It’s shameless fantasy, from high heels on cobblestones to sanitized streets free of litter and dog poop, a suspiciously blue River Seine, no homelessness and a protagonist so cut off from reality that the French media call her “the overdressed American.”

But the hugely successful Netflix series Emily in Paris – for all its stereotypes about the culture conflicts of a marketing manager from Chicago, France – did bring hordes of tourists to the country, boosting trade and increasing inquiries among real estate agents in the capital. So now the move to Rome for series 5 has become a political issue, with the president, Emmanuel Macron, announcing he will fight hard to keep it in France.

Macron told US show business newspaper Variety: “We will fight hard. And we will ask them to stay in Paris! Emily in Paris in Rome makes no sense.”

Macron’s wife Brigitte, a 71-year-old former teacher, makes a cameo appearance in the show’s fourth season, in which she mentions following Emily on Instagram during a chance meeting at a restaurant. She was previously mentioned in the first series where Emily’s Instagram post shared about how disappointing it was that the French word for vagina, le vaginais male. Cast members said Brigitte Macron was “so wild” to appear and that she was allowed to improvise and wear her own clothes.

Macron told Variety that he was very happy that his wife had a cameo. “I was very proud and she really enjoyed doing it. It’s only a few minutes, but I think it was a very good moment for her.”

He told the magazine: “I think it is good for the image of France. Emily in Paris is super positive when it comes to the attractiveness of the country. It is a very good initiative for my own company.”

When asked if he himself had been asked for a cameo, he said: “I’m less attractive than Brigitte!”

Now streaming, Emily in Paris season 4 takes events to the Italian capital, where the show’s star, played by Lily Collins, is looking for new job prospects and romance. When the series was renewed for a fifth season last month, creators said the series would be set between Paris and Rome, with Emily having “a presence” in Italy, expected to include many shots of perfectly polished Vespas passing by the Colosseum racing and a similar fantasy vision of Italians.

Darren Star, the creator and showrunner, said the heroine “felt very comfortable in Paris. I wanted to throw her into unknown waters.”

Emily in Paris has been particularly criticized by French critics for showing Paris in what they say is a falsely glamorous light, but the ratings are good. The series began streaming at the height of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and became the most popular comedy on Netflix that year. It has consistently appeared on Netflix’s top 10 lists.

“It’s a sappy series full of stereotypes, and yet we can’t bring ourselves to completely hate it,” said French culture magazine Telerama when the show first aired.

A survey this year for the French National Center for Film and Animation (CNC) found that around 38% of tourists cited the series as one of the reasons for visiting Paris. The Paris Tourist Office is now proposing a list of 10 key locations to visit where notable scenes were filmed. The series is believed to have led to a marked increase in online searches about moving to the city.

But Paris City Hall has been outspoken about it. David Belliard, the Green deputy mayor in charge of transport and public space, and other Green politicians complained last year that the series’ idealized version of Paris was dangerous for the climate crisis because it did not show enough about green transport options and a dangerous situation . romanticization of historic apartment buildings that are poorly insulated.