‘True Detective’ Showrunner Issa López Defends ‘Emilia Pérez’ Amid Online Criticisms That It Is a ‘Xenophobic Mess’
Backlash was swift for “Emilia Pérez” after it won four Golden Globes at Sunday night’s ceremony, with detractors dismissing it as “racist” and filled with “stereotypes” about its Mexican characters, scoffing at French director Jacques Audiard’s grasp of Latine culture and even calling it “retrograde trash.”
However, the film, which won Best Film (Comedy or Musical), Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Song, has also earned its defenders since premiering at the 2024 Cannes International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award and Best Actress for its trio of leads: Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón.
Mexican filmmaker Issa López counts herself among them. Known for directing, writing and executive producing “True Detective: Night Country” and directing and writing the Mexican horror film “Tigers Are Not Afraid,” López told CNN a Sunday night’s Golden Globes that the film is a “masterpiece.”
Speaking in Spanish and translated by TheWrap, López told a CNN reporter on the red carpet: “What’s happening with Audiard [watching it] as a Mexican, when you find out what the movie is about, you think, ‘Let’s see if there’s really an understanding of gender identity, of the reality of violence in Latin America, in Mexico.’ And when I saw the film, it blew my mind. I think he did it better than any Mexican facing this issue at this time … The film is a masterpiece.”
Watch the interview below:
Brenda Victoria Castillo, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, also praised the film in a statement that the organization “proudly celebrates the Latine excellence showcased at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards … Latine entertainers shined brightly, honoring the lasting legacy of our culture and community.”
“Latine” is a gender-neutral term that has been used in discussion of the film, which is about a trans woman, played by trans actress Gascón.
But a quick search on social media will show not everyone was as praiseworthy of the Netflix feature’s successes. Among the harsher online critiques were that the film is “a racist, xenophobic mess with awful Mexican representation” and, as another X user phrased it, “the fact that the actors don’t even speak Spanish is the least of the problematic issues.”
Evan Romano, a culture editor at Men’s Health magazine, also noted the movie is “(potentially) one of the biggest year-to-year single category drop offs of all time” versus last year’s foreign film winner, “The Zone of Interest.”
Read more reactions below:
emilia perez winning after the french director said he didn’t care about doing research on mexican culture…. okay pic.twitter.com/uVe5mKcgq3
— mar (@chrrypm) January 6, 2025
Emilia Perez a film about mexicans, directed by a french man, played by americans, with a protagonist from spain, with a sinopsis that portrays harmful stereotypes of mexican/latin culture, winning best international film seems like a joke pic.twitter.com/ZvD4OAEySE
— ɢᴇᴠɪɴ (@holyforbizzle) January 6, 2025
Netflix did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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