Ukraine’s culture minister claims he has complained to Netflix about a character from Kyiv being portrayed in Emily in Paris. The Netflix series follows a young American woman, Lily Collins, as she moves to Paris for business.
Petra, a Ukrainian, shoplifts during a trip with the main character Emily in the most recent series. The cartoon depiction of Petra, according to Oleksandr Tkachenko, is “insulting.”
Petra, played by Ukrainian actress Daria Panchenko, is also depicted as having a bad sense of fashion and being scared of deportation.
“We have an unpleasant caricature picture of a Ukrainian woman in Emily in Paris. It’s also demeaning “Mr Tkachenko sent a Telegram message.
Mr Tkachenko, according to Ukrainian media, has written to the streaming site to express his dissatisfaction with Petra’s representation. One Ukrainian in Paris agreed with his assessment.
“The way you treated the image of Ukrainians in your second season, fourth episode is such a cheap trick, pure scandal and a shame,” Yevheniya Havrylko commented in an Instagram post that has received over 75,000 likes.
Others, such as Ukrainian film producer Natalka Yakymovych, have decided to defend the show, saying: “So, in a TV drama, the antagonists can be anything but Ukrainian? Obviously, we all want her to be from Moscow, but wishes do not always come true.”
Emily in Paris isn’t the first film to be chastised for its portrayal of other nationalities.
When the first season was broadcast, it was panned for propagating clichéd pictures of the city and its inhabitants, notably in France.
It portrays the French as despicable people who wear berets and cheat on their partners on a regular basis. Alfie, a stereotypical British man who spends his time drinking in pubs and watching football, stars in the new series of the comedy.
The show’s creator, Darren Star, defended the first season, claiming he was “not apologetic for looking at Paris through a glossy lens.”
Mr Star said he based his remarks on his personal visits to the city.
He told the New York Times, “I wanted to showcase Paris in a really great way that would encourage people to fall in love with the city in the same way that I have.”