Netflix released "Emilia Perez," in 2024 as their major award-contender that could have won them multiple awards. However, ever since its release, the film has garnered a wide range of controversies related to the way the film portrays Mexican culture, as well as comments that have resurfaced online from the film's leading actress and director.
The situation
"Emilia Perez" began its awards campaign as a film highlighting the experience of transgender individuals in Mexico, but has since been criticized by many members of the Mexican community for its poor representation throughout the film. The film, despite these complaints, is nominated for the most Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, with 13 nominations.
A couple months ago, Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez called out Selena Gomez for her Spanish-speaking in the film.
Derbez described it as "indefensible" and found himself, while watching the film, to be confused by the Mexican representation. Many critics are also appalled at how the film portrays Mexico as a crime-filled and dangerous country.
Recently, a series of tweets (X posts) from lead actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, have also resurfaced revealing some racist and Islamophobic comments from Gascón's past. In one tweet, Gascón mentions George Floyd, an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020.
"I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider Black people to be monkeys without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They're all wrong," Gascón said.
In another tweet, Gascón writes about Islam.
"Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured," Gascón said.
However, Gascón is not the only one making harmful comments. Director of the film, a man of French nationality, Jacques Audiard, has also made some comments.
"Spanish is the language of undeveloped countries, the poor, and migrants," Audiard said.
Opinions from WSU
Some students and individuals around Wright State University and the Dayton area had thoughts about the film's controversies. Shakeema Kirk made a comment about the representation of Mexico.
"When people produce films about certain cultures, it's often that they are trying to give off an image to people to make it [seem like] this is what it could look like or what it will look like to get the audience interested in the film," Kirk said.
Josie Shauf also had some thoughts about the negative representation.
"If you're going to make a movie about Mexican culture, it should never be in a negative connotation. [It should] bring awareness to an ongoing issue, not make it [another] issue," Shauf said.
Pertaining to Audiard's comments, Rachel Roberts recalls the basics of modern language in her opinions.
"Calling Spanish 'the language of poor people' is...a tool of creating class and racial divide. It creates an air of 'different,' 'alien' and 'other.' Spanish has its origins dating back 1500 years and is one of the original 'romantic' languages," Roberts said.
Shauf has also expressed a similar sentiment in the romantic feeling of the Spanish language.
Netflix has fought fearlessly over the past several years to make a name for themselves in the awards space. However, the 13 Academy Award nominations may be wasted on this film, as the comments from its leading actress and director could sink its chances.
