Netflix hit's creator Darren Star 'not sorry' for 'clichs'

The creator of hit Netflix show Emily in Paris has defended the programme following criticism that its view of the city is idealised and clichéd.

US writer and executive producer Darren Star said he was "not sorry for looking at Paris through a glamorous lens".

The show follows a young American, played by Lily Collins, who travels to the French capital for work.

It has been criticised, particularly in France, for promoting stereotypical images of the city and its residents.

"No cliché is spared, not even the most desperate," wrote Premiere's Charles Martin in his French-language review when the show made its debut earlier this month.

"Cite a cliché about France and the French [and] you will find it in Emily in Paris," agreed 20 Minutes' Fabien Randanne.

Emily in Paris has faced criticism from non-French reviewers as well, with one claiming it offers "a comic-book version" of the French capital.

"The first half of the season is an exorcism of all of the French clichés the writers could think of," wrote The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson in her one-star review.

The Independent's Ed Cumming gave the same rating to a show whose setting he likened to "a kind of Westworld-style Paris-themed amusement park".

Yet other critics were more forgiving, with Variety's Daniel D'Addario calling it "a delight" set against "a truly inviting backdrop".

E! Online, meanwhile, let two critics offer contrasting opinions, variously describing the show as "refreshing" and "insufferable".

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Star, who also created Sex and the City, said he intended his new show to be "a love letter to Paris" seen through the eyes of Collins' title character.

"The first thing she is seeing is the clichés because it's from her point of view," he explained. "I wanted to do a show that celebrated that part of Paris."

Earlier this month, Star revealed he had drawn on his own experiences of visiting the city. "I wanted to showcase Paris in a really wonderful way that would encourage people to fall in love with the city in a way that I have," he told the New York Times.

A second series of the show has yet to be commissioned, but Star has revealed he already has ideas about what its heroine will do next.

"She'll be more of a resident of the city [in season two]," he told Oprah magazine. "She'll have her feet on the ground a little more."

Collins herself told Vanity Fair she "would love nothing more than to be able to go back to Paris" to shoot a second season. The 31-year-old British-born actress is the daughter of pop star Phil Collins.

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