Emily in Paris vs. Me: First Day at a Communications Agency
After watching the first two episodes of Emily in Paris, I realized just how lucky I’ve been!
The Netflix series “Emily in Paris” shows us the daily life of an American woman, Emily, played by Lily Collins, who moves to Paris for a year to help a luxury product marketing agency with her American perspective. Although I’m not in exactly the same situation, I recently joined the communications team at the digital agency Wibicom for an internship. Watching the first episodes of the series made me realize how lucky I am to have landed in my current environment rather than Emily’s.
The team’s welcome
It’s not hard to see that Emily is not at all welcomed by her new team. Between the coworkers who seem scared or uncomfortable every time she speaks to them, the criticism she gets for her enthusiasm, and worst of all, the nickname “la plouc” (the hick) that they pretend is affectionate—this borders on harassment. It’s like they see Emily as an alien or a less-evolved species.
When I arrived at Wibicom, I was immediately greeted with a smile and a warm “hello,” and during lunch break, I got to play MarioKart with the team—a first day that really puts you at ease! Meanwhile, on her second day, Emily desperately tries to find someone to eat lunch with, but they all make up excuses to decline, only to later be seen dining together on a terrace. What better way to feel completely excluded?
The work assigned
At a party, the young American impresses a major client the agency was supposed to work with on a campaign, but her boss—whom I personally refer to as a T-Rex based on her posture—gets jealous and assigns Emily to a less important campaign. This move limits Emily’s visibility and likely keeps her from fully expressing her ideas. Unfortunately for her boss, that decision ends up backfiring—and rightly so.
As for me, on my very first day, I was given the opportunity to write my first blog post, which you can find in the “Le Bistro” section on the Wibicom digital agency website. It’s about ChatGPT Starter Packs—an idea I had brought up during the job interview. Not only did they trust me and let me apply my skills right away, but my Wibicom colleagues also support and appreciate my ideas. And that’s amazing for feeling good in your work environment!
Emily in Paris is still a great show
In this blog, I’m not criticizing the show Emily in Paris—quite the opposite, I’m totally into it! After all, somewhere in the world, newcomers to a company do get treated like that, and I think it’s great to show that the first few days don’t always go smoothly. It encourages people not to put up with mistreatment and reminds them they’re not alone in experiencing it! On the flip side, Emily does enjoy some great things, like making a new friend and taking full advantage of everything Paris has to offer. The young American doesn’t let herself get discouraged—after all, it’s not the meanness and jealousy of a T-Rex that will ruin her year in Paris!
Just to clarify, I’ve only seen the first few episodes so far, so I don’t know what happens next—whether Emily eventually gets treated better by her team, or if her boss Sylvie will finally let her arms hang naturally by her sides. Anything could happen!