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Emily in Paris (2020)
Discriminatory and problematic
Underneath its fancy fashion and picturesque landscape, Emily in Paris is a deeply problematic show which discriminates against and belittles other non-American white cultures. Instead of making the effort to assimilate into her new environment like anyone who's recently relocated to a new country would do, the protagonist Emily thinks the more logical thing to do would be to obnoxiously force all her American practices and values onto other characters, with little to no respect local customs and culture.
A lot of the plot also does not make sense and makes it obvious that the screenwriters hasn't worked a day in anything related to ad agencies, brand management, digital marketing or social media management. Asking for a completely accurate reflection of the real world is impossible, but the show does not even try to attempt to make its storylines believable with regards to how these industries function.
Lastly, it's baffling and insulting that the producers decided to cast someone who doesn't speak Mandarin to play a character from Shanghai who somehow speaks better French and English than her native tongue. For a show that debuted on a global streaming platform, it didn't seem to really care about its international audiences. If the producers can find capable French actors for the French roles, they should be able do the same for the Chinese roles.
Ke zai ni xin di de ming zi (2020)
Promising story falls flat
This film has a promising storyline featuring two talented young actors but ultimately falls flat due to an incoherent screenplay that implies more than it actually portrays. We are introduced to a number of disconnected scenes that spotlights sporadic moments in the protagonists' relationship without really being able to see that relationship develop; we are told of the characters' longing and suppression of their feelings with nothing to help us really believe it. The film spends way too much time during its first arc to emphasize the conservative time period during which it takes place, but does not fully flesh out the implications or provide a strong contrast to the present, though perhaps the director thought it unnecessary as viewers are already aware of the changes outside of the film. Many scenes serves no real purpose other than to be reminiscent of 2006's "Eternal Summer" or "Call Me By Your Name." Over the past two decades, Taiwan has seen no shortage of mainstream LGBTQ films, some are groundbreaking, while others, like this film, are unoriginal at best and easily forgettable.
Tigertail (2020)
Inauthentic and distracting accent
If your Asian actors can't be bothered to imitate a Taiwanese accent or you can't hire a dialect coach to train them, at least dub their lines for chrissakes. It was absolutely painful and distracting to watch someone say that they are from central Taiwan in a full-blown Chinese accent.