Emily in Paris / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Emily. Is she a charming Plucky Office Girl who brings a fresh perspective to her old-school agency or an obnoxious Karma Houdini who arrogantly shoves supposedly superior American values down the throats of Parisians? Also, is she a Nice Girl who gets accidentally carried away with her feelings for Gabriel, or a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing bad friend who hooks up with Gabriel without a care for her supposed friendship with Camille?
- Gabriel. A talented, sweet guy torn between his relationship with Camille and his budding feelings for Emily, or a Manipulative Bastard eager to play both sides under the guise of liberal French sexuality?
Americans Hate Tingle:
- Unsurprisingly, the French have little love for the series. In fact, many reviewers from Europe in general have skewered the show for its insufferable main character and ridiculous use of stereotypes.
- In the wake of Season 2, Ukrainians have joined the show’s hatedom, no thanks to their one representative character being portrayed as a professional thief. This, of course, put the show under a slew of controversy, with even Ukrainian politicians getting involved.
Cliché Storm: The series has been criticized by reviewers (especially French ones) for being full of clichés, and not in a good way; namely, the show manages to play almost every French stereotype Americans have—many of which are negative—completely, unabashedly straight.
Critic-Proof: In spite of all the negative reception it received, the show managed to find a sizable audience, was renewed for a second season shortly after its debut and then for two additional ones shortly after season 2.
Designated Villain: Camille in season 2 has shades of this; between her humiliating Emily and Gabriel at Emily's birthday party, getting Emily removed from the Champere account (and insisting that all her business with Savoir is conducted in French, knowing full well Emily isn't fluent in it), and getting back together with Gabriel after making a pact with Emily that neither of them would date him, it seems Camille's actions are the showrunner's attempts to get audiences to root for Emily. However this requires audiences to ignore that Gabriel and Emily hurt Camille first by sleeping together while Camille thought she and Gabriel were still dating, and then Emily proceeded to lie to Camille about it until Camille found out the truth herself. This is subverted in season 3, when Camille cheats on Gabriel with Sofia, whom she kisses on the rooftop at Alfie's party, which is seen by a shocked Emily who instead opts to stay quiet on Mindy's suggestion. Only for Camille to dump Camille near the end of the season to marry Gabriel, from hypocritically telling Emily to mind her own business when she brings up the kiss with Sofia, to then out of the blue leave Gabriel at the altar after publicly revealing she knows he still loves Emily, as well as manipulating Emily with the pact to keep both of them apart and have Gabriel all for herself. Not helping matters is the revelation causing Alfie to break up with Emily, bluntly telling her to "go with your man" and declaring he doesn't want to be her second choice.
Do Not Do This Cool Thing: The French way of doing business, at least in the show, is about being lazy, oversexed and relaxed bohemians who do everything through their network of contacts.
Informed Wrongness:
- Emily is repeatedly given little chance to actually leverage her Master's degree and expertise. Most glaring is her attempts to quash a perfume ad that she suspects will receive negative reception overseas, for which she is painted as a prudish foreigner not in touch with her free-spirited sensuality — despite the fact that the ad itself features a naked woman walking across a bridge with several men ogling her, something that the company should know would never fly with most American consumers, let alone in more conservative countries. At some points it's a wonder how the firm is even still in business with such a pigheaded understanding of their market bases and such a refusal to hear differently.
- The reverse is true as well; repeatedly, the French/Parisian way of doing things is presented as wrong, and the few times Emily is called out for her shallow interest in French culture or trying to enforce American standards, the ones doing so are presented as snobbish and stuck in their ways.
One True Threesome: Given Camille's very flirty and friendly nature towards Emily, some fans are side-stepping the attempted Ship-to-Ship Combat by shipping Emily with both Camille and Gabriel.
Overshadowed by Controversy: It was reported that HFPA voters were bribed to vote for the show to get Golden Globe nominations, being given a stay in Paris that went far beyond their gift budget. This prompted an expose in the LA Times on corruption in the Golden Globes, which completely marred any discourse related to the show. In addition to other drama, this is seen as a reason for the ceremony's cancellation the next year.
Uncertain Audience: It's hard to tell who's exactly the target audience of this series: it's about young adults and their professional problems, but done with the naivety of a Disney TV movie; it's a Chick Flick, but at the same time tries to be serious and about something else other than having a new hot date; it's about Culture Clash... but achieved by using every possible national stereotype there is^note; it's not a series about fashion, but heavily focuses on it anyway. In the end, it appeals neither to teens, being just too serious, nor to adults, being too childish and thematically, it's all over the place.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Emily. The character keeps on coming off as an "Ugly American" Stereotype throughout the season, but the show expects us to buy her as quirky and just trying to fit in, despite her belittling everything that isn't looks or fashion about Paris and France, especially the language. She is also depicted as being pretty selfish and flighty in relationships and friendships, betraying both her friend Camille and her current boyfriend Mathieu by sleeping with Gabriel.
Woolseyism: In the beginning of season 1, Emily confuses a co-worker who doesn't understand English. In the French dub, where Emily and the other characters naturally speak French and not English, this would be confusing, so instead Emily speaks French with an American accent that befuddles the co-worker.

YMMV / Emily in Paris

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