Why does a film with 13 Oscar nominations arouse so much hatred?

Reading time: 4 minutes

The nominees for the 97th Oscar ceremony were announced today.

And as usual, the list contained some major surprises.

Some big names have been snubbed, while other big talents received their very first appointments.

But the greatest shock could have been the absolute domination of Émilie Pérez.

Emilia Perez is about to win big at the Oscars

The film Netflix produced in France won 13 nominations, which places it on the second row of all time.

(This is equality on several levels that includes heavyweights of cinema as You might as well take the wind,, Forrest GumpAnd Oppenheimer.)

The film also received more appointments than any other film of 2024, with a considerable margin. The brutalist And Wicked tied in second row with 10 appointments each.

So good news, right? The most nominated film of the year is an energetic musical featuring beloved stars such as Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña.

And it is available on a streaming service to which you have probably already subscribed! What could be better?

Well, we hate rain on your film buff, but Émilie Pérez has become a controversial lightning rod in recent months, and not for the reasons that could be expected.

The film tells the story of Manitas del Monte, the fictitious leader of a Mexican drug cartel who undergoes a surgical operation of gender affirmation to become the main character.

Obviously, this is not the kind of premise that we hear every day, and Émilie Pérez deserves at least a certain merit for having presented the kind of stories rarely seen in the mainstream cinema.

But criticism of the film claim that this is not the case in a responsible manner. At all.

The (many) criticisms of Emilia Perez

To begin with, the French director Jacques Audiard was widely criticized for having hired a casting and a mainly non -Mexican team, including several actors (including Selena) who do not commonly speak Spanish.

Audiard made not Speaks Spanish himself, and when he responds to the concerns that he chose not to film in Mexico-or even to study Mexican culture before embarking on this project-he is casual and disdainful.

“Did Shakespeare need to go to Verona to write a story about this place?” Audiard one day asked his detractors.)

Given his scenario – which centers a number of burning social issues – one could assume that the film was targeted by conservative groups which dispute its trans protagonist and its scenarios supplied by drug money.

But in an ironic turn worthy of an ossarized scenario, the noisiest complaints concerning Émilie Pérez mostly come from the progressive end of the political spectrum.

(In all honesty, this could be due to the fact that the conservatives were less likely to be familiar with the ultra-niche film, a situation that could change following today's appointments.)

Those who would normally be inclined to congratulate the film for its prominent representation of a trans character have rather stressed that 1. This representation is not terribly nuanced or sensitive, and 2. I saw the TV shine – A film that offered a much more compassionate and insightful vision of the Trans experience – was entirely snubbed by the Academy.

Glazing described the film as “deeply retrograde portrait of a trans woman”.

“Emilia Perez is a regressive film that believes herself awake. He will probably win an Oscar. Voice deplored before comparing the film to AccidentAnother darling of ridiculed Oscar (and now largely forgotten) which marked big by playing on the sympathies on the left.

“I'm sorry, but Emilia can get 13 Oscar nominations is instantly one of the funniest things that have ever happened to the Oscars,” said critic Sonny Bunch. written the X (Formerly Twitter).

“I can't even understand that Emilia Pérez obtained thirteen (13 !!!) Nominations at #OSCARS. Most likely the worst film of all time (average notes from the public and criticism) to obtain two -digit appointments. Disconcerting, ”said Podcast host Jeff D. Lowe.

Lowe added an extract from one of the most mocked musical sequences in the film.

This recalls that in addition to the criticisms he receives from the left, Emilia Perez is also not a film likely to please the most centrist residents of Central America.

In other words, a big evening between Audiard and its casting could lead to very low audiences for this year's Oscar television.