Emily Cooper's quippy one-liners and cheesy Instagram captions often feel reminiscent of Carrie Bradshaw's musings in Sex And The City.
In Darren Star's Emily In Paris, protagonist Emily Cooper navigates her new life in Paris with an abundance of romanticism and witty hashtags. Upon her arrival, Emily starts posting everything she does on Instagram - and quickly goes viral. Thanks to Emily's social-media success, there is no shortage of clever captions to sum up her journey.
Every time Emily is introduced to a new product, she recites a clever tagline, which is subsequently used in the marketing of that product. Emily has an obvious talent for this. one which she ensures never goes unused. From "the vagina is not male", to "it's like wearing poetry", Emily In Paris is packed full of entertaining quotes.
It's Just Paris, It's Not Some Alternate Universe Where Rules Don't Apply"
One night, while keeping an eye on Brooklyn Clark as she takes advantage of Parisian nightlife, Emily acknowledges the discrepancies between Clark's behavior in Paris and her good-girl reputation at home in the US. Emily discusses this with Gabriel, who cleverly observes that Clark probably feels she has more freedom to be herself here in Paris.
According to Gabriel, in Paris Clark "can get away with everything". Emily responds that "it's just Paris, it's not some alternate universe where rules don't apply", which is likely more about how she must resist Gabriel than it is Clark's behavior. Emily then takes this moment to inappropriately kiss Gabriel for a second time, suggesting that it is, in fact, a place where rules don't apply.
I Feel Like Nicole Kidman In Moulin Rouge
When Emily first arrives at her 'chambre de bonne' in Paris, she heads straight through the apartment towards the window. Emily cares for nothing else and gazes lovingly at her postcard-perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. The features of the apartment itself are irrelevant compared to the view from her window.
As she opens the window, Emily announces "I feel like Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge". Of all the woman-in-Paris roles to choose from, Emily chose one of the more tragic characters, that is not easily comparable to her situation. If Emily had to compare herself to anyone in Moulin Rouge! she is probably more akin to Ewan McGregor's character Christian.
So Romantic I May Be Falling In Love With Myself
As Emily's social media following grows, her Instagram captions become a focal point of her transition, as she documents her daily experiences and becomes a sort-of influencer. One afternoon Emily sits at a picturesque cafe, and once she is left alone after chatting to her colleague Luc, she instantly takes a selfie to post on social media.
As Emily poses in front of the cafe, she writes the caption "So romantic I may be falling in love with myself", and then quickly changes her mind. This rosy-colored caption is spontaneously replaced with "Lonely in Paris" as Emily opts for honesty regarding her struggle to fit in.
The Vagina Is Not Male
As Emily works on the Vaga-Jeune campaign the audience is gifted with a Carrie-Bradshaw-inspired internal monologue as Emily writes on the irony of menopause. While she is trying to come up with a tagline, Emily discovers that the word for vagina in French - le vagin - is a masculine word.
Setting out to resist this, Emily comes up with the tagline "the vagina is not male" and posts it. This post changes Emily's life for the better as her as it is reposted by the president's wife and leads to Emily's colleagues and boss changing their opinion of her and beginning to accept her unique approach.
It's Like Wearing Poetry
Emily's cringe-worthy, snappy one-liners appear to have been commonplace long before she arrived in Paris. Emily is introduced as the hard-working young media executive, testing perfume with her superior. Emily's boss Madeline sprays the Maison Lavaux perfume and asks what Emily thinks, Emily dreamily responds that "it's like wearing poetry".
Madeline is impressed with the quip and instantly claims that she's going to use it. She then smells the perfume herself and is disgusted by it, which leads to her discovering her pregnancy - quite a different response than Emily's. This tagline comes back a second time as Emily repeats it to Antoine of Maison Lavaux, impressing yet again.
A Little 'Bonjour' Goes A Long Way
Early in Emily's journey she buys a pastry from a local bakery one morning and fails to understand the lady behind the counter. Fast forward to a few days later, and during a montage of some of Emily's more pleasant moments in Paris, The lady from the bakery makes an appearance once again.
Emily appears, with her friend from the bakery and the two take a photo together. In true Emily style, she posts the boomerang selfie on the spot and takes no time at all to come up with a clever caption, writing "A little 'Bonjour' goes a long way!". Audiences are then comforted in knowing that Emily is no longer struggling to adapt to her new life.
I Like Paris, But I'm Not Really Sure Paris Likes Me
After attending the party that Mindy has thrown for her, and having a less-than-enjoyable encounter with a charming French man, Emily heads to Gabriel's restaurant in search of a friendly face. As Gabriel and Emily chat he asks her how she is enjoying Paris, a question which she is asked repeatedly.
In response, Emily remarks "I like Paris, but I'm not really sure Paris likes me". This leads to Emily's realization that perhaps she needn't strive to be liked. Gabriel then announces that he in fact likes her; this propels their relationship forward ever so slightly and sets in motion a chain of events that will be central to Emily's life in Paris.
I'm Not Somebody Who Can Share A Crepe. I Need The Whole Crepe
After Emily spends a stressful night chasing after Brooklyn Clark, she is met by Gabriel standing in as the "knight on a white horse". Despite having a girlfriend - whom Emily is friends with - Gabriel invites Emily to join him on his scooter and go to a crepe stand in Montmartre and watch the sunrise together.
Emily, who is slightly heartbroken that she cannot have a romantic relationship with Gabriel, announces metaphorically that "I'm not somebody who can share a crépe. I need the whole crépe". Emily continues on to say that she can no longer spend time with Gabriel and that they must stop seeing one another - declining his offer and getting into a taxi.
Don't You Want To Go To The Movies To Escape Life?
One day at the office, as Emily prepares for the arrival of American movie star Brooklyn Clark, she gets into a brief debate with Luc, on the differences between American and French cinema. Emily is surprised to discover that Clark is not popular in France, and Luc takes the opportunity to remark on the foolishness and dishonesty of American romantic-comedy films.
Luc explains to Emily that the French prefer the "French ending" which is more tragic and closer to real life. Emily verges on profundity as she asks "don't you want to go to the movies to escape life?", and argues for the romantic endings. To Luc, however, this feeds the notion of Emily's problem that she thinks she can escape life at all.
Durée Is Smudge-Proof, Even When You're Berry Hungry
As Emily's influencer-status grows exponentially, she gets invited to attend an event for Durée cosmetics. At the event, Emily is surrounded by influencers who have built careers around their brand. Emily saunters in and jumps ahead of them all as she posts a video of herself promoting the product and instantly gets invited to speak to Olivia.
Emily stands in front of the decorative wall and exclaims that "Durée is smudge-proof. Even when you're berry hungry" as she picks a strawberry from the wall and takes a bite. Olivia watches the video and is instantly impressed with Emily. Emily uses this opportunity to express her dislike of influencing as marketing and encourages Olivia to hire Savoir instead.