Ukraine’s Minister of Culture criticizes “Emily in Paris” for character in the series

The Minister of Culture of Ukraine have been watching the series “Emily in Paris” gives Netflix – and it looks like he’s not happy.

Oleksandr Tkachenko shared his frustration with the “offensive” way in which Petra, a Ukrainian character, is portrayed in the second season of the show, which debuted on Netflix in December.

The new season begins with American executive Emily (Lily Collins) dealing with the consequences of sleeping with her friend’s boyfriend Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), the demands of her Paris job, and the cultural barriers that exist between her and her peers Parisians.

To help with assimilation, the Chicago native enrolls in a beginner’s French class, where she meets Petra, played by Daria Panchenko.

However, Petra makes a bad impression on Emily when she steals clothes from a local mall and encourages her to do the same, before running off through the streets of Paris.

‘Unacceptable’ and ‘offensive’

Tkachenko condemned the plot. “In ‘Emily in Paris’ we have a caricature of a Ukrainian woman, which is unacceptable. On the other hand, it’s also offensive. Will Ukrainians be seen as such abroad? Who steals, wants everything for free, is afraid of deportation? That shouldn’t be the case,” he wrote in a post on his official Telegram channel two days after season two’s release.

He had already watched season one and described it as “a very good entertainment series” but said he changed his mind.

“Netflix knows Ukraine well, suffice it to say that most of the streets of Paris in the movie ‘The Last Mercenary’ were filmed in Kiev.”

“Furthermore, with the popularization of our culture, Europeans and Americans heard about our artists and much more. At least about maestra Oksana Lyniv, tennis player Elina Svitolina, singer Jamala, stylist Vita Kin,” he continued.

“But that’s probably not enough. And we will have to continue to fight stereotypes. Because if in the 1990s and 2000s Ukrainian guys were portrayed mainly as gangsters, over time that changed.”

CNN contacted Netflix for comment.

A fan favorite?

When the first season of “Emily in Paris” was released in 2020, some French viewers announced it, saying it recycled outdated clichés about the City of Light and its inhabitants.

More recently, Emily’s new love interest, a British banker named Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), has received mixed reviews from viewers.

“I hate how they portrayed Alfie in Emily in Paris”, one user tweeted, arguing that “the Brits would NEVER be so shrunken”.

“Alfie in Emily in Paris is really the stereotypical British guy who loves going to the pub,” wrote one user. “I’m in love with Emily’s Alfie in Paris,” tweeted another.

Despite criticism, the Emmy-nominated show has won over viewers.

The first season was broadcast by 58 million families in the first four weeks and was Netflix’s most popular comedy series of 2020, according to a press release.