The 97th Academy Awards ceremony arrives this year amid skepticism and controversy surrounding the nominated films, the amount of nominations they have received and the selection process, leaving many people disappointed.
The ceremony will take place March 2, 2025 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, after the nominations were delayed twice because of the Los Angeles area fires. They will be hosted by the comedian and television host Conan O’Brien. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will present at the gala Academy Awards in 23 different categories to honor films released in 2024.
Among the academy nominated movies this year, “Emlia Pérez” leads the pack with 13 nominations, the most ever for a non-English language film. Following Emilia Pérez are “The Brutalist” and “Wicked,” each earning 10 nominations.
This year’s nominations are setting records all around and are full of first-times.
It is the first time in 57 years that two musicals, Emilia Pérez and Wicked, are nominated for best picture. Cynthia Erivo made history as the first Black British woman to receive two Best Actress nominations, earning a nomination for her performance in “Wicked” and previously in 2020 for “Harriet.”
“Cynthia Erivo was a perfect pick for the movie in my opinion,” senior Malaysia Hall said. “She portrayed the character gracefully. She is an inspiration to all black girls around the world.”
History was also made with this year’s nomination as actress Karla Sofía Gascón, playing a titular role in Emilia Pérez, is the first openly transgender woman to be nominated in an acting category. Unfortunately, the general public reaction to her performance was accompanied by people in the trangender community saying that they did not feel well represented by her and Mexican audiences expressing their discontent with how their country was portrayed in the movie.
Despite Emilia Pérez being a Netflix film, making it widely accessible to audiences and featuring some of America’s greatest talents like actress Zoe Saldana and singer and singer-songwriter Selena Gomez, the general public seems to know little-to-nothing about this highly acclaimed project, and those who have seen it, express little love towards it.
So, what is “Emilia Pérez”?
Emilia Pérez is considered a groundbreaking film, as it tackles some important issues in our society. The musical set in Mexico, follows a lawyer who is offered the unusual job of helping a Mexican cartel boss to transition into a woman and leave her old life behind. It was mainly shot in France, as it was directed by the beloved French filmmaker Jacques Audiard.
Emilia Pérez’s critical acclaim extends beyond the Oscars. Last year, the film won the Jury Prize at Cannes and more recently secured 4 Golden Globe awards. Having received these honors, it is to no surprise that the film has continued to receive accolades and praise.
But the highly acclaimed movie is facing multiple controversies.
There is a big complaint about the movie having little consideration towards the Mexican stories that it aims to tell. To add to the dispute, director Jacques Audiard made comments in a recent interview saying that Spanish is a language of poor and developing countries. This feeds the growing feeling that Audiard was taking advantage of Mexican reality while having no real interest or care for their culture.
“One of the backlashes with Emilia Pérez is that they used AI to change accents and the Spanish, which many feel is inauthentic and is creating an unfair advantage which then is contributing to award nominations.” said PVHS Assistant Director of Theater Erin Klage.
The film’s wrangle did not stop there.
Various controversial social media posts have resurfaced from Emilia Pérez’s star Karla Sofía Gascón X account, formerly known as Twitter. Islamophobic, racist and harsh critiques against the academy’s diversity were some of the comments that the actress has publicly apologized for. It is safe to say that Karla Sofía Gascón won’t be winning the Best Actress at the Oscars, which has left ambiguity around how Netflix is going to redirect their Oscar campaign over for their other 12 nominations for “Emilia Pérez.”
Controversy is not new to the Oscars, with certain nominations sparking criticism and even changing the public’s perception of a film. One of the most persistent debates surrounds diversity. “Other controversies in the past are centered around diversity in nominations. Take for example, Best Director oftentimes has not gone to female directors, which then leads to biases in films that win awards and others that do not. This also is for directors and actors of color and how these groups are often underrepresented in nominations. I think this has led to a lot of opinions on the films that are being nominated today and trying to address these concerns, but then are the films that are nominated truly deserving of their nominations?” said Klage.
The controversy has led many people to raise an eyebrow towards the Academy’s judgment and standards it upholds in determining what is deemed Oscar-worthy.
