Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the cartel-gangster musical “Emilia Pérez” has garnered a lot of attention and notoriety for its contents. From its choice of casting to depictions of the transgender identity, the film reeks of performative inclusivity. Despite that, the film has been reaping in recognition with four Golden Globe Awards and 13 Oscar Nominations.

Debuting on Nov. 13, 2024, “Emilia Pérez” is a musical that supposedly concerns itself with the victims of violence and organized crime in Mexico. Predominantly filmed in Paris, the main cast of actors does not feature any actors of Mexican heritage. Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays Emilia, is from Spain, Zoe Saldaña, who plays Rita is from the United States with Dominican and Puerto Rican ancestry, and Selena Gomez, who plays Jessi Del Monte, is from the United States with Mexican and Italian heritage.

The film follows pre-transition Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), leader of a drug syndicate, who undergoes gender-affirming surgery — mockingly called a “sex change operation” — in pursuit of a new life. During this period of time the titular character, Emilia, spends the majority of the first act being misgendered, from the lawyer she hires to check prospective clinics, to workers at the hospital where she is getting her “sex change operation,” no one can seem to get her pronouns right. Prior to the surgery, Emilia is portrayed as aggressively masculine, despite the two years she has been on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). It is only after the oh-so-magical “sex change operation” does she begin to present femininely.

This retrograde portrayal of the trans experience is driven in with the number “La Vaginoplastia.” The over the top display of gender affirming surgery through a musical number is depicted from a horrifically cisgender point of view. With an unfounded confidence, Audiard alienates the script from the actual process of transition and lumps together surgeries that he deems fit for Emilia’s operations. From a mammoplasty and vaginoplasty being lumped together with an Adam’s apple reduction, “La Vaginoplastia” imbues the viewer with a sense of disgust at how casually Emilia’s physical appearance is targeted. The lyrics, “From penis to vagina,” are a complete reduction of a person’s gender to their anatomy.

In theory, the film aimed to use the trans experience as an allegory for being reborn. For Emilia to move past her time as Manitas the cartel boss, she has to repent for her actions. Audiard had the perfect set up for a film that would capture what it would mean for Emilia to have to hide her identity due to the unfortunate circumstances she was born and raised in, however, he completely missed the mark. 

Transitioning isn’t an end all be all. It’s not a moral decision that absolves Emilia of her past, and it isn’t even represented as something that will make her feel in touch with herself and her identity. Instead, throughout the film, Emilia repeatedly returns to her roots in crime in order to get further ahead in life and does not take accountability for her so-called “past life.”

That is not to say the film did not do anything right at all. In fact the one thing they did get right is the casting of Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez. Casting a trans woman in the role of a trans woman is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it gets completely washed over by the film’s cisgender depiction of transness. From the opening scene where Rita is disgusted by Emilia’s appearance after two years on HRT, to discussions held with with the surgeon who was going to conduct Emilia’s “sex change operation,” the regressive politics of the film somehow manages to hit every trans trope ever used somehow, from a trans woman killer to family abandonment and the treatment of transition as death. If representation is going to be seen through actors, the least the film can do is give the titular character a more fleshed out story.

The trivialization of the trans experience leaves the viewer in a pit of despair. Throughout the film Emilia feels like a liar, not only to those around her but also to herself. During her supposed journey to find herself, Emilia often sings “Who am I?” but does not fully understand the depths of her own actions, often talking about how “I was a he and now I’m a she.” Being trans isn’t something people do with a snap of their fingers, and yet, even with the input of a trans woman on screen, is depicted as such. “Emilia Pérez” can do so much more for representation, and yet it failed on almost every account. Congratulations, “Emilia Pérez,” for being the ideal film for a cis-white man to feel like they’re doing something.

Not to mention, the film won an award for Best Musical or Comedy in the Golden Globes. For something so heavily autotuned, it should not have even been considered for this privilege. Take into account “Subiendo,” the instrumental is grating to the ears and builds up to absolutely nothing with the vocals. With other standout films nominated for the Best Motion Picture category for musicals and comedies, such as “Wicked” and “Challengers,” “Emilia Pérez” does not deserve the praise and accolades it has received.

 

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