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Ugly Americans Are Pretty!

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Ugly Americans Are Pretty!

Opposite of Stereotype Butter

Theodora Taylor
Feb 8
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Share this post

Ugly Americans Are Pretty!

7figurefiction.substack.com

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.

Mindy: You think you're going to change the entire French culture by sending back a steak? |*Altered images from Buzzfeed’s list of 17 Cringey Emily in Paris Moments

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.

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