In my mind's eye I read it in _italics_ garbage.
Discussion
I fail to understand why anyone would object to italics for emphasis, which has been a standard since the 19th century. The use of underscores before and after a word or phrase was a workaround so writers could show that italics were meant on primitive computer systems that couldn't render them.
So the workaround was better than the original intent.
But I'd say underscores have existed much before italics because ancient copists used them when types weren't a thing and therefore no one had thought about italics.
Which is better is an opinion, of course. Although I love the typographic conventions of traditional books that in my opinion peaked mid-century, I totally understand your frustration with someone else deciding that your underscores "really mean" something else -- and then forcing you into the something else with no way out.