The show will go on for Karla Sofía Gascón. The titular star of Emilia Pérez has faced a lot of fallout from her controversial tweets resurfacing, but in spite of it all, she will attend this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. And after dropping their support for her Oscar bid amid the scandal, studio and streamer Netflix changed course a bit, agreeing to pay for her travel (as is customary) to Los Angeles for the March 2 show.
How others will react to it remains to be seen, but have no fear: react they will, as people do tend to have big feelings about these sorts of things — in both the positive and negative sense. Gascón was nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in Emilia Pérez, one of thirteen nominations the film received this year, the most of any film. It was a surprise to many that the film garnered so much, for reasons both artistic and political, but many applauded Gascón for making history as the first openly transgender actor to ever be nominated for an Oscar.
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Netflix Has Reportedly Stopped Supporting ‘Emilia Pérez’ Star’s Oscar Campaign Amid Controversy
Karla Sofía Gascón will now have to flip the bill for everything herself.
After the tweets, however, the actress’ awards season dreams were all but dashed, as she opted out of attending both the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards (likely due to their costly nature and the fact that Netflix had reportedly said they would no longer foot the bill). Gascón gave a quote to The Hollywood Reporter about the about-face and getting to attend the Oscars:
“I’m not sure how I feel, but I’m grateful to be back. I’m grateful to all those who’ve believed in me — to Netflix, the production company and my colleagues. We can close this beautiful and difficult path that began three years ago.”
‘Emilia Pérez’ Isn’t Just Controversial Because Of Its Star
While the hurtful past words of its star were certainly of note, they’re not the only controversial aspect of the movie. The film has also come under fire for its depictions of Mexicans, the fact that the director is not from Mexico (nor does he speak Spanish), and that in initial drafts of the film, Emilia’s reasons for transitioning were deeply problematic. GLAAD even released a lengthy and in-depth statement admonishing the film (with receipts!) titled “Emilia Pérez Is Not Good Trans Representation.” In it, the organization called the movie a “profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman,” and “a step backward for trans representation.”
If this is all giving you a bit of Green Book déjà vu — good, it probably should. Because the success of Emilia Pérez and the success of that film, in spite of many vocal critics ahead of the nominating period, are both indicative of how these awards bodies tend to vote: performatively. These films often make the (often white/straight/cisgender) audiences and their creators (again, often of that same ilk) feel good about themselves but at a stereotypical, harmful cost in terms of representation, what stories get told, who gets to tell them, and how.
Anyway, good luck to all the nominees this weekend!
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3.5
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Release Date
November 13, 2024
Runtime
130 Minutes
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