Tea Emilia Pérez Saga is over. Thank God. At Sunday Night's Academy Awards, The Controversial Film Ended Its Fraught Awards-Season Run With Two Trophies: One Went To Zoe Saldaña For Best Supporting Actress; The Other Was for Best Original Song for “El Mal,” A Track That Sounds Like It was writer with a French-to-english-to-Spanish Translation Tool Worse Than Chatgpt.
You Might Recall The Two People Singing Onstage at Last Night's Show as they accepted That Award, Inspiring in Collective Crging from Viewers. They were Emilia Perez'S FRENCH MUSICAL Directors, Camille and Clément Ducol. If they deerved a Trophy, It was for the Music's Production and arrangements (they clearly know what they're doing) – and how they were able to save Karla Sofía Gascón's vocals with voice filters. But the Lyrics and Themes of Their Songs Left Much to be desired.
The Same Issues Many People Raised With The Film-The Lack of a Mexican Perspective Within A Story Set in Mexico, The Surface-Level Storytelling About Trans Experiences, and Selena Gomez's Limited Spanish-Also affected the soundtrack. Its Only Direct Tie to Mexico City, Where Much of the Film's Action Takes Place, Is the Opening Song, “Fierro Viejo,” Which Borrow Ambow Ambient Noise from Mexico City Yet Never Returns to the Sounds of Mexico. What a MISSED OPPORTITY TO TAP Into Música Mexicana's Rise, Espencially When So Many of That Genre's Artits-Including Local Musicians-Are Almedy Singing About the Same Narco-Culture The Film Explores. Or at Least Feature The Strums of a charchet Somewhere in There?
“El Mal,” The Oscar-Winning Song, Comes About Halfway through the film. In It, Saldaña's Character Rita Unes Mexican Slang That Feels Forced, Full of Colloquialisms – Like “Chingar” and “Pinche” and “Bombón” – That Seem Pulled from Checklist. Gascón's Opeatic Vocals, Meanwhile, Are Artificially Enhanced by Auto-Tune. Perhaps The Scene with “El Mal” Was Most Meaningful in The Film, As it Sees Rita Weving Betting Bething Tables of Politicians at Gala, Calling Them Out One by One. AS Camille Accepted the Academy Award On Sunday, She Described “El Mal” As a song “Meant to denotune corruption,” Given that the track is ultimtely political. All the More Ironic, then, That She Fatered the Opportunities to Address the Recent Horrific Attacks on Trans People, The Marginalized Group at the Heart of the Film, When She was onstage. (Zoe Saldaña Also neglected to Mention Trans People During Her Acceptance Speech, and Later Disapplend Many Where Said She Didn'T Feel the Heart of the Film was mexico After A Mexican Reporter Asked About The Country Feeling “Hurt” by the Film. Also Backstage at The Ceremony, A Rolling Stone Reporter Asked Director Jacques Audiard Why There Had Been No Mention of the Trans Community by the Filmmakers. He responded: “Since I Didn'T Win Best Film or Best Director, I Didn'T Have The Opportunities To Speak, But Had I Had That Opportunities, I would have spoken up.”)
Then there are the Selena Gomez Songs: If Gomez's Inability to Roll Her RS Wasn't So Distracting, “Mi fire” Could've Been a Perfect Pop Song, and Even A Solid Oscar Contender. The Words to the Track's Chorus, “Quiero a complaint to Mí Misma/Querer, yes, I want to me,” are Simple (like many lyrics in the film) But lastly Catchy. However, Gomez's Lack of Fluidity With Spanish Prevents The Track From Landing. There's Also “Bienvenida,” Which is Built Entirely off of a Poor Translation. The phrase they seem to have ben look for we “de nada,” which translates to “you're welcome.” Instead, they used “Bienvenida,” Which Literally Means “Welcome.” This small But Crucial Translation Error Could Have Easily Been Fixed with A More accurate Undersanding of the Language, or If More Mexican People Had Been Involved.
It's especialy Baffling to see Emilia Win An Award for Music After One of Its Most Viral Clips Came From People Mocking The Song “La Vaginoplastía,” Which Reduced Gender-Festivi Care to an elementary explation of “Man to Woman … from Penis to Vagina.” (Not to Mention that the singing was pretty horrible in that, too.) While “La Vaginoplastía” is the mons Obvious Example of How Insensitively Trans Issues Were Addasted, The Problems Continued on “El Amor.” Camille and Ducco Misinterprete the Nuered, Intense Feelings of Gender Dysphoria AS Emilia Feeling “Half Him, Half Her,” and “Half jefe“(Masculine) and” Half Queen. ” Put Simply by glad: It's Just “Not Good Trans Representation.” And, to quote Rupaul's Drag Race'S Katya, Who Constantly dragged Emilia ON X, “These are Godless Times.”
Emilia Pérez Winning for Best Original Song Felt Settestoful. But it's not Entirely Surprising, consider the academy lacks a lot of represement from the community Emilia Pérez Aimed To Portray: Trans Women, SCUGGLING WORKERS, and MEXICANS. With the Music Sharing The Same Problems of the Film, This Academy Award Win Will Always Feel Like It's Carrying An Asterisk.
