Dive into the wild world of "Emilia Pérez" - the most controversial film of the year! From divisive musical numbers to Oscar drama, we're breaking down the messy behind-the-scenes story that's got everyone talking about this Netflix sensation.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're unpacking the messy behind-the-scenes drama of Emilia
00:08Pérez.
00:19Shakespeare in Love, Green Book, Crash, these are just a few Oscar-winning films that have
00:24demonstrated a disconnect between the Academy and self-proclaimed cinephiles.
00:37The films mentioned above might as well be Saving Private Ryan, Black Panther, and Brokeback
00:41Mountain compared to Emilia Pérez, possibly the most contentious Best Picture contender
00:45ever.
00:52When Jacques Odiard's operatic crime drama premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May
00:562024, it received a nine-minute standing ovation and the jury prize. Best Actress was split
01:02between stars Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Carla Sofía Gascon, the latter
01:08of whom plays the titular transgender character. With positive buzz circulating, Netflix spent
01:14$8 million on the North American and UK distribution rights for the surefire Oscar player.
01:22Once Emilia Pérez made its Netflix debut on November 13th, the audience response was
01:30anything but consistent. Some loved that the film took such a huge swing. For others, it
01:36was a swing and a miss, arguing that the gritty crime aesthetic didn't mesh with the over-the-top
01:40musical numbers. Fans countered that the movie is about a woman transitioning, trapped between
01:51her violent old life and the more hopeful one she's trying to build. It makes sense
01:55that the film would blend polar opposite genres with music completing a story right out of
02:00a telenovela. Even if you were on board with the premise, the execution proved divisive.
02:17The response to Camille's original songs ranged from catchy to forgettable to… seriously?
02:38While songs like El Mal and Mi Camino achieved numerous accolades, film Twitter targeted
02:43La Vaginoplastia. In this infamous number, Saldana's Rita visits a hospital where multiple
02:48gender-affirming surgeries take place, at the same time, in one room. The scene is meant
03:00to be comedic, but for social media users watching out of context, it proved hilarious
03:05for all the wrong reasons. Even in context, many who watched the film from start to finish
03:10couldn't believe what they were seeing. Whether the scene made you laugh, cringe, or both,
03:22La Vaginoplastia isn't the most authentic portrayal of gender-affirming surgery. For
03:26all the praise Emilia Perez received for championing representation, it's been debated if the
03:31film gets representation right. Despite all the accolades, GLAAD is one organization that
03:43didn't nominate Emilia Perez for any awards, calling it a, quote, profoundly retrograde
03:48portrayal of a trans woman. Detractors also took issue with the fact that outside of Adriana
03:53Paz, most of the main cast isn't Mexican, although the plot primarily occurs in Mexico.
04:11Eugenio Derbez, among numerous others, heavily criticized Selena Gomez's Spanish. To be fair,
04:17her character was raised in the U.S. Likewise, Gomez was born in Texas. Although she grew
04:22up knowing Spanish, English became her first language by age seven.
04:36To play trophy wife Jessie, Gomez spent six months brushing up on her Spanish.
04:41Nevertheless, the film faced further backlash for using AI to elevate Gascon's singing voice.
04:53Writer-director Jacques Audiard is notably a French cisgender man. Intentions aside,
04:59it was argued that Audiard lacked the perspective to tell the story.
05:03He even admitted to not studying much about Mexico in preparation.
05:06There are whole regions where you can't go because they're unsafe,
05:12and the crumbling of democracy is unbearable for me.
05:15I wanted to make a musical, I wanted people to sing and dance,
05:22so why not against the background of a tragedy?
05:25Where some saw Emilia Perez herself as a complex soul with human flaws,
05:29others felt she indulged in negative stereotypes that paint Mexicans as criminals and trans women
05:34as liars. However you interpret the film's themes, a musical this bonkers wasn't going
05:39to be everyone's cup of tea. The European Film Academy vibed with it, though, granting Emilia
05:44Perez five awards, including Best Picture. This award is an encouragement. Everything needs to
05:55be done yet. I would like to thank you deeply, and I will take note of this kind of words you
06:00gave me. Thank you so much. It performed even better at the Golden Globes, receiving 10
06:05nominations. With just one more, Emilia Perez could have tied Robert Altman's Nashville for
06:10the all-time record. Well, we're going to line up a lot of movie stars. I think people down here
06:14feel that movie stars are eccentric, you know, crazy, communist. Well, a lot of them are.
06:21Emilia Perez won four Globes, including Best Picture, Non-English Language, and Best Picture,
06:26Musical or Comedy. Around this time, Emilia Perez went from being disliked in certain cinema circles
06:32to being hated. Throughout November and December, It's Rotten Tomatoes' audience score fell between
06:4570 and 80 percent. After beating films like Wicked, The Substance, and Onora at the Globes,
06:51the audience score continued to plummet, currently sitting at less than 20 percent.
06:56On Letterboxd, it has a lower score than every other Best Picture nominee ever,
07:01beating the Broadway melody Cimarron and Cavalcade.
07:04Well, I'm sure this is a very good joke, but I'm awfully busy and, uh, my name's Joey.
07:09Oh, how interesting. And I have a dog called Tauza. Now do you mind going because I have to finish dressing.
07:15This could be attributed to review bombing, some of which might have been motivated by transphobia.
07:20Yet it's safe to say that countless moviegoers online just don't like Emilia Perez.
07:25The Oscars are another story.
07:32On January 23rd, 2025, Emilia Perez led the Best Picture nominees with 13 bids overall.
07:39Had Gomez gotten into Best Supporting Actress with Saldana, as some predicted,
07:43it would have tied All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land as the most nominated film in Oscar history.
07:50It's an honor to be a part of such a powerful movie, but to be acknowledged as a part of that
07:56story being necessary is such a compliment. It was a dream come true. We were not expecting it.
08:01Yeah.
08:01Emilia Perez did surpass Roma and Crouching Tiger,
08:05Hidden Dragon as the most nominated non-English language film ever.
08:08Most notably, Gascon became the first openly transgender person nominated in an acting
08:13category. Although Gascon's nomination is a milestone, it sadly hasn't been without
08:18controversy. While it was always likely that her nomination would ignite an uproar from far-right
08:23outlets, nobody was prepared for Gascon's social media history to become the messiest
08:28chapter in this exhausting awards season.
08:41Gascon was already under fire for comments she made about fellow Best Picture nominee
08:45I'm Still Here and Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres. In an interview, Gascon
08:50implied that people were, quote, working with Torres to tear her and Emilia Perez down.
09:12Gascon later praised Torres, apologizing for suggesting she was connected to any online
09:17toxicity. While you could argue that Gascon misspoke, it's harder to look past her posts
09:23on social media.
09:29Following the Oscar nominations, journalist Sarah Hage and various others shared screenshots of
09:34Gascon's old posts, which were deemed offensive to multiple races, religions, and communities.
09:40People were especially appalled by her insensitive comments about George Floyd after his murder.
09:45Gascon deleted these tweets and deactivated her ex-account, but the damage was done.
09:57When asked about her co-star's comments, Saldana didn't denounce Gascon, but said the whole
10:02situation, quote, makes me really sad. In addition to apologizing in a statement via Netflix,
10:07Gascon participated in a CNN Español interview. Gascon claims that some viral tweets were
10:13fabricated, including one where she allegedly called Gomez a, quote, rich rat. Yet, Gascon
10:19owned up to others concerning Hitler, Muslims, and black slaves. At the same time, Gascon asserted
10:24that she was, quote, not racist, feeling she'd been, quote, crucified and stoned without a trial.
10:43Gascon added she wouldn't step down from her Oscar nomination, saying, quote,
10:47I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone. The Academy seems unlikely
10:52to rescind Gascon's nomination, although this controversy may hurt the film's Oscar chances.
11:13Gascon finds it suspicious that these tweets resurfaced as Academy members are marking their
11:23ballots. While the scandal could prevent members from voting for Gascon, it might not affect the
11:28film's Oscar night overall. There's 10,000 Oscar voters, right? I'm sure there are some that have
11:33maybe similar views to what Carlos Sofia Gascon is expressing here, right? Like,
11:36obviously there's, it's not, you know, bigoted views are not unique to her.
11:41With 13 nominations, some voters likely love the film enough to ignore the discourse online,
11:46assuming they're paying attention at all. If a recent election proved anything,
11:50it's that sometimes the most controversial nominee wins in a landslide, much to the
11:54shock of progressives. How dare you! If anything, America is a recycling bin!
12:02Useless and made almost entirely of plastic. Speaking of which, transgender rights remain
12:08in jeopardy and mass deportations are being kicked into overdrive. The Academy may give
12:12Emilia Pérez best picture to send a message to the White House. Given the behind-the-scenes drama,
12:17though, it might not send the message they intended. Now this is like, you know, you can't
12:23separate this, you can't feel good, like, if the progressive, regardless, it just undercuts
12:28their whole campaign. Yeah, it just is not, it's not what you want. Before we continue,
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12:47In a way, Gascon's awards campaign mirrors Emilia Pérez's story. Emilia attempts to give back to
12:52the community, emerging as an inspirational figure. In the end, though, Emilia's past
12:57and worst tendencies come back to blow up in her face. Like Emilia, Gascon isn't perfect. As much
13:11as some would like to celebrate her landmark nomination, the controversy has cast a shadow
13:16over it. That's not to say Gascon's achievements should be disregarded, but neither should her
13:21comments. Time will only tell what awaits Gascon. For now, this turn of events has
13:35solidified Emilia Pérez as this year's Oscar villain. As such, it might be better for the
13:40film's legacy if it doesn't win Best Picture. What are your thoughts on Emilia Pérez and its
13:56behind-the-scenes drama? Share your thoughts in the comments, but please keep it civil.
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