caused as much untrammelled fury than new Netflix show Emily in Paris. Dan Kennedy ‘IT IS SUCH TRASH,’ texted one friend (Caps Lock her own). ‘I’ve watched one episode and my brain has turned to mush,’ added another. ‘How did this get commissioned??’ was one of the more temperate responses, although even that included an expletive which I have removed. The show seemed to trigger some kind of primal rage. I hadn’t ever seen anything like it. There was even an outcry from the French that it was borderline xenophobic. ‘Name a cliché about the French, you’ll find it in Emily in Paris,’ wrote a commentator in the French newspaper 20 Minutes. Well, I thought, that does sound bad. Yet I couldn’t escape the sneaking feeling that I really, really wanted to watch it. Could it be one of those programmes that is so bad it ends up becoming good in its awfulness, I wondered? So I settled down to do my own research. I watched it. And, mea culpa, I adored it. Was it a superficial, cliché-ridden, embarrassingly dated view of French society? It was. Did it detract from my enjoyment? Not really. The show stars Lily Collins as the eponymous Emily, who is sent to Paris from Chicago to take up a new job in a marketing agency. This involves posting pouting selfies on social media and not speaking a word of French yet somehow inveigling her way into the affections of the most valuable client, a sexy-yet-lecherous married Frenchman straight from central casting. Along the way, Emily wears eye-catching outfits, goes for scenic jogs along the Seine and meets a series of handsome men who appear only too willing to teach her the subtleties of both French kissing and French letters. It is popcorn for the eyes. The message is not deep. In truth, there probably is no message. But I realised, after a few episodes, that this was why I liked it. We live in an age where we are constantly encouraged to improve ourselves. We should eat plant-based diets to save the planet and our cholesterol levels. We should read literature that conveys a profound message. We should exercise while listening to a mind- expanding podcast. We shouldn’t use our phones too much. We mustn’t drink water from single-use plastic and we’re probably putting the wrong items in the recycling bin. These things are important but occasionally it’s refreshing to indulge in something precisely because it’s not improving. Emily in Paris is not going to teach me anything deep and it’s definitely not going to change the world for the better. But on a rainy weekend in the midst of a global pandemic, when everything outside feels a bit too much to engage with, there’s a specific kind of pleasure to it. It’s a brief respite from our worthiness, after which we can get right back to self-improvement and the recycling bin with a renewed sense of purpose. This week I’ m… Brewing Teatulia Jasmine Green teabags – lovely tea and packaging. Slipping Into this brown silk shirt by Mango. It looks twice as expensive than it is. Reading Just Like You by Nick Hornby, a deftly handled social comedy. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Everything we know about The Crown season 5 Aldi s exercise equipment is on sale with up to 50% off The best Halloween events for 2022 across the UK Popular in Life The You magazine team reveal their New Year s resolutions December 31, 2021 Susannah Taylor The TLC tools your body will love January 23, 2022 How to stop living in fear February 6, 2022 Susannah Taylor My pick of the fittest leggings February 27, 2022 Women’ s Prize for Fiction 2022 winner announced June 17, 2022 These BBC dramas are returning for a second series June 30, 2022 Susannah Taylor gives the lowdown on nature s little helper – CBD April 17, 2022 The baby names that are banned across the world April 27, 2022 The Queen has released her own emojis May 26, 2022 Sally Brompton horoscopes 27th June-3rd July 2022 June 26, 2022 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved