16 Comments

There’s a whole discourse around this, that’s why these immigrants called themselves expats to distinguish themselves from the “bad immigrants”. When I talk about my situation as a Mexican living in Europe I always introduce myself as an immigrant… with pride.

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I love that! It would be better if we all did that, no? Level the playing field. I've always felt weird about the dichotomy.

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Also, remember how they portrayed the Ukrainian immigrant she met in French class? As a thief without morals who is stealing from Samaritaine. How Emily taught her that's bad.

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Ohhh such a good point, I had forgotten about that

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So many important insights being brought up in this !! It becomes so easy to go to a foreign place from a 'visitor' state of mind and revel in the beauty of other countries and cities, forgetting there are people behind the rose coloured lens who are suffering because of their skin colours and income statuses in the same space.

Media makes it so simple to wash over realities and shift perspectives to certain ideals, marketing the perfect residents and identities.

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Unfortunately France and Italy's stances on immigration aren't much different from that of the UK. I've lived here for 15 years fully legally and yet the horror stories in the news of people being deported overnight -some of whom have spent most of their lives here anyway- give me chills. Emily in Paris, however, is a glamourised version of a lifestyle that is accessible to a minority anyway, and while it may be easy to poke fun at it (and trust me, I've been there, done that because how come can she find a flat without a garante???), it's true that screen tourism can do wonders to revive the attractiveness of a location. And whether that's a good thing and what effects it can have, it's a matter for another discussion as sometimes small places can get a flood of tourists that have seen a series or film based there and can end up being quite detrimental for the local economy and residents.

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Totally agree with the Compte! Important, nuanced take here. In fact, the Emily's of the world live in a nebulous, passport free world -- the world of global capitalism. And typically they are totally unaware of their impact on local ecosystems. Yes, sometimes this can be good. But we have to ask whether any of this wealth trickles down and if it does, if that trickles down in a sustainable way. I encountered some people like this while living in Buenos Aires earlier this year. Me da asco, as the saying goes.

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Totally. Lisbon recently has been flooded by digital nomads that can afford to work anywhere and make a more than decent living, and therefore have chosen the Portuguese capital as a base... unaware that they've made rents go up and many properties unaffordable to those who have lived and worked in Lisbon all their lives but can't compete in terms of salary. There are always two sides to every story, of course, but I think your take on how a sanitised show like Emily in Paris can be very biased in portraying the actual challenges people moving to a country in less favourable circumstances experience and how they are treated is very spot on. We're all wondering when Emily's visa expires, if it actually does!

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I can’t wait for her to expire completely…

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😂😂😂

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I always thought an expat was someone transferred to another country by their company and working abroad, sponsored by that corporation. Am I wrong? I think the term is used more loosely nowadays, but I try to refrain from using it because of how I initially understood it.

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I actually just learned this! For me it was always sort of a broad term, but when I visited the immigration exhibit at the Musée de l'homme in Paris they specify this.

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I almost died laughing and then you mentioned what Italy is doing with Albania and I'm a ghost bye

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Yes! Thank you!

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I was only able to watch the first five or so episodes of the Emily programme, due to the considerable cringe factor of her hyperbolic Americanism. But equally awful is the stereotyping of French culture, and particularly of French values and moral behaviour. I would have expected a head of state to have been indignant about the latter, and offended that a character who is a privileged American twit consistently out-foxes her French colleagues and acquaintances. Instead, identifying Emily as an 'ideal' immigrant ... Jayzus.

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Oct 27
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Thanks! Gag me with a spoon. Perfect

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