The Oscar-nominated film grossly ignores the reality of being a trans woman in Latin America. 

Trans women, in my view, have been dealt a pretty s—y card. 

You have to deal with transphobia, which is so rampant and heartless that the average life expectancy in Latin America for trans women is 35 years old. You have to face misogyny because being a woman somehow makes you lesser than a man. And you need to learn how to navigate a world that detests your existence and says that, not only are you not a woman, you’re not a person. 

Then a movie called Emilia Pérez comes along. With a trans main character and a storyline centering around her transition in Latin America, wouldn’t this be a great way to start a conversation about the treatment of trans women in the world?

Spoiler alert: no.

Ah, Emilia Pérez. What to say about this movie? To anyone who might be interested in watching, which I advise against, don’t worry. I’m not going to reveal too much about the plot. To put it simply, the film revolves around a lawyer in Mexico City who is hired to help a prominent drug kingpin undergo gender-affirming surgery and start her new life. Drama ensues, of course. 

It has the potential to be great. It has the potential to be good, even. But it’s not. It’s a caricature, a mockery of trans women. Emilia is met with very little resistance in her gender journey, so little that it’s almost comedic. Those watching the film with no knowledge of the plight of Mexican trans women would walk away thinking the country is just as accepting as the United States (which, to be fair, isn’t much).

Some people absolutely loved it. It’s nominated for 13 Oscars, the most of any movie this awards season. It received a standing ovation during its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Critics have praised its originality and musical numbers (yeah, it’s a musical). But others, namely queer people, have scathing views on it.

The main controversies over the movie aren’t really about queer representation. The movie’s star, Karla Sofía Gascón, came under fire recently after her old tweets were brought to light. She lamented an increase in Muslims moving to her native country of Spain, called the 2021 Oscars an “Afro-Korean festival” and joked about the COVID-19 vaccine coming with a side of spring rolls. In an unrelated incident, the French director of the film called Spanish the language of the poor. Yikes. 

These controversies, especially the tweets, are what people are talking about. But I’m concerned that not everyone realizes that trans women in Mexico are not living in a musical dreamland where they can easily transition and live out their nonprofit dreams like the titular character. They are killed, and they are killed often. 

Like I said, the life expectancy of trans women in Latin America is 35 years old. This movie doesn’t really care about that, though. And why would it? The guy who wrote it isn’t even Mexican or trans. But audiences around the world who aren’t familiar with the transgender journey in Latin America are going to take this movie literally. There is a big problem at hand, and it’s the murder of trans people. I guess realism was just too much to ask for.

Header photo: “Cast and crew of Emilia Perez at TIFF 2024 the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival” taken by Frank Sun on September 9, 2024 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0