Ugly Americans Are Pretty!
Opposite of Stereotype Butter
Spoiler Alert - Zootopia
Heyo! This week we’re talking about all the butter that keeps people watching—if not necessarily outwardly loving—Emily in Paris.
The biggest (and fairest) criticism of Emily is that she embodies quite a few of the qualities that inspired the term “Ugly American.”
In the first few episodes, Emily…
🙅♀️ barges into an established French workplace with all her American ideas (more on her reluctant work family coming up in a future post).
🙅♀️ 🙅♀️ sends back her food at a French restaurant.
And perhaps, worst of all…
🙅♀️ 🙅♀️🙅♀️ she wears jeans* (at least for the first couple of episodes).
But the brilliance and utter watchability of Emily lies in her going against, upending, and in some cases actually surpassing the Ugly American stereotype (Spoiler Alert: our girl catches herself up on fashion real fast).
The main character is positively encased in a stick of what I like to call….
Opposite of Stereotype Butter
Opposite of Stereotype Butter is when a character…well, goes against, upends, and often surpasses a stereotype—while still getting to embody that stereotype.
Butter Comps:
Izzy—the smart Bethany Whisper’s model excelling in her residency on Grey’s Anatomy
The carnivorous “predator” fox in Zootopia, who was actually very sweet and sincere—before he was bullied and literally muzzled by a group of herbivore scouts
Buffy the (petite, pretty, heel-wearing, blonde) Vampire Slayer
Of course, we’ll be talking about how to butter up all sorts of characters in the Universal Fantasy course (coupon code after the jump).
But for now, here are just a few of the ways Emily in Paris pulls off this specific Opposite of Stereotype character butter.