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So...Emilia Perez? (Patreon)

Published:
2025-02-04 21:42:20
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hello, friends! It's Kevin. I have not yet watched Emilia Perez. I had intended to, seeing the number of Oscar nominations (13!) that it received this year. However, I'm sure like all of you, I have seen much of the backlash. And not the weird normal variety from the angry mob that was mad about black people in Star Wars properties or women in Marvel movies. Much of the outrage at this film is from people whose opinion I respect. So, I have to ask you, who have demonstrated your intelligence and insight as we watch and discuss together. Is the criticism justified? Have you watched or are you planning to watch this movie? What do you think works or doesn't work with it? What role does criticism of the Tweeting controversy play in how people are treating the movie? How well or poorly does it represent issues facing the trans community? And, should I bother watching it at all? I would love your insight, and please remember (I know most of you don't need to be told this) to treat the marginalized communities represented in the film with compassion and respect in your comments. Thank you!! Kevin

Comments

The Inedible Mattman!

I don’t know anything about the film, and have heard nothing about any controversy. But as a proponent of media, I would always recommend you watch. Even if it’s the worst movie ever made, you still stand to know more about it from watching it than from not watching it. My two cents for what it’s worth.

Youtalkingtome
>>163603882

Thank you! I had not heard any of it, either. But Joe mentioned it to me in passing after we were done recording, and I looked into it last night, and I have never seen such a swift turnabout on a movie before.

Eric Frazee

I have seen the film and I do think it is overrated IMO. I do not believe the movie itself is offensive. The tweets by its star are the issue. I am a member of LGBTQ and I find it incredibly disappointing that Gascon’s landmark nomination is now tarnished. I do think she is the best part of the movie

Youtalkingtome
>>163604171

Thanks, Eric! I haven't read the Tweets, but I did read Zoe Saldana's disappointment at them. It's so unfortunate.

Carla Davis

I have not seen the film and do not intend to see this film. The remarks made by the star of the movie is does not align with who I am as a person and I would never patronize anyone who would ever say such horrible things about minorities especially since they are a minority themselves. I do respect you right to watch and react to whatever you want but if I am to be honest it will possibly have an effect on how I view you. That's just me being 100% honest. I'm not saying I would leave but without a reasonable explanation of why you would choose to support this movie, as a member of several marginalized groups, it would have me questioning what I'm doing here.

Youtalkingtome
>>163604962

I wasn't going to react to it here, just watch it on my own. Now that I am aware of the comments (I haven't read specifically what they are), I'm not sure if I want to watch at all.

Stephanie Bedworth

I haven't seen it but I do plan to watch it at some point. I've kept myself from it so far because I read that it was a musical and I usually avoid musicals at all costs. LOL I have a select few that I do love so I'll give it a chance. I've read some of the criticism about the film itself but I'll still see it. In the past, I've watched way too many movies with bad reviews or backlash only to discover the reviews were way off base and the movie was well worth seeing. I do have to wonder how much of the backlash is due to those tweets or because Karla Gascón received an oscar nomination in the best actress category. I've seen more people complaining about that than about the film itself.

Cole

I think the movie is offensive. There are songs about transgender people and Mexico that seem like they are written by people making fun of the topics. The songs are also just really bad.

Chris

I think it’s the worst of the nine best picture nominees I’ve seen.

Youtalkingtome
>>163606123

Aside from the movie, I did just read some of Karla Sofia Gascon's Twitter posts. She wields some pretty stark racism and Islamophobia there. It's pretty rough.

Stephanie Bedworth
>>163606123

I didn't read the tweets but did read about them. They seemed pretty terrible and that's very disappointing.

Youtalkingtome
>>163606853

I'm not sure the extent to which this is true (you may know more than I do), some critics of the film have said Jacques Audiard didn't consult any or many Mexican or crew, or didn't even have many natural Spanish speakers involved with the production. That seems like a recipe for disaster.

Youtalkingtome
>>163606954

Thanks, Chris! The rise and HARD fall of this movie, particularly since the Oscar nominations but before the ceremony, is absolutely wild to me.

Youtalkingtome
>>163604962

Sure! I should have said so in the post. I just read Ms. Gascon's tweets about Muslims and George Floyd, and you are correct. They are reprehensible.

Cole
>>163606853

He said he didn't do much research on Mexico and that he knew enough about the country to make his film. He also said he wasn’t trying to make the movie realistic after being attacked about by people who watched the movie.

Actuarial Lurker
>>163606853

I frankly wasn't paying attention and don't plan to watch the film, so just went through some articles with spoilers knowing that you can't do the same. I read some pretty stereotypical song lyrics with Mexican tropes and racist lyrics, critiques that it is about Mexicans dealing with transgender issues and has no Mexicans in it (supposedly "none were available at time of filming") and only one person acting in the film who is actually transgender when many of the roles are supposed to be depicting transgender characters. So without having seen the film and acting on second hand sources, combined together it sounds like the criticisms of "yellow face" movies from the 1940s with White people wearing makeup pretending to be Chinese and the like.

Youtalkingtome
>>163606853

Thanks for sharing that! From the sidelines, it sounds like a French filmmaker made some pretty significant missteps in not collaborating with any Mexican production team members (and like you, I do not buy the "no Mexican actors were available" thing, either).

Pam Nail

When I first saw it -- without reading any reviews, just from "buzz" alone -- I admired its energy and audacity. It was truly like nothing I'd seen before. And the songs, while not the kind you'd leave the theater humming, felt to me like the kind of songs a normal non-songwriter would come up with if they were suddenly compelled to sing. (Though I challenge anyone to listen to that "vaginoplasty" song and not have it stuck in your head for weeks!) HAVING SAID THAT, the more I read from trans people and Mexicans about this movie and the more time I sit with it, the more ill-advised and offensive it feels. And that's not even including the uproar of the last couple of weeks.

Youtalkingtome
>>163609415

Thanks, Pam! That's good to hear. I really was planning on watching it (on my own, not on the channel) before I became aware of all the controversy surrounding it. I think I'll take a pass.

Maxxie

I think there are a lot of things that get mixed up into this whole backlash thing, and some are more valid than others. I think it can be broken down into three separate issues : trans representation, Mexican representation, and Gascon's old tweets. - The tweets are indefensible. I personally wouldn't boycott a movie for that reason alone, because I understand that the opinion of an actress, be it the lead actress, have no bearing on the movie itself or its message, but I wouldn't judge anyone for feeling differently about this. - Mexican representation : I'm entirely willing to believe that the way Mexico and Mexican culture are portrayed are far removed from reality. I have seen enough of Audiard's movies and interviews to say with confidence that this is not out of malice, but still. - Trans representation : this is just utter crap. Here is a movie about a trans woman, portrayed by a trans woman, that makes it all the way to the Oscars, at a time when trans rights are being attacked like never before, and LGBT groups of all people are now shooting it down ? I'm LGBT myself and it infuiates me to no end how much we like to shoot down our own - as if the people who hate us needed any help with that. On top of the initial elements of criticism, I think a lot of people are more than happy to jump on the bandwagon, because it's a French film, and Americans, sadly, just love to have a go at the French. Plus Twitter is being Twitter, indignant and outraged is its happy place. If the whole backlash has put you off the movie, that's a shame but understandable ; but you really owe it to yourself to watch at least one of Audiard's movies. He is in my opinion the best thing to come out of French cinema in recent years, and I'm convinced that 90% of the people who are now shitting on him and his work have never seen any of it.

Yasemin
>>163603882

Same here. I know nothing about it, and it could be the worst movie, but still interesting to watch.

Emptysea93

I agree with all the above, just don’t watch it. Watch the Substance instead, it is far more groundbreaking of a film is controversy free, and is very popular for reactions right now.

Youtalkingtome
>>163613172

Thank you! This is a really thorough and thoughtful set of observations. I agree completely that some of the backlash is usual malice from the usual suspects (of course the anti-trans people have jumped on this). I have never seen any of Audiard's work, so I can't speak to if he is being treated unfairly or not. I certainly think if there is any sentiment against the movie because the auteur is French, that is completely unfair. The American cinema would not be what it is today without significant French influences. Let the criticism of the movie come from its merits alone.

John Marnell
>>163613172

You're wrong on the trans part of this. Like....flat wrong. The movie gets shit CRAZY wrong about transition. At one point it presents Perez a few months into HRT with a full beard. It paints a deeply transmedicalist picture of life as a trans person, where passing basically isn't even an option without a litany of surgeries. Bad representation is bad representation. Treating it like a gift horse whose mouth ought not be inspected is horrendously misguided.

Dylan Hearts

I've seen the film, and I'm still in shock how much film indistry (from Cannes jury, Golden Globes and American guilds to AMPAS) overhyped and oversold this beyond any critical and rational analysis only because Netflix's deep pockets (very pricy PR campaign - I read the budget for promoting EP was around 50 millions $; for example, for Roma Netflix spend 30 millions $) convinced entire Hollywood (and typically hollow western perception of social themes in any types of art) that EP is some cultural, political and social wonder that needs to be supported due to its importance. There's no other explanation as to why EP got all these accolades, look at huge contrast between RT, IMDb, Letterboxd ratings and reviews and the long list of nominations and awards for EP. Insane gap in perception between casuals and film awards. Look, EP is not the first film with featured social issues, and there are better films which presented themes in a delicate and proper way, but they were too independent and small to achieve massive following in awards season cause campaigns are very expensive, so these films got lost in time and history. What makes EP incredibly bad film is the hypocrisy from director Jacques Audiard (who goes completely unscathed by the controversy, but he should be reprimanded the same way as Gascon for his atrocious views, like calling Spanish the language of the poor people, etc.) and Gascon which has racist opinions about almost every nation in the world (calling Oscar ceremony as "afro-korean festival" is wild). I'm against any harm or ill words towards Gascon on the base of her being transgender actress, that is wrong, period. But at the same time I'm against of her getting any accolades for EP when her own beliefs cuts through the entire social message of the movie. It just feels wrong to promote film about all these issues, while having (FOR YEARS! She clearly was at peace with her previous thoughts if she didn't delete them) posts on your social media that hurt so much and so many groups (tweets about George Floyd were absolutely despicable). Gascon made a few (!) statements since the scandal broke, but not once she took the responsibility, in every statement there are "but..." which nullifies completely all her apologies. She's guilty, and her best move is withdraw herself from any awards consideration (from those awards that are still pending, of course; I'm not talking about taking away those she already won) which would be fair as she has no right to promote the film with such outright hurtful views. But, to your question, Kevin: you should watch the movie to form your own opinion about it, and it's your right to decide how you're going to evaluate EP basing on film's quality and Gascon's personal views. We're all should avoid being caught up in group thinking and always try to make our own thoughts on the subject matter. But in case with Gascon there's no confusion: she's a racist, and once a racist, always stays that way. In my life I've never met any person who changed their racist views; it's an affliction which sticks with the mind.

Youtalkingtome
>>163617606

Thank you for sharing that! I agree; there is no other way to interpret Gascon's Tweets as anything other than unapologetically racist. I had not yet read about Audiard's comments about Spanish-speaking people. I will look into that. I still haven't decided if I will watch the movie or not, but I think you have highlighted another large issue this film exposes: the absolutely broken system with which awards are given to movies. I know they are just silly awards, but they carry enormous clout and weight for the studios / films / people who win them.

Dylan Hearts
>>163617606

Sometimes film awards get it right: Moonlight and Parasite were two underdogs which would never won Best Picture in old times even with proper campaign due to homophobia and racism, so their wins do show the shift in the consciousness of society (which film communities is part of on a smaller scale). And while these two BP winners are exceptions, not the rule, it's important to embrace any positive change (if it's crafted with sincerity and not in trying to bait the public). Society evolves too slow, but it does change. I like to look at film awards from historic perspective: by winners and nominees you clearly can understand what people were thinking about the most in the 1940s, 1960s, 2000s, etc. It's a good guide for seeing the evolution of society's perception to the variety of cultural, political, social issues.

James Roberts
>>163606853

It's true. I think an interviewer asked him how much research into Mexican culture he did for the film. His response was that he did no research because he already knew plenty about Mexican culure (insert Ron Howard narration: He did not).

Jonathan

I have heard some of the controversy and am still planning to watch the film as I do all of the award contenders and then I can create my own view of whether it is a good movie. I’m not a fan of avoiding works because I dislike what someone has done or said. It’s not as if this film is going to change my perception of any group just share a group of peoples artistic vision whether we agree with it or not.

Just Lily

I always watch all nominations (and snubbs). I personally didn't like the movie but I'm not going to shame people who did. I think it's important to make up your own mind about something, popular opinion is not always true. In this case, you can check it out on your own time but it's definitely not worth a reaction here

Kt B

Every single trans YouTuber I follow has panned it. Most say it’s not authentically representative of the trans experience. I can’t speak to that, personally. Someone said that, beyond the problematic points regarding trans representation, depictions of Mexicans, etc, it was just a bad movie. Like weird pacing, plot holes, all over the place tonally. Regardless of whether you decide to watch it, I won’t be watching it.

John Marnell
>>163643350

I mean technically if you watch all nominations and snubs that encompasses every movie. I strenuously urge you to reconsider this policy.

Youtalkingtome
>>163648310

You make all good points (when a marginalized group of people says they are depicted unfairly or worse, I tend to believe them). I don't think I will be watching for all the reasons you mentioned above, but most notably this: of all the points people have made here about the movie, no one has said "you should watch it on its merits because it is a really good movie."

Youtalkingtome
>>163628508

That is a completely fair position to take, and watching a movie is certainly not an endorsement of anyone in it (I still watch old Miramax movies, and Harvey Weinstein is a ghoul),

Jamie Morgan

As a trans person I am morbidly curious, I'm not gonna lie. I'll probably, uh...sail the high seas for it at some point, I don't want to give that project a penny of my money. Whether you watch it or not is up to you, at the end of the day, but since you asked for opinions, here is mine: I've seen enough of your content to know that you'd watch it with a fair and critical eye. I'd personally be curious what your take is in another written post, but again, that's entirely up to you. I trust you.

Christopher Runyon

I hadn’t heard of this movie until it was nominated for 13 Oscars and the backlash was deafening. I’ve watched reviews by various YouTubers from both a conservative and liberal perspective and the common theme is that they thought it was bad. Bad writing, bad characters, really bad music, and tone deaf themes and stereotypes. Of course some are going to disingenuously trash the movie because it fits their narrative, but that’s unavoidable these days. As probably the only right leaning follower on this channel, I will say that you should ignore the disingenuous criticism from the far right types who care more about posturing that accurately critiquing a movie. Hearing from many in the LGBT community criticize the film spoke volumes and was enough for me to avoid it. And it being a musical didn’t help 😂

Jamie Morgan
>>163742967

This is the first I'm hearing of it being a musical 😂 That's how BAD the press is, I love musicals and this completely flew under my radar!

Skinny_Obelix

Just went to see it and boy this is one of those movies I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole to discuss with strangers who have no idea where I stand with my morals and ethics. So here's my take with the 11 foot pole. First off, I try to keep away from off screen drama and controversy so even though I heard some of it, I can separate art from artist. It's a decent movie, and completely ignoring the subject would be a controversial one where I know certain people won't like it and others will. A friend of mine said it felt like a bad telenovella and I can't really disagree with him but I wasn't as negative as he was. That said Zoe Saldana was the only performance I liked. The others were just bad. But the number of nominations it got is absurd to me, and feels like virtue signaling of Hollywood. Just like the overly negative reactions are the other side of the political spectrum. It's a 7/10 movie for me