Emily vs. Carrie - Is the New Netflix show a match for the eternal lady of Manhattant?

Is the new Netflix show a match for the eternal single lady of manhattan?

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While I am no cinematographic critic, I take pride in how many shows I watch on the daily, and can honestly say that my knowledge in Fashion and Gossip Girl prepared me to write this article quite well. Without bringing any spoilers into the article, I thought it would be funny - as the ultimate Sex and the City fan and having moved to Paris recently - to dive into the new Netflix show everyone has been raving about on twitter - Emily In Paris. And what better way to do that than by comparing it to the ultimate fashion vs. city show Sex and the city?

Now, I promised no spoilers for Emily, but you’ve had time to watch Carrie’s adventures in New York, and if you have not, well spoilers are all the punishment you deserve.

The 1990s would have been nothing without the fashion icon that became Carrie Bradshaw. From Galliano’s Dior to her addiction to Manolos, Carrie navigated the world of fashion as well as she did the world of dating, all the while conducing avant-garde conversations with her friends about the female perspective of sex. It is a given that the show was not as PC as Emily’s life - and while HBO has a tendency to put out cruder content (hello Game of Thrones), you don’t need a nude scene and a hundred cigarettes per episode to make a show good. So no, I won’t take that excuse from you, Netflix.

Sex and the city had a cultural impact on the world; it is too soon to say what Emily In Paris will bring to pop culture - but I was expecting a real depiction of Paris with a funny take on French people. If you’re gonna do humour, you better do it right. We, the french, have a knack for self-deprecating comments, but, honey, please don’t use the ones that have already been made a hundred times. Yes, we’re rude, but not for no reason. Yes, we have great food, but not everywhere. Yes, we like our fashion - but in Paris everyone is dressed in black and fits into a certain mood. And yes, we do have pre-made opinions about Americans - but isn’t that just fair game?

I’m not from NY - in fact I’ve only been there once when I was 14 and probably couldn’t tell you if Sex and the City is true to form. But - Oh my. Could Emily in Paris be any more wrong about Paris?

First of all, where on earth are all the cars? I mean if you’re going to do Paris, you’re going to have to know that if you do not look left and right, and left and right again, you will be run over. Multiple times. And what’s up with Emily’s room? A chambre de bonne is usually 9 square meters - no, no, not feet, meters. You’ll get the lavatories outside your room and definitely not more than that. Next up, how does she get to Palais Royal - where she works, without taking the metro? Or was the metro too stinky and gross for her to step her stilettos into? Carrie always wore heels, but she was always honest about how painful and torturous they were. She didn’t cheat us there. Emily, my dear, you make it look like it is possible to live on a normal wage, walk in heels everywhere and have Chanel bags and Chanel everything. Girl, come on. Carrie owned 100 pairs of shoes but at least she had the decency to tell us she was too broke to eat out. Also, have you found any other Fashion House in Paris? Why is it all Chanel?

Carrie Bradshaw had a cultural impact on an entire generation of women. Shows destined to them were usually quite shallow and even characters who, in appearances, were independent and determined ended up seemingly void of any intelligence - take Rachel in Friends (I’m not saying she’s dumb, I’m just saying they managed to dumb out a girl who left everything to make it on her own). Now I won’t argue that Emily didn’t have her impact on pop culture - in fact my twitter was flooded with trolls of her in real Paris once the show came out. But Carrie taught us about independence, about sexual freedom. And I’m French. I can tell you about this. She taught us that women can be detached from sex - and by us I mean 17 year old me later on because I was about 3 years old when the show was airing. In SATC, women are not just wives and girlfriends. They’re human beings, with thoughts and feelings - and guess what? Their longest relationships are with their female girlfriends. The ones that are there for them the entire way through - and that is something I wished to see celebrated a little more in Emily In Paris. And the characters each have a different point of view, making it relatable and easy to identify with. They all have their flaws, their temper, make numerous mistakes (hello, Carrie), but we love them for it.

Emily my friend, you’re gonna have to do better.

Now, let’s get to the important part: comparing the fashion.