One Day - is Emma meant to be like this?

[AreolaGrande]

Have never read the book. Saw the film years ago but don't remember loads about it 😳.

Am on ep 3 of the Netflix show and Emma is just so bloody miserable and sour? She's vile to Dexter and I don't get why someone as charismatic as him would bother with her relentless negativity and moaning. I seem to remember Anne Hathaway's Emma having more about her? The connection between her Emma and Jim Sturgess's Dexter was much more believable?

Not sure I can be arsed persevering tbh.

Ian - "are you trying to seduce me?"
Emma - "No, I'm trying to sedate you"
😂

I loved Emma in this, Dexter, not so much

See she was funny! I don’t understand why people are saying she wasn’t. Though I get we all have different senses of humour. I laughed out loud several times!

Although I thought the first couple of episodes dragged, I binged about 6 episodes yesterday, and it got much better with time. I'm up to 1996.

Loving the music and fashions - Emma and Dexter graduated 4 years before me.

And l've booked a trip to Edinburgh! I've only ever been for conferences, and not seen much else.

I disagree. I graduated the same year and cropped up on somebody’s radar who was probably way out of my league. Ended up in a similar relationship for a while.I felt very nostalgic for those times watching this and sad for my teens. I do wonder if in non Insta and SM times we were more carefree and looks mattered less. It reminded me how much similar times were back then, it will never be that simple for my kids. 😢

I loved it and thought the casting was great. Adored Emma and Dex.

I thought this Emma was funny- I definitely laughed out loud a few times, but a lot of that was down to the writing as the lines were well written.

I’m not surprised that the casting of Emma is being criticised by some viewers - I guess that’s to be expected when you cast a woman of colour in a lead romantic role… which is why it needs to happen more often. I would also like to see more plus size leads, those with less than perfect features etc.

I’m loving the new Mr & Mrs Smith on Prime- they’re so funny and a sweet couple- both quite normal looking people compared to Brad and Angelina (also people of colour- which has absolutely no bearing on the story as it should be as it’s a story about smart assassins for hire).

I loved it, so much nostalgia for the 90s!

I liked Emma and Dexter in this and they were much closer to the characters I had in my mind when I read the book than the film version.

Emma was funny, when Dexter asked her if she was religious so that's why she didn't want to sleep with him and she said 'yeah right the only possible reason I wouldn't sleep with you is because of God' (or something similar!) 😂

I loved Emma and thought she was funny. Those saying they didn't have any chemistry is probably because the actress isn't conventionally pretty. I thought the whole point was that she wasn't his usual type. He only knew of her on the last day of uni but all the girls knew of him. You don't see south Asian women in lead roles like this. I think the actress has unique beauty and her features and curly hair stood out more. To me, that made the chemistry more believable when she caught his eye at the uni party. I have to say leo is stunningly beautiful.

Simone Ashley would have been perfect as Emma because she has the right kind of personality as from the shows we've already seen her in such as Sex Education and Bridgerton 2

The fact Emma is cast as an Asian / Indian / woman of colour is completely irrelevant

Ambika Mod just wasn't the right choice

Simone would have been glorious as Emma

But Simone is conventionally beautiful. Wasn’t the whole point that he fell in love with her personality and unique beauty away from his norm and they had a one night stand that developed.

Simone looks too insta perfect and not real enough for this role imvho. I’m not sure she’d have carried off the contrast between their two lives.

Ambika is such a great actress, she was great in This is Going to Hurt too.

Ambika was so many of us and I loved what she brought to the role. Didn’t mean to get swept in. Still nursing my binge watching eye bags!

100% this.
It made no sense that they ever were friends, no connection, chemistry or anything.

I’ve just watched this. I haven’t read the book or seen the film so I can’t comment on if Emma wA played well. All I know is, I cry at EVERYTHING and I didn’t. I didn’t care enough about them. I thought Dexter was so believable though.

I felt numb at the end of episodes 13 and 14 because they were so unbelievable as a couple. The ‘certain event’ and aftermath are very affecting in the book and film.

He’s saying it to goad her into actually writing. He recognises her talent when she doesn’t. She’s the sort of person to be driven by that comment because she has to prove herself.

@Thelightis Simone is not right for the role - she’s gorgeous in a conventional western ideal of beauty way. She could be white.

Whereas Ambika has South Asian facial features which don’t conform to the traditional western idea of beauty. She has a much more interesting and striking beauty though and I think it’s believable that Dex is taken by her…

In fact in every episode if you look closely Dex is eyeing her up and you can see that he fancies her. It’s subtle but obvious when you clock it. I think people don’t see this because they are biased against an Emma who doesn’t conform to western beauty standards. So it’s unconscious bias coming into play - you don’t believe someone like Dex would be attracted to someone like her.

He wouldn’t look twice at her, whether that’s in a book, TV show, or a real life situation. It just wouldn’t happen, and that’s why this otherwise enjoyable TV show is flawed.

Why not? She's different. That's the whole point. Opposites attract and all that.

I haven’t watched the film because I heard it was rubbish, and was annoyed by the casting (Anne Hathaway! Emma is supposed to be a “real” looking person) but I’ve read the book more than once.

Yes Emma is meant to be sarcastic and miserable and a bit righteous in the beginning. She is not supposed to be stunning - Dex is meant to be the looker in a sort of cheesy 90s TV handsome way.

I actually love that actress that plays Emma in the series, I saw her in This is Going to Hurt.

I haven’t watched the series yet, but David Nichols wrote the screenplay I believe, so it’s probably going to be pretty faithful.

Sure, but not too different as in this case.

Couldn't agree more.

People are completely missing the point, Emma isn't meant to be traditionally beautiful and it's her personality that Dex likes. That said I think it showed that once you start falling in love with someone they become incredibly beautiful to you (whether society understands it or not!)

It's a bit like having a baby, everyone else sees a scrawny, red faced, crying machine whereas the parents see the most beautiful baby that ever existed 😂

That said I thought Emma was really pretty from the start, she was really relatable and I liked her in the role.

Why wouldn’t he be attracted to her? Not only is she beautiful (in an unconventional sense but she is still a very attractive woman) she is funny, she is intelligent, she is unlike any of the airheads who sleep with him on the first date. Maybe we need to give him a bit more credit.

This does happen in real life. A good looking friend of mine spent his whole uni life shagging good looking but boring women (his own words) he finally met someone less conventionally good looking but with a first and an amazing job, who is intelligent, very funny and keeps him on his toes. Men do go for more than looks! Especially in the long term.

Of course they had a connection. They spent the whole night talking then instead of leaving her he went for a walk with her. Then they lay down together- all comfortable, chatting some more. And he clearly still didn’t want to leave her but his parents turned up.

I read this thread before I'd watched any of the series, although I've read the book and seen the film, and it sounded like Emma was going to be really annoying. I've watched the first few episodes now and I like her. I think the actress is doing a good job.