Perfect Strangers

Content Warning: This section contains discussion of mental illness.

Much of Perfect Strangers takes place in Paris, and with this setting, the narrative plays with cultural tropes that depict Paris as synonymous with romance. At first, Olivia, who is suffering from grief and loss, views the setting as antithetical. She writes, “City of Love. What had I been thinking, coming here? I feel attacked by all the love around me. Personally victimized, as if love itself were mocking my pain, stabbing gleefully at me with poison-tipped knives” (18). The stock representation of Paris conflicts with Olivia’s “pain,” and creates a conflict that she will have to overcome. Soon, however, in accordance with its reputation, the city will lead her to James. As James aligns her with Paris’s romantic atmosphere, the “knives” cease.

Myriad Western cultural products connect Paris to romance, including countless movies, books, and TV shows. Books like The Little Paris Bookshop highlight Paris’s reputation as a place where one can find or recapture love. In the film Funny Face (1957), Jo Stockton (played by Audrey Hepburn) captures the attention of Dick Avery (played by Fred Astaire).