Ted Lasso and Emily in Paris: The American Expat On Screen | Video Essay

On paper, Ted Lasso and Emily in Paris are bizarrely similar. But the shows themselves have gotten wildly different receptions - because they say very different things about what it means to be American.
(also I forced myself to watch all 3 seasons of Emily in Paris for this so please enjoy)
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time stamps ---
0:00 - intro
0:35 - emily in paris
3:11 - ted lasso
5:02 - emily vs ted
7:35 - what does it all mean?
10:05 - outro
music ---
Music by Naomi - Sea of Dreams - thmatc.co/?l=1DB32349

[@stevenzeidler5776]

At least for me, I think the main difference is that ted is a good person who IS American, Emily is supposed to be good BECAUSE she is American. Ted is the exception to the rule in BOTH England and America.

[@FuzzyKittenBoots]

As a non-French and non-British European person the audience being so angry about an American going to France and walking all over the French is half the fun of the show. Like.. It's fucking France? A pretty damn powerful (in several ways) country with an amount of smugness per capita only the US could compete with. The UK being close behind.

[@fin3033]

the thing is that Americans tend to be very obnoxious when visiting or immigrating to other countries, not bothering to learn the culture or language (and if they do they are ''going of their way'' and we should be thankful), being from the US shouldn't mean being annoying and ignorant. honestly, if I said I am from Normandy and someone said ''oh like the beach in Private Ryan'' I would punch them in the face

[@sappholopod4829]

I've been watching through Emily in Paris recently, and something that struck me immediately is that nearly everyone _other_ than Emily is much more enjoyable than Emily herself. It's such a strange dynamic that it almost feels deliberate at times; when seasons 2 and 3 began focusing much more heavily on Sylvie and Mindy, I started questioning whether the entire first season was just a slow build to Emily realizing how much she sucks. Maybe the absolutely noxious behavior she demonstrated in season 1 was a parody of American self-centering just as much as everything around her is a parody of France. Maybe the show putting more focus on other characters while Emily slowly comes around to staying in France long-term is an allegory for her learning to prioritize herself less and see Paris for what it actually is? ...Of course, no such luck so far. Season 3 opened with a plot that seemed like the _perfect_ chance to humble the main character - then turned it into everyone else becoming even more ingratiated to her instead. Just like that, she was back to being the center of Paris's attention. It's almost frustrating how much the show revolves around her at this point, because without Emily being treated as the most specialest girl in the universe I think the rest of the show would make a genuinely fun slice-of-life/drama series.

[@Horatio787]

This channel has the most inconsistent view counts I think I've ever seen. Most channels either go full consistent or have 1 viral video (remember THAT term kids?), but Maia is all over the map. Glad this channel is still around though.

[@derekkim593]

new Maia c video, day made

[@MaiaCVideos]

hahahah thank you!!

[@endlessgarden6801]

I’m not American and not European neither but i want to say that you did a really great job! i always have thoughts that "hmm Americans in movies about travel abroad are kinda unrelatable" but now thanks to you i know what it was

[@fin3033]

as a non-american, I can't believe someone would actually enjoy Emily in Paris, her whole personality is an idealization of how Americans think they are, and still, that ideal is annoying.

[@Guacamole234]

don't talk smack about our lord and saviour Ted Lasso.

[@fin3033]

she likes Emily in Paris...

[@dheeraj_one]

First tell me why you call them American Expats and not American Immigrants ? Aren't people living in a country outside the country of their birth called immigrants? That is the soft power of America ingrained in the language.

[@BoboWanKebedi]

Your point on american identity from an American perspretive seems valid (implying that I am not a ameircan meaning it may not trigger certain emotions) however, there is a difference in both works. Considering my french and British influence (Canada) Here is my thought. Emily in Paris lacked a american characters compared to Ted Lasso, what does this mean regarding the american identity? In Ted, we have his wife that represent a grievance. Ted emotionally ran away from the US while Emily is moving for business so there is no one she is leaving. She is living in Paris for 1 year and her mannerism shows it. However in Ted, his mannerism shows that he wants to stay and grow. Honsently you could have unpacked both shows a little more, however the American identity I see here is that each are trying to define what it means to grow with an American from a gender stand point? Comparing both seems odd since my best argument for why emialy in Paris was popular is because there was nothing to do in the Pandemic and Netflix marketing while Ted Lasso was good writing that made work. People liked Ted because everyone wished an american to act more like him instead of your social justice up to date know it all young adult (which emily is NOT)

[@hustlecrowe9440]

Is this a bot? Like, its trying to make a point, but in the end is just incoherent. It basically admits that Emily in un-informed and stupid, while praising Ted Lasso for not caring about "social justice" when he dumped the team's kit sponsor specifically for social justice.

[@marchill4851]

In my experience one of the great things about America IS the cultivation of personalities like Ted's. That "Can Do" attitude is related to his American-ness. While it is not unique to America and it is not entirely absent in Europe, it is something lovely about Americans and something to be proud of.

[@chisomo8088]

Lmaoo spoken like a true patriot. That attitude you described has absolutely nothing to do with his 'american-ness'. Maybe the community he was raised, but not the nation. Americans are more like Emily than they want to admit. Most of them seem deluded in the way they act like nothing really goes on outside their borders, so they remain small minded and obtuse. Obviously, not all. But a good amount.

[@fin3033]

can name 10 countries with more ''can do'' mentality than the US, and most of them are in America, the continent.

[@BugGenerat0r]

Emily in Paris proves that cuteness will make us forgive anything. Just look at cats, they're psychopaths and yet we love them.

[@foca7550]

Hi Maia, are you a Marxist by any chance?

[@mysmallnoman]

I've noticed that you never talk about stuff that's against men and all of your videos are heavily against men and in favor of women 🤔🤔🤔

[@queenfarfar]

Wdym

[@mysmallnoman]

@@queenfarfar do i have to go every single one of her videos to explain her obvious bias ?

[@DavidRamirez-se2yt]

This has terrible sentence structure

[@mysmallnoman]

@@DavidRamirez-se2yt k

[@KutluKanyilmaz]

Do you mean that she never talks about stuff that's in favor of* men?