President Fights For Popular Netflix Show
It’s not every day that a president goes to bat for a television show. For example, can you imagine if President Biden suddenly asked everyone to give the final Game of Thrones season another chance? However, his international counterpart surprised the world through his passion for a hit Netflix show: French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he will fight to keep the popular Emily in Paris series filming in France.
French President Wants To Keep Emily In Paris
The reason for this presidential declaration is that the producers of the show previously said they would be filming the fifth season in Rome. This is part of a story where the title character moves to Italy, but Emmanuel Macron thinks she should stay put, saying “We will fight hard…we will ask them to remain in Paris!” He then voiced an opinion shared by many fans: “Emily in Paris in Rome doesn’t make sense.”
His Wife Was In The Series
It’s a bit surprising to hear someone as important as Emmanuel Macron speaking so passionately about a streaming show, but he has a personal connection to this Netflix series. His wife, Brigitte Macron, made a cameo as herself in the fourth season of Emily in Paris, running into the titular character and telling Emily that she follows her on Instagram (Emily notably referenced the older woman in a season 1 Instagram post). Of the cameo, Emmanuel Macron said that he “was super proud” of his wife, that “she was very happy to do it,” and that “it was a very good moment for her.”
The Netflix Series Is Attracting More Tourists
However, the French president isn’t fighting for Emily in Paris to keep filming in France solely because of his family connection to the show. Paris is a major tourist destination, and France’s National Centre for Cinema and Animation found a whopping 38 percent of tourists mentioned the show as one of the reasons they wanted to visit the City of Light.
And some fans want to do more than visit: thanks to the city offering tours of major filming locations from the series, there has been a spike in online searches about following in Emily’s footsteps and moving to Paris.
Not Very Realistic
Despite the support of Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Emily in Paris has many critics in France who hate that the show offers a distorted view of the real Paris. Shocking exactly no one, the Netflix series offers a romanticized and idealized version of the city. It helps contextualize why Emily has fallen in love with the city, but some argue that it is setting up expectations for tourists and immigrants that the real Paris can’t live up to.
And while fanboy Emmanuel Macron is at the top of the French government, other officials (especially those working in Paris) have offered some more specific critiques of the show. For example, Green deputy mayor for transport and public spaces David Belliard has expressed annoyance that the show doesn’t feature green transportation options or address the ongoing climate crisis. He also hates how Emily in Paris glamorizes historic apartment buildings whose beauty and historicity hide how poorly insulated and environmentally unfriendly they really are.
A Series Worth Fighting For
However, it looks like Netflix and Emmanuel Macron are both more concerned with a different kind of “green”…namely, the amount of money that Emily in Paris helps to make for both the streaming service and the city. Netflix has become somewhat infamous for canceling shows (no matter their quality) for not getting enough views.
As one of the most popular series in Netflix history, Emily in Paris is obviously worth fighting for, and Macron has already won a small victory: the show’s fifth season will reportedly focus on Paris as well as Rome.
Source: TV Fandom Lounge
