Emilia Perez Controversies: Why the Oscar-Nominated Movie Faces Backlash


Zoe Saldaña as Rita Moreau Castro in Emilia Perez.
Page 114 – Why Not Production – Pathé FilmsEmilia Perez Leading the 2025 pack Oscar Hope with Pump 13 filtrationHowever, the film faced many different controversies.
Carla Sophia Gascón In the middle of the musical drama as a powerful Mexican president who hires a lawyer (Zoe Saldana) to help her increase her mortality and undergo surgery to affect sex. Gascón became the first openly transgender woman to score Best Actress nominations at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
Directed by the French director Jacques Audiardand Emilia Perez It premiered in May 2024 at the Cannes Film Festival in France, where it immediately received a warm reception. Gascon, Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz She was honored with Best Actress during Emilia Perez A jury award was given. However, criticism came once the film hit Netflix the following September.
The cast and crew are aware of the differences, and the director has encouraged people to see the film before forming opinions. “I would like to tell people who are involved in this controversy that the film has not been released in Mexico,” Audiard told Audiard. CNN in Spanish In a January 15 interview while discussing the backlash. “So, please, if you want to criticize the movie, criticize it after seeing it. Then we will discuss it.”
Here are the biggest points of contention between Emilia Perez Critics:
Mexican representation
Emilia Perez It is set in Mexico and deals with sensitive topics such as drug trafficking, gang violence, and missing persons. Critics note that someone who has not lived in Mexico under such threats may not be the best person to tell such a story, and some have even accused the film of perpetuating stereotypes.
“If there are things that Mexicans find scandalous in Emilia, I apologize,” Audiard told CNN en Español.
It’s not just the topic that has sparked backlash. Gascón From SpainNot Mexico. Paz is the only Mexican-born actor among the leads. The film was also set in Mexico – but Audiard largely filmed Emilia Perez in France.
You come to scouting sites. At the time, I had every intention of shooting the movie here.” “All of it, entirely, in natural locations. But in the end I couldn’t. I even thought that when I couldn’t do it in natural locations, I could do it in Churubusco Studios.” However, there were more financial facilities in France. But the art director came to Mexico to do research. I found many items. We came Here to Mexico [and] Do rehearsals.”

Questionable Spanish
Many Spanish-speaking viewers raised their eyebrows while watching Emilia Perez. Audiard wrote the script and French singer Camille wrote the songs, both of whom had to work with a translator because he did not speak Spanish. The songs and dialogue have been criticized as awkward and incendiary, and many social media users have noted that the English translations are not accurate translations.
“Camille worked with a wonderful translator, Carla Aviles, who is Mexican,” he told the outlet. The New York Times In November. “But throughout the shooting process, we ran into problems with, for example, Selena’s accent in Spanish. She’s Texas. Carla Sofia Gascón speaks Castilian Spanish. She’s from Madrid. Given that I don’t speak Spanish, I lost the nuances of a Mexican versus Castilian accent. We faced every These issues are with the accents, but we fixed them in editing. We did a lot of Dubbing.”
Audiard expressed his appreciation for the language to CNN en Espanol in January, explaining: “Even though I don’t speak Spanish, I think its music is very beautiful and I wanted to do an opera in Spanish.”
Meanwhile, Gomez, who is not fluent in Spanish, faced backlash for her performance in the film with critics claiming they could tell she didn’t know what she was saying. Eugenio Derbez called her tone “indefensible”, adding, “I feel like she doesn’t know what she’s saying. If she didn’t know what she was saying, you couldn’t give her any nuance.”
Gomez He responded live via Tiktok In December 2024. “I understand where you are coming from,” Gómez commented in Spanish. “I’m sorry. I did the best I could with the time I was given.” He later apologized for his comments.

Cross representation
A shot Emilia Pérez called it “a step back for trans representation,” in one article. The film was noticeably missing from nominations for the GLAAD Media Awards on Wednesday, January 22. The honorees were commended for meaningful representation of the LGBTQ+ community.
Many trans critics have cited various issues with the film, from the unrealistic depiction of gender confirmation surgery to the way Emilia’s transition seems to equate morality.
AutoStraddle He criticized the film as “uniquely cis bullshit” for filling in two over-the-top tracks about trans people. “It’s not about crime or something that’s not allowed,” critic Drew Burnett Gregory wrote. “It’s boring. I don’t understand why a movie that suffers from that in other ways would choose to undermine its strengths with such a shallow understanding of its titular character.”
Meanwhile, Pink news I noted that the biggest crime was that it never felt like an honest story of the transition. Critic Amelia Hansford wrote: “The point is not that trans representation has to be perfect, but that it has to be serious, and Emilia Perez doesn’t feel serious.”
Use of artificial intelligence
Sound designer Cyril Holtz The artificial intelligence company said Respeecher was used to change Gascón’s voice. For a song taking place before Emilia’s gender confirmation surgery, the director wanted Emilia’s voice to sound different. They used artificial intelligence to mix the voice of Gascón and Camille, who wrote the musical numbers.
“In the case of Carla Sofia, it was more complicated because there were already parts of the field that were very difficult, especially because she had already moved and there were records that were no longer available to her,” Holtz said in French. During an interview about technology in Cannes.
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2025-01-24 02:26:00