13 Academy Award nominations, four Golden Globe wins and the first openly-trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar; all of the above promise a compelling film, but behind that lies a shallow movie.
Directed by Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez” tells the story of Rita, a Mexican lawyer who helps a cartel boss leave their life behind and transition to her true self, Emilia Pérez. Years later, Emilia reflects on the harm that cartel lords cause across Mexico and decides to start an organization to find the bodies of los desaparecidos (missing people) with the help of Rita.
When I sat down with my mother to watch this film, I still had high hopes: This movie can’t be that bad, it has actresses like Zoe Saldaña in it! Well, I was severely proved wrong.
Oh– and I forgot to mention that the grave issue of los desaparecidos in Mexico is presented in the form of a musical.
Misrepresentation
México is more than a country filled with Narcos. Time and time again the country’s story has been told through one lens: The lens of the country that suffers. It is so incredibly frustrating because, as a Mexican, I know that the country is filled with so much vibrant life. Yet, the only perspective being promoted is the one where México is lesser than because of problems within the country.
This movie should be ashamed of how it handles the subject of missing people. The subject is an incredibly distressing, important, and serious topic. According to a UN article, there are approximately 115,000 people whose whereabouts are unknown in Mexico. I am not saying that you cannot make a musical about serious topics, but the disappearance of Mexicans is not the route Audiard should have gone with. An issue that is this important deserves a documentary that looks at real stories and amplifies the voices of those affected– not a musical.
Another inconsiderate point in the movie is the character of Emilia Pérez. Specifically, how Pérez is magically forgiven after starting her organization, Audiard makes it seem like any cartel lord can just leave their life behind and be forgiven for the damage they have done. Transitioning should not be used as an escape– as the viewer we are expected to forgive Pérez for all the harm she has caused in the past because she can finally be who she truly is inside. The Cut writer, Harron Walker, touches on this in his own critique of Emilia Pérez.
“Gascón gives an incredible performance, as do all of her co-stars, but I loathed her character, largely because I sensed that the film wanted me to like her, to root for her transition from an evil rich man to an evil rich woman, to celebrate her solely for the fact of her transition,” Walker writes.
As a viewer, I was not convinced by what was being presented to me, because that is not the México I know.
Lyrics and Speech
Another aspect of the film that falls short is music. At every single song, my mom and I looked at each other, eyes wide open in disbelief. There is no way that this movie received nominations for its music. If you really don’t believe it could be that bad, then here are some of the lyrics to the song, “La Vaginoplastia,” provided by Genius.
La Vaginoplastia:
[Verse]
Hello, very nice to meet you
I’d like to know about sex change operation
I see, I see, I see
Man to woman or woman to man?
Man to woman
From penis to vagina
Not only were the lyrics bad, but the overall diction and accents in this movie were disappointing. Selena Gomez’s character, Jessie, has an accent that is not remotely close to how Mexicans speak. The Spanish sounds choppy, and while her performance is good, it is ruined by the accent.
A movie about México should take the time to hire proper dialect coaches and spend time making sure that the accents are up to par. Spanish, a growing global language that, according to Harvard University, is spoken by almost 500 million people, deserves a movie that gives it respect, not some half-decent accent.
Director Comments
You may be wondering how this movie could have taken such a disastrous turn. I have one answer for you: the team behind it.
For starters, it is clear that the director, Jaques Audiard, has no interest in México and its culture. In an interview with the French media outlet, Kobini, he describes his choice to film the movie in Spanish because it is, “a language of developing countries, it’s a language of countries of few means, of poor people, of migrants…”
That statement alone should be reason enough to show you that the team behind creating this movie did not put in the effort to treat México’s stories with respect. Audiard’s statement also reinforces that same narrative told through history: México is the land that suffers.
I also find it extremely peculiar that none of the lead actors are Mexican. Karla Sofía Gascón is Spanish, Zoe Saldaña is Dominican and Puerto Rican, and Selena Gomez is half Mexican-American. I’m not saying that these actors do not have good performances, but how is it that a movie about Mexicans, set in México, has no lead actors that are Mexican? I wonder if maybe no Mexican actor wanted to be part of this movie after reading the awful script and song’s lyrics.
In an interview with Paloma and Nacho, a Mexican podcast, Audiard responded that he “did not study a lot,” about México and Mexican culture when going into the production of the movie. He claimed that he already knew what he needed to know– Well I can gladly be the first to say that he did not, or else he would not have made a musical about los desaparecidos in México.
Emilia Pérez is a huge disappointment because at the end of the movie, people take away the message that México is a place of suffering, cartel lords can be forgiven and that Mexican actors do not deserve lead roles.
If you are interested in watching movies that offer a different, Mexican perspective, watch movies like “Like Water for Chocolate,” “Roma,” and “Amores Perros.” Please do not waste your time like I did with “Emilia Pérez.”
I hope that the Academy comes to their senses and that this movie does not win picture of the year, for misrepresentation cannot be left unchecked.
