( BBC) The new season of fluffy Netflix show Emily in Paris introduces a surprising plotline about sexual misconduct in the fashion world – how does the show handle the subject, and does it reflect reality? Created by Darren Star, the featherlight Netflix series Emily in Paris unsurprisingly has plenty in common with Star’s earlier iconic show Sex and the City. From the annoying protagonist, to the obsession with the City of Light, to the fashion – SATC costume designer Patricia Field worked on the first two seasons of Emily – the two shows share many of the same themes. And this season, Emily in Paris takes another page out from its forebear, as it addresses sexual harassment in the fashion world.
This article contains mentions of sexual harassment and assault, and features spoilers for season four part one of Emily in Paris. Many years before either Emily in Paris or, indeed, the #MeToo movement, SATC protagonist Carrie Bradshaw was sexually harassed at the Vogue HQ. The 2002 season four episode of Sex and the City saw the columnist and shoe aficionado ascend to the famous fashion closet in Vogue’s hallowed halls, where she stumbled upon the much-coveted supposed “urban shoe myth” – Manolo Blahnik Mary Janes.
While there, she also stumbled upon her supposed mentor, Julian (Ron Rifkin), in his underwear, calling her adorable while suggestively snapping the band of some Versace briefs he just happened to be trying on. “You’re old enough to be my father,”.