Netflix’s Emilia Pérez is facing backlash for its portrayal of Mexican culture

[TheBannedShadow 3,424]

[lilboyblue 6,041]

I only know of the film because of its awards buzz and was baffled watching the Golden Globes learning that it's a French production, with a French director, and French composers. 😭

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Reality said:

Why is it only getting this backlash now? The movie’s been out for months, but I feel like I’m only seeing people turn on it now after it won a ton of Golden Globes. 

EVERYTHING gets critizised when it becomes popular and huge 

[Luv u Sum 2,535]

i watched it last night and it's god awful... not even just because of its depictions of Mexican people. But the fact that it's a musical is so ??? the editing is **** the cinematography is **** the trans story line makes no sense to me when we get to the section of the movie when the main characters become activists against the cartel that the main character was a part of  like sure she's fab but idk girl whyyy is this movie winning awards ??? it's painful to watch 

[Bling 31,680]

Idk, my partner is from Mexico and he enjoyed it and picked it for us to watch based on a recommendation from his Mexican BFF  We both thought it was good, but I definitely understand the criticisms.

[Guest]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a replacement for Joker 2 where people can throw all their hate 

I am kidding and haven't watched it yet so I am not gonna give an opinion. That being said I am totally against the idea that only locals can write and act about a certain topic. Sometimes it gives another point of view and the cast can make a great work nevertheless

P.S. Ok that in theory but I am gonna shut up just in case this is not one of these cases 

[elijahfan 27,484]

The movie is a masterpiece, I’ve called it back in August and I’ll gladly die on this hill.

People are entitled to their opinions, especially if their culture and gender identity are the focus of the movie. But I really think sometimes people don’t know how to choose their battles…
 

Whether Mexicans are comfortable with it or not, narcotrafic and the violence linked to it are a real thing. Not the most pleasant thing about the country, but real nonetheless. Moreover, the very existence of transgender people in America is likely to be erased pretty soon. That’s the world we currently live in. Here is a movie whose message is one of hope and acceptance in the face of violence, putting to the forefront these very real issues that need addressing now more than ever. And we’re choosing to tear it down because of… an accent? Because it’s not portraying accurately the transgender experience? 
 

Honestly, get your priorities straight. This community should be able to recognize when allyship is coming from a good place. This is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, trans woman character of the history of cinema. I’m honestly speechless when I see all this hatred, especially when it comes from the very communities that are being celebrated and put to the forefront. I’m actually doubting most people have seen the film and believe most reactions are coming from out of context snippets being shared on social media. Selena Gomez’s character is US-born, it makes sense she doesn’t speak perfect Spanish - but you’d need to have seen the film to know that 

Performances have been overwhelmingly celebrated as soon as the film premiered in Cannes last May, it was the first time in the 77 years of the festival’s existence that an acting prize went to an ensemble cast and not just a single actress. It absolutely makes sense for Zoe Saldaña to win for this specific film, and if there’s any justice, Karla Sofía Gascón should be the one snatching the Oscar. I’ll add that Adriana Paz, who has been recognized as well at Cannes for her performance, is Mexican. Strangely, I see very little being said about her here.

As for the songs, they were co-written by French singer Camille who is known for her quirky lyrics and unusual themes. The songs were written along with a Mexican consultant and translator to ensure authenticity - they were not written and then translated to Spanish, which I think is an important nuance. Also, if certain elements felt camp to you, it’s not because of the translation, it’s Camille’s style. And it would be the same in any other language. By the way, you all stan a woman singing about riding disco sticks, I’m sure you can take a quirky song about vaginoplasty.

What I’m also getting from this site specifically is some sort of eagerness to tear down this successful musical just because your fave’s project flopped. Once again, get your priorities straight. I didn’t hear any of you complain about anything back in August when this film wasn’t a threat yet for awards season. Now that Zoe Saldaña is winning « Gaga’s award », you have something to say? Get a grip.

All in all, I don’t believe this backlash is accurately representing the overall reception this film has been receiving for months now. It’s just a bit sad that some people will choose to nitpick and fail to acknowledge all the doors this movie is opening. It’s also time to stop judging works of fiction like they’re documentaries. Of course there’s always a margin for artists to learn and do better if things turn out to be misrepresented, and though the film was indeed made with Mexican and transgender crew members, I’m sure the filmmakers are open to the discussion. But in this day and age, I guess it’s easier to cancel and tear projects down for the sake of crass entertainment. Thank god for the many people and critics who understood this film and its intentions, and may Emilia Perez’s star shine bright in the months to come.

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,614]

Yeah, I finally got around to watching it and it's pretty bad. 

I thought maybe it was just because I'm a little uninformed on some of the themes but the backlash is justifying my feelings. It was cartoonish in the worst kind of way. Then to learn about the director's comments on why he didn't do further research or at the very least hire more Mexican talent? The film started to feel less "funny" bad and more "insulting" bad. Whatever good intentions the creators had when telling this story doesn't matter when their willful ignorance makes the whole thing feel like a backhanded compliment to the culture. 

The awards look like a good physical representation of the film industry's performative white cis guilt. "You don't need to make any meaningful change if you clap for the brown trans caricature movie real hard!"

Stans are using this as ammunition to be mean to Selena and that sucks. Movie's still god awful though. Zoe deserves so much praise, but I'm sad for her that it's coming from this movie. 

[tyler k 5,330]

what's crazy to me is that it won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival too... that's like the 2nd place prize basically lol 

I watched this a few weeks and yeah it's genuinely so bad. very poor representation for Mexican people, and don't get me started on the Penis to Vagina song.... like who approved this mess...

it's truly insane it won over Wicked. like I hope the awards attention ends at the golden globes.

 

[tyler k 5,330]

41 minutes ago, elijahfan said:

By the way, you all stan a woman singing about riding disco sticks, I’m sure you can take a quirky song about vaginoplasty.

this isn't the serve you think it is 

"quirky" song about vaginoplasty?
how about insensitive? and just poorly written? 

it's not camp, it's just bad.

glad you love the film, but it's objectively not well made nor well written - backlash aside 

[elijahfan 27,484]

6 minutes ago, tyler k said:

this isn't the serve you think it is 

"quirky" song about vaginoplasty?
how about insensitive? and just poorly written? 

it's not camp, it's just bad.

glad you love the film, but it's objectively not well made nor well written - backlash aside 

Once again, we're all entitled to our opinions, it's your right not to have enjoyed the film. But if there's one thing that is not the serve you think it is, it's going out there saying a film that's been an overwhelming critical and public success is objectively bad 

[tyler k 5,330]

1 minute ago, elijahfan said:

Once again, we're all entitled to our opinions, it's your right not to have enjoyed the film. But if there's one thing that is not the serve you think it is, it's going out there saying a film that's been an overwhelming critical and public success is objectively bad 

you equating Gaga's lyrics to the lyrics in this film is the not serve you think it is lol 

[elijahfan 27,484]

3 minutes ago, tyler k said:

you equating Gaga's lyrics to the lyrics in this film is the not serve you think it is lol 

Was wondering what type of person would first come after me and my post, and it's the butthurt Gaga stan that wins! 

[StrawberryBlond 15,569]

Haven't seen it in full, am only going by the clips I have seen. I just really wanted to look into it more after it won big at the Globes. I'm no Spanish expert but from what I could see, in speaking scenes, Selena's accent seemed fine, although I could definitely detect her American accent mixed in and you could tell that this wasn't the full-time language she uses. But that singing scene where she sings Bienvenida was downright weird, her pronunciation was far too harsh and overdone and lots of comments were saying they speak fluent Spanish and couldn't understand her. Putting it all together, I'm amazed at where the awards buzz has come from. To be fair, Selena has been nominated for very few awards for this role, this is just the biggest one she's been nominated for so far. To hear early reports that she was going to be an Oscar contender is all a bag of hot air judging by the actual awards outcomes. If she won major acting awards before Gaga, something would really have been wrong here. If the movie was just more well-known and successful, it might have actually caught a lot more heat like JFAD did. $206 million worldwide for a $200 million budget movie may not sound like much but it still reached enough audience to give it a bad reputation. If Emelia Perez was more widely available, the same may have happened.

[andy232000 13,213]

9 hours ago, Reality said:

Why is it only getting this backlash now? The movie’s been out for months, but I feel like I’m only seeing people turn on it now after it won a ton of Golden Globes. 

It has been getting backlash for months now. It started with Selena Gomez’s scenes on tik tok for her incomprehensible spanish, then Eugenio Derbez slammed the movie and Selena, and now its gotten bigger due to award campaigns. Also, its quite interesting that this movie was JUST recently out in Latin America and its NOT even out in Mexico until a few weeks from now so…its also quite obvious why Netflix decided on that release timeline. They new the backlash would come and they are letting the most important sector (the one that inspired the movie) last so its narrative doesn't interfere with awards season.