The past couple months have been especially difficult for Hollywood. The California wildfires that broke out early in the year tore through nearly $300 billion worth of homes, schools, businesses and more, claimed at least 29 lives, and burned down tens of thousands of acres of land. The fire affected a wide range of people: among those who lost property included the historic Black community of Altadena, the Hollywood elite on the coast of the state and the greater Los Angeles area as a whole. Given the damage the fires caused and the loss the residents felt, movie and television executives and enthusiasts alike began questioning if it was an appropriate time to go ahead with the heavy slate of award shows typically scheduled for the first few months of the year.
In just recent weeks, however, a less tangible kind of problem has thrown another wrench into the Academy’s smooth sailing: good old-fashioned Hollywood drama. This new drama surrounds critics’ new favorite movie: “Emilia Pérez,” nominated for 13 total awards, which surpasses “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” (11) and just shy of James Cameron’s “Titanic” (14). “Emilia Pérez” is a movie directed by Jacques Audiard, a Frenchman who admitted to not studying Mexican culture despite setting the film in Mexico, along with a cast of whom half cannot speak Spanish when the movie was filmed in Spanish. Audiard attempted to justify his decisions by claiming he did not need to study Mexico or its culture to make a movie set in Mexico, and called the Spanish tongue the language of “poor people and migrants.” He failed to portray Mexican culture and the political intricacies of Mexican society and this is painfully evident in the final product, in which the country’s identity is reduced to simply corruption and drug trafficking and a child discovers the Mexican identity of the main character by singing about her smelling like “mezcal and guacamole.”
The movie has faced criticism from various groups for its portrayal of Mexican culture, transgender identity and the callousness surrounding the film’s creation. Groups such as Colectivo de Víctimas del 10 de Marzo (a Mexican group dedicated to finding people forcibly disappeared by cartels) and GLAAD (an organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights) have condemned the film. Public reception has been largely negative and especially criticized Audiard, characterizing many of the director’s actions and statements as being offensive. In Mexico, so many people demanded refunds for tickets to the movie that movie chain Cinépolis rescinded their satisfaction-guaranteed policy, forcing the Mexican government to step in. At the worldwide box office, the film recouped just over half of its approximately $26 million budget.
Despite the wide public disapproval, however, Hollywood critics and elites seemed to love the film. At the Golden Globes, “Emilia Pérez” was nominated for 10 awards and won four, including Zoe Saldaña for Best Supporting Actress. Not long after, however, old social media posts from transgender lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón were discovered, containing offensive references to Islam, Chinese people, George Floyd, Hollywood and the Spanish government. In one tweet about COVID, she writes that “the Chinese vaccine comes with a mandatory microchip and two spring rolls.”
Since her social media posts came to light, the critics who once heaped praise upon Gascón have largely shifted their focus to other films, turning what once seemed like a guaranteed “Emilia Pérez” sweep into a more competitive race, especially against the film “Anora.” The “Emilia Pérez” team, on the other hand, has largely rallied around Best Supporting Actress nominee Zoe Saldaña as their best chance for a notable Oscars win.
The endless controversy of “Emilia Pérez” remains a masterclass on what not to do when creating a movie. The film is the textbook definition of award bait, meant to draw adoration from critics and out-of-touch celebrities while being virtually universally disliked by most audiences. Beyond even the external drama surrounding the film, audiences have complained about the music, plotlines, characters, settings and everything to do with the movie itself. In the coming days, the Academy Awards will have the chance to choose their ideas for the best movies and movie stars of the year. In a time when award shows are being freshly scrutinized for relevance, Oscar voters who want to maintain audience interest and the significance of the ceremonies should consider looking to the common opinion.
