There’s a lot to be said about Emilia Pérez — about the film itself, its numerous award nominations, and certainly the controversy and criticism it has drummed up on multiple fronts over the past months. But at the Academy Awards, the people who made the film had nothing to say about trans people at all.
Although Emilia Pérez lost out on the majority of its nominations, it did snag two wins Sunday night: Zoe Saldaña for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and "El Mal" for Original Song.
"We hope ['El Mal'] speaks to the role music and art can continue to play as a force of the good and progress in the world," Camille Ducol said as she accepted the award alongside co-writers Clément Ducol and Jacques Audiard. The Ducols also scored Emilia Pérez, while Audiard received both directing and screenwriting credits.
Despite a trans character (played by trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón) taking a central role in the film, none of the three made mention of trans people or the contentious battle for trans rights currently happening throughout the world. Saldaña, who previously dedicated a BAFTA win for Emilia Pérez to her trans nephew, was similarly mum on the topic while accepting her Oscar.
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Perhaps even more notably, when directly asked if he would like to take a moment to speak to the press about trans issues afterwards, Audiard declined.
"Since I didn’t win Best Film or Best Director, I didn’t have the opportunity to speak," he said through an interpreter. "But had I had that opportunity, I would have spoken up."
(It’s worth reiterating at this point that Audiard was, in fact, on stage for the Best Original Song win.)
It’s a disappointing — albeit not wholly surprising — end to the exhausting saga of Emilia Pérez. Any modicum of goodwill that could have been won back after everything has evaporated. More importantly, these people were given a platform to speak out in support of a community that has been relentlessly under attack, and they opted to stay silent instead. And it has not gone unnoticed.
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"notice how none of the winning speeches for emilia perez ever mentions mexican culture, the missing people, their families, trans folk. like we said, a performative movie made for a western audience"
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"emilia perez’s award campaign just ended without any of them actually saying the word 'trans' on stage"
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"however you personally feel about the winners from emilia pérez last night, i do think it was objectively incredibly disappointing - and borderline irresponsible in this current social climate - for them to not use this massive platform to speak out in support of trans rights."
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"I practice speeches for the trans youth in my life; speeches of empowerment and compassion, of holding on and standing up," trans actress Alexandra Billings wrote in an emotional Instagram post about the snub. "I am blessed and grateful and filled with rage and pain and joy and I am sick and tired of being ignored. We are here and we are a godamm [sic] sparkly miracle. Let Trans People Tell Trans Stories."