Tomorrow is the 91st Academy Awards. At this point, every year, it becomes clear who will take home the golden statue in each category. This is because all the precursor awards tend to accurately predict who will win in their respective categories at the Academy Awards.
Regardless of how predictable the awards season can be, there is always a film that seems to cast a spell on the major awards circuit and their respective voting systems, despite the fact that those films and performances really are not deserving of being nominated. Notable past examples include the much-derided films Nine, Don’t Look Up, and Rachel McAdams in the film Spotlight, in which she didn’t have a single intimate scene. Emilia Perez is this year’s “WTF film” that has been taking the award circuit by fire.
The film, distributed by Netflix, has been generating significant media attention because of how well it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Zoe Zaldana’s performance, and the fact that its leading actress, Karla Sofia Gascon, is the first trans person to be nominated for an Oscar. That fanfare quickly began to wane not long after it was widely released.
The film is set in Mexico, yet apparently, the director didn’t use a single Mexican-born actor in the film and openly admitted that he didn’t do any research on Mexican culture when he wrote the script, which is probably why the film only made $14 million at the box office on a $25 million budget. During COVID, films could get away with that kind of box office revenue, but for a film to be pegged as a major awards contender, especially from a director with a pedigree like that of Jacques Audiard, it is pretty clear the film was shooting itself in the foot.
Things got worse when it was revealed that lead actress Karla Sofia Gascon has a lengthy history of anti-Semitic and racist posts on social media, which led Netflix to drop her from any marketing and awards campaigning associated with the film.
Intrigued, I decided to watch the film.
I will admit the cinematography was absolutely spellbinding, and I tapped my foot at some of the musical scenes. However, I can’t for the life of me understand what would compel Karla Sofia Gascon to accept the role of a serial-killing, assigned male at birth, Mexican drug lord. Sure, she’s good in her role, but that doesn’t negate that she is knowingly reinforcing the stereotype that trans people are sociopaths.
Initially, I wondered why Jacques Audiard, who wrote and directed the film, portrayed the leading character in such an unfavorable manner. I would assume it was because he doesn’t have a favorable attitude towards trans people. This is the same person who grimaced when watching Cynthia Erivo’s name called when the Oscar nominations were announced. As much as it pains me to say it because I absolutely adore Selena Gomez, she is completely miscast and is way out of her league. Her acting in the film almost comes across as caricature.
Now, with a staggering thirteen Oscar nominations, the film will likely only take home the award for Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña, who has won almost every precursory award up to this point. In all honesty, that award should go to Arianna Grande for Wicked because she commanded the screen both as a singer and actress. Both Wicked and Emilia Perez are musicals, and their roles are actually very similar. Both are heroines who develop a kinship with the antagonists of their films. Saldaña obviously can’t hold a candle to Grande in the vocal department, but while Grande is dolled up in her role, Saldaña is rough and rugged, which can be catnip for Academy voters.
Saldaña does carry Emilia Perez and is pretty much the film’s only saving grace, but the movie is just tacky. There is one scene where operating room staff burst out into a chorus line singing about learning about gender reassignment surgeries. In all reality, this Oscar win for Saldaña won’t be for her performance, it is simply honoring her career in the film industry over the past twenty years. If Grande had had a few more performances to her name, then I think it would have been undeniable that she would have won. Do I think Grande will mount a comeback and get a future nomination? Probably not. Which makes this entire scenario all the more frustrating.
Hopefully, we can start seeing trans representation in the film industry that doesn’t revolve around storylines of homicide, drug addiction, and severe mental illness. Hopefully, we can see actual trans people of integrity contribute to the arts in a way that doesn’t reinforce tired and harmful stereotypes.
