With continued awards accolades, ‘Emilia Perez’ is widely considered the frontrunner for best picture coming to the Academy Awards on March 2nd. The film has been controversial since its release in November.
The Netflix Crime Musical follows a lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) hired by a cartel boss (Carla Sofia Gascón) who wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery. It received acclaim when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and went on to win four Golden Globe Awards at the January awards show.
And that was a major front with 13 Oscar nominations. The nomination is historic for breakthrough star Gascón, who earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and became the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar nod.
Despite much critical praise, there are many controversies surrounding the film. Here’s why.
“Emilia Perez” criticized the Mexican representative
Some have criticized the Spanish-language film musical for its lack of Mexican representation among the principal cast and crew. The film was shot entirely in Paris on sound stages. Of the four main actresses in the film, Paz is the only one born in Mexico.
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Selena Gomez, who co-stars as Gascon’s disgruntled wife, is of Mexican descent. However, Gomez has been criticized for the film’s lack of Spanish fluency.
On TikTok late last year, “Coda” actor Eugenio Derbez slammed her performance as “unguarded” and said that while watching the movie, he said, “Wow, what is this?” “Podcast host Gaby Meza felt that Gomez was unable to bring nuance to her performance.
Selena Gomez responds to ‘criticism’ to Emilia Perez: ‘I did the best I could’
“The Only Murder in the Building” star finally answered. Derbez later apologized to Gomez, saying his “careless comments” went against “everything I stand for.”
Reactions on social media are more important. A viral X post shared a six-second clip from one of Gomez’s scenes and chastised her for “thinking this is an acceptable way to speak Spanish.”
Others defended the actress by pointing out that her lack of fluency suited the role. A community note was added to the aforementioned X post that says, “Selena’s character, Jessie Del Monte, is American and Spanish is not her first language. The movie makes that clear about that.” Ta.
‘Emilia Perez’ criticized depiction of Mexico’s drug war
Others have criticized the film for its sanitized depiction of Mexico’s drug war.
“Emilia Perez’s film is the unfortunate result of years of exporting audiovisual works that glorify drug trafficking,” wrote a One X user. “The Mexican cultural elite is full of insensitive vultures who, for the sake of simple money, have contributed to this cancer called narcoculture.”
According to official figures reported by the Washington Post, the drug war has resulted in at least 350,000 deaths, with 72,000 missing.
Another user wrote, originally in Spanish, “Mexican filmmakers have been thinking for decades about how to bring the horrors of drug violence to the screen, and how to portray the victims and their families with sensitivity and respect.” After searching and looking for ways to watch, another user wrote about the disappointment felt by Mexican filmmakers. How do they reward the garbage that is “Emilia Perez” . ”
‘Emilia Perez’ criticized transgender representation
The film has also received backlash from trans representatives.
Viewers were disappointed that ‘Emilia’ is a film that is gaining the spotlight for transgender representation and is a film similar to films from trans directors such as ‘I Saw The TV Glow’ .
“I want to congratulate the first trans woman nominated for best actress (and I) but it’s (expletive) for Emilia Perez… you’re so much better than that.” , one user wrote on X.
She is a trans actress and a “warrior.”
“Because Emilia Perez is literally the worst movie with a trans lead, which is what we needed at this moment,” another user wrote. “It’s unfortunate that Karla Gascón makes headlines for being the first trans woman nominated when this CIS Nonsense is the screenplay for which she is nominated.”
LGBTQ critics, who are transgender, criticized the film and its director for its outdated depiction of trans people.
Amelia Hansford, a trans critic for LGBTQ+ news site PinkNews, has called the film “satire,” “dishonest,” and “Harmful.”
“Using the idea of transition, we try to convey that through her transition, Emilia is trying to repent for the sins she committed during her time as a cartel boss,” Hansford wrote in his review. “The problem with this is that transitioning is not a moral decision, and the act of transitioning alone does not somehow absolve your past self.”
Glaad, a nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy group, called it a “deeply retrograde depiction of a trans woman.”
Their writer Fran Tirado calls the film “torture” and “an idea of transness entirely from the imagination of the CIS.”
And Harron Walker wrote for the cut: Understand what the concept actually looks like in practice. ”
Contribution: Brendan Morrow and Melissa Raghieri