It’s Oscars season, and if you haven’t heard about the Emilia Pérez controversy, where have you been?
There are layers to it:
It all starts with widespread scepticism about French director Jacques Audiard’s stereotypical portrayal of Mexico. He was quick to admit that he had not thoroughly researched the country before using it as the setting for the film. This lack of research extends to the casting, as most actors are American Hollywood stars with some Latino background rather than professionals who were born and raised in the culture they are representing.
Then there is the backlash regarding Audiard’s bold choice of format for the sensitive topics he wished to illustrate. To many, it seems as though he took distinct issues—such as the transgender experience, gun violence, corruption, drug cartels, and political instability—put them in an odd mixing bowl, and transformed them into… a musical?
Moreover, the hyperfixation on gender-affirming surgery, the main focus of the plot, has also been scrutinised by the trans community. It depicts only a microscopic aspect of what it means to be trans and reinforces a cis-centred worldview.
One thing is for certain: for a film so committed to representing minority groups, one would expect the cast and crew to be at least minimally sensitive to the struggles of the marginalised. In reality, however, they could not care less. The protagonist, Karla Sofía Gascón, has been condemned in the past month for a myriad of worrisome tweets published on X since 2020. Amongst shocking comments about the murder of George Floyd, several Islamophobic takes, and xenophobic remarks about China during COVID-19, one of the most horrifying tweets includes her bashing the 2021 Academy Awards: “I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration, or the 8M.”
At this point, what perplexes all of us is that Emilia Pérez has received a remarkable 13 nominations—making it the most acclaimed film since La La Land, All About Eve, and Titanic.
However, despite a 72% approval rating from critics, the film received an astounding 16% on Rotten Tomatoes from the public—the lowest among all the other contenders—along with widespread disapproval from the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities.
In the run-up to the ceremony, we are left wondering whether the Academy will once again ignore discriminatory behaviour for the sake of awarding what it considers a cinematographic masterpiece.
“Cast and crew of Emilia Perez at TIFF 2024 the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival” by Frank Sun is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.