Real girlfriends in Paris
Yes, as the American songwriter Cole Porter wrote: I love Paris in the springtimeI love Paris in the fall/I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles/I love Paris in the winter when it nieselt…
I lived there for seven years. i still like it And it seems more and more Americans can’t get enough of the City of Lights, as evidenced by the phenomenal success of Netflix’s HORRIBLE Emily in Paris. Emily in Paris stars Lily Collins as a marketing executive in her 20s (the only real joke in the alleged comedy) who leaves Chicago to pursue her dream job in Paris.
When she makes the effort to take selfies and dress up in between, she’s the toast of her industry because she’s thinking about doing things her peers obviously haven’t thought of after decades on the job. She is also the target of every French man’s affection.
In my seven years, I was lucky to have a Miniature Poodle sniffing around me, let alone a member of the male species. The closest I came to a potential friend was with a chess grandmaster, but since he beat me in 12 seconds I wasn’t optimistic about our future. I’ve been on longer dates.
A staggering 77% of viewers were women, putting the show on par with the country’s most-watched dramas, despite being as far from the real Paris as the Eiffel Tower is from New York’s Freedom Tower.
My heart sinks that series three and four have already been commissioned. In Paris itself, where the series was met with ridicule, you can almost hear the collective horror.
Bravo’s new reality series Real Girlfriends premiered in Paris last night with its first two episodes. Any Bravo fan (and I really, really am) knows that their reality is as unreal as real life can get – as it should be; I don’t want to watch a show where I sit at a desk all day. Staged arguments, absurd storylines, characters with Eiffel Tower-sized egos – their shows celebrate the excesses and absurdities of people you never want to meet in real life.
Bravo’s new reality series Real Girlfriends premiered in Paris last night with its first two episodes
It seems more and more Americans can’t get enough of the City of Lights, as evidenced by the phenomenal success of Netflix’s HORRIBLE Emily in Paris
The six featured women – Adja, Margaux, Emily, Kacey, Anya, Victoria – claim that their show differs not only from Emily in Paris, but also from other series in the Bravo franchise such as Below Deck and Real Housewives. They say it’s because they’re genuine friends, and also claim that as expats living in the city, they offer a more realistic view of Parisian life.
Given the strength of the first two episodes, I would have enjoyed being guillotined more. Showrunner for both series is Darren Star – also behind hits Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and Sex and the City – but so far there’s a feeling we’re heading into another period of boredom, where the only one A nod to the real Paris, the city’s name is in the title.
“Watch six women take huge leaps of faith in Paris,” the site screams. Firmly? It’s hardly a hop, hop and a jump. They’re all gorgeous twenty-somethings (except for Anya, who’s an ancient 32) who all went to Paris in search of the Parisian dream, but their leaps really don’t seem to have been that huge.
Take Margaux. She grew up in Paris and has (divorced) parents who still live there. She didn’t even know how to open the window of her apartment, and when Daddy came to visit (he curls up in it after selling a newspaper and investing in high-quality art), she bemoaned the fact that he now gave her something only gave 2000 ONE MONTH WHEN ‘I USED TO HAD 10,000.’ DOLLARS OR EUROS, WHO KNOWS; BUT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR THE POOR LAMB AND SHE WAS SO STRESSED THAT SHE HAD TO REACH FOR THE CIGARETTE. YEGOD! Her ambition to set up an agency that represents young artists is “afraid of failure”.
More afraid of losing Daddy’s bank.
The six featured women – Adja, Margaux, Emily, Kacey, Anya, Victoria – claim that their show differs not only from Emily in Paris, but also from other series in the Bravo franchise such as Below Deck and Real Housewives
In Bravo’s teasing for the series, Emily (there had to be an Emily, of course) gushes about Anya, who has lived in Paris for 10 years: “She’s Miss Paris; she is so intellectual
Margaux’s other complaint during a Thanksgiving dinner was that she hadn’t had sex since August. ‘When was the last time you got laid?’ she asked during the meal (this was before the turkey was eaten). Responses ranged from “This morning” to “Last night” to an amused silence from Anya, who exudes an air of superiority not unlike Lisa Vanderpump in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
When bisexual Victoria started talking about an upcoming date with a woman, she burst into tears as she was lovingly hugged by everyone else. Apart from Anya, whose face was so frozen, one might have thought she had entered the early stages of rigor mortis.
In Bravo’s teasing for the series, Emily (there had to be an Emily, of course) gushes about Anya, who has lived in Paris for 10 years: “She’s Miss Paris; she’s so intellectual.’
Margaux’s other complaint during a Thanksgiving dinner was that she hadn’t had sex since August
‘When was the last time you got laid?’ she asked during the meal (this was before the turkey was eaten). Responses ranged from “This morning” to “Last night” to an amused silence from Anya, who exudes an air of superiority not unlike Lisa Vanderpump in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Anya is an art historian licensed by the French government to give tours, but she seems to enjoy her vast shoe collection more. In a future episode, you’ll see her rave about a pair with a croissant on each toe, pointing out an actual Ritz cracker in a special drawer in her closet between the shoes, “because I love the Ritz.” There’s that dazzling intellect. She is not Simone de Beauvoir.
Adja came to the show due to “karmic energy” and claims to have spread good cheer when she was chosen (yeah, whatever). She also says that she was “in no way guided” by the producers during filming (yes, you were; you just can’t see it).
She is smitten with European men who are more romantic and say things like, “Your eyes are so pretty in the moonlight; your hair is so luscious.” Trust me, these are just euphemisms for wanting to get laid, as Margaux might say.
Kacey, who learned French in high school in LA, teaches English and also plays computer games that she has produced from hiding in her ample chest. There’s that producer again.
Unfortunately, American television doesn’t get anywhere near revealing the heart and soul of Paris as, say, Sex and the City did for Manhattan
All six seem to be the usual sort of verbally challenged airheads that Bravo finds pretty awesome for their output. They all have long flowing hair, squeak absurdly like the real Beverly Hills housewives when they meet, and crawl submissively over whatever they’re wearing.
Whatever abilities they have, they are well hidden under the mirage of fluff and cliches.
Paris is “a fairy tale”, “the fashion capital of the world” and “if you can make it in Paris, you can make it anywhere” – and so on.
Cole Porter and George Gershwin have much to answer for when it comes to fueling Parisian fantasies, although their own experiences are authentic and their artworks are moving homages to the place.
Porter’s “I Love Paris” and Gershwin’s brilliant jazz composition “An American in Paris” (first performed in 1928) inspired several generations to seek out the romantic ideas so evident in the music. In 1951, the musical film of the same name won the Oscar for best picture. Woody Allen said Rhapsody in Blue was the inspiration for his 1979 film Manhattan.
Unfortunately, American television doesn’t get anywhere near revealing the heart and soul of Paris as, say, Sex and the City did for Manhattan.
So far, the feeling is that we’re in for another pointless ride down the Champs-Elysées of deception.