<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nothing says awards season like a little spicy drama, but above and below the line, the film </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">has taken it to a whole new level. The Spanish language film directed by Jacques Auidard racked up 13 total Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Karla Sofia Gascón, which would make her the first trans woman to land an Oscar nomination in history. Zoe Saldaña is also up for Best Supporting Actress. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> even earned a Best Picture nom. Despite its vast amount of accolades garnered in the past year, the internet became the most united it’s been in a long time over their shared hatred for the movie. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Of all the movie rating platforms, Rotten Tomatoes has been the most generous with a 72%. IMDB has </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> clocking in at a 5.5/10, and on Letterboxd, the average rating is a 2.1 out of 5. I fared better on my microeconomics midterm than </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">by a rather slim margin. It premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival to a warm reception from Hollywood industry professionals. The film’s eccentric nature as a crime musical based on an opera was the basis of its appeal. However, audiences in Latin American countries and the general trans community are far from impressed. GLAAD, an NGO dedicated to advancing LGBTQ+ equality causes in the media, came out with an op-ed condemning its portrayal of trans folks.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Pérez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s presence in the Oscars race isn’t exactly a shock,” says </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vox </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">contributor Kyndall Cunningham. “Given that it falls neatly into a category of movies the white Hollywood establishment loves to celebrate: mawkish stories about people on society’s margins that allow viewers to feel socially aware through their consumption, without challenging any of the stereotypes and political messaging presented in them.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Michele Thiel of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pink News, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">a Mexican trans woman, brings a much-anticipated perspective to the number of controversies the film is under fire for: “A trans woman has created a parody film in response to French-made cartel movie </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Pérez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which has been criticized for disregarding Mexican screenwriters and actors and ‘being a Eurocentric production.’” she says.</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “Emilia Pérez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> stars trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who is Spanish, and who recently made history by becoming the first out trans performer ever to be nominated for an Oscar. However, many – including trans content creator Camila Aurora – have criticized the film for its cast of leading actors that only includes one Mexican performer (Adriana Paz) in a relatively minor role (Epifanía). </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Pérez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was also shot entirely in France.”</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_15800" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-15800" style="width: 299px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-15800 " src="https://tulanemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2025-02-24-at-4.05.42-PM.png" alt="" width="299" height="296" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-15800" class="wp-caption-text">Image via @thefilmmemes on Instagram.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The two demographics have vocalized concerns about how the film is reaffirming various stereotypes and does not portray a positive representation of either group. Plenty of people have criticized Selena Gomez for her lack of fluent Spanish speaking, which some may argue is authentic to her character since she plays a Mexican-American woman who spent most of her time in the US – though that is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the scandals. Since the Golden Globes, the cast and crew of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have become utterly embroiled in controversy. A number of racist tweets from Gascón resurfaced, as well as some that are just plain mean jabs at costars. Auidard, the director, has also come under fire for the use of artificial intelligence in the movie. He wasn’t the only director to be implicated in an AI case, as the crew of fellow Best Picture contender </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Brutalist</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> also admitted to using it as well. These candors swiftly prompted the Academy to introduce a new policy that films primarily up for award consideration must be transparent about their use of AI if utilized at all. This development comes as somewhat of a shock, given that one of the chief concerns of the SAG and WGA strikes back in 2023 was to embargo the use of artificial intelligence in Hollywood productions. </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_15802" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-15802" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class=" wp-image-15802" src="https://tulanemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2025-02-24-at-4.09.10-PM.png" alt="" width="394" height="260" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-15802" class="wp-caption-text">Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez at the SAG Awards. Image via People.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whether the numerous controversies </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">has become subject to will impact its chances of winning any Academy Awards remains to be seen. Gascón was not present at the SAG Awards, where her co-star Zoe Saldaña took home the trophy for Best Supporting Actress. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anora </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">has become the most recent serious prospect for a Best Picture win, and Ariana Grande is favored to win Best Supporting Actress over Saldaña for her performance as Glinda in </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wicked. </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Regardless of how one feels about the film, it is undeniable that if </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emilia Perez </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">wins any award it’s evidence that the film industry forsakes the concerns of the general public. Our country is facing unprecedented levels of political polarization, but if Republicans and liberals can agree that films like this are not doing anything to help benefit society, then we still have some of our priorities sorted out. </span></p>
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The Paradoxical Nature of Emilia Perez
Feature image via Reuters