Emilia Pérez, the Spanish-language musical about a Mexican cartel leader who enlists the help of a lawyer to undergo gender-affirming surgery has received high praise from critics and awards show voters landing four Golden Globe wins, 11 BAFTA nominations and 13 Academy Award nominations.
However, that praise was not received from many viewers of the film. Emilia Pérez has been widely criticized for its exploitative depiction of Mexican culture and glorification of drug violence by audiences in Mexico. Likewise, the film has been panned by LGBTQ+ audiences for its regressive depictions of gender identity with the LGBTQ+ organization, GLAAD, calling it “a profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman” and “a step backward for trans representation.”
Many viewers have attributed its critical acclaim during this year’s award season to voters’ tendency to pedestal shallow stories depicting marginalized communities masquerading as progressiveness. These stories are often disliked by the very people they depict, with the criticism of Emilia Pérez’s success being likened to that of the film Green Book at the 2019 Oscars, as that film was shrouded in controversy for reinforcing white savior tropes. However, despite the film’s backlash, its potential to win big at this year’s Oscars seemed secure — until last week, that is.
An ongoing controversy
Emilia Pérez’s Oscars success has been threatened by Karla Sofía Gascón who stars as the film’s titular character. Gascón, who made history after becoming the first openly trans person to be nominated in an acting category, violated Academy rules when she appeared to accuse social media teams working with fellow nominee Fernanda Torres of speaking negatively about her and Emilia Pérez.
“What I really don’t like is that there is a social media team working around these people trying to discredit the work of others—like mine or the movie. That leads nowhere.,” said Gascón in a Brazilian interview, “No one has ever seen me speaking badly about Fernanda Torres or her movie. However, I do see many people in Fernanda Torres’ circle speaking badly about me and Emilia Pérez. I think that says more about them and their film than about mine.”
Gascón quickly retracted these accusations in a statement to Variety claiming she was “referencing the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media.”
Just as that controversy was dying down another emerged when Gascón’s old social media posts on X, resurfaced. The posts, discovered by journalist Sarah Hagi, date back to 2016 and contain racist and Islamophobic rhetoric including one where she referred to Islam as a “hotbed of infection”. Among the other tweets that quickly went viral was one where Gascón referred to George Floyd as “a drug addict swindler”, and another where she referred to the 2021 Oscars ceremony as an “Afro-Korean festival” following the wins the films Minari and Judas and the Black Messiah received.
Gascón has since deactivated her X account and seemingly apologized saying: “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,”
“As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
However, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter Gascón explained why she deleted her X account referring to the controversy as a “campaign of hate” and claimed her words were being taken out of context or manipulated.
On February 3 Gascón gave an hour-long interview to CNN en Español without the involvement or agreement of anyone on the film’s team, which only fanned the flames. In the interview, she declared she would not drop out of the Oscar race.
“I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone. I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”
She addressed the situation again, unauthorized, in an Instagram post where she tagged several publications writing: “They want to subject me to ‘cancel culture.’ I ask the Hollywood experts, the journalists who know me and have followed my career — How can I move forward?”
Netflix distances itself from Gascón
Netflix, which distributed Emilia Pérez, has removed Gascón from promotional materials and is no longer speaking with her directly, communicating through her talent agent, Jeremy Barber instead. Additionally, the streaming service has stopped covering her travel and styling expenses for upcoming events. Gascón was scheduled to attend several events ahead of the Oscars but has since pulled out of them.
The exclusion of the film’s star has certainly complicated its campaign. In an attempt to salvage it, Netflix appears to be focusing on Best Supporting Actress nominee Zoe Saldaña moving forward. During a Q&A in London Saldaña commented on the matter saying: “It makes me really sad because I don’t support (it), and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group.”
The film’s writer and director, Jacques Audiard, has also commented in an interview with Deadline, condemning Gascón’s tweets as “inexcusable.”
When asked if he has spoken with Gascón, Audiard said “I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to…I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.” With both the cast and crew of Emilia Pérez distancing themselves from Gascón, it’s safe to say her chances of taking home the Oscar are slim.
What does this mean for the Oscars ceremony?
Currently, it is unclear whether or not Gascón will even attend the ceremony on March 2, however, there is already a ton of speculation surrounding how this year’s ceremony will commence. For instance, the Oscars’ “Fab Five” format which sees five previous winners present the nominees in their respective categories by delivering a short tribute to each nominee. The Academy announced the format would return this year, but they have clarified it would only be utilized for some non-acting categories.
The decision was made before the controversy, as the Academy wants to move away from making this format an annual tradition, which could result in the broadcast running out of past winners willing to participate. Despite this clarification, controversies surrounding Emilia Pérez continue to overshadow this year’s Oscars. The situation may sway voters’ opinions and cost Emilia Pérez the Oscar for Best Picture. Previously topping many critics’ prediction lists for the Best Picture category, which nominee will take home the night’s biggest award is now anyone’s guess.
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