'Racist, xenophobic mess': Mexican netizens call out Golden Globes after Emilia P¨¦rez sweeps major honours
Mexican netizens are not too happy with Emilia P¨¦rez's big win at the 2025 Golden Globes and have now called out the award ceremony. Their reason is the movie has many faults, including the lack of Mexican culture representation. The film tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel.
Mexican netizens are calling out the 2025 Golden Globes after Emilia P¨¦rez won big at the coveted ceremony on Sunday night, making it a frontrunner in the 2025 Oscars race. The Spanish-language French musical crime comedy that's making waves has become quite the sensation, with 10 nominations and four wins at the Golden Globes. However, social media users have now called out the award ceremony. While some big names in the film industry, like Denis Villeneuve and Meryl Streep, have praised the movie, netizens, particularly Mexican users, have expressed criticism and disappointment, citing 'awful representation' and 'lack of research' in the movie.
Emilia P¨¦rez wins big at the 2025 Golden Globes.
Emilia P¨¦rez took home top honours like Best Picture¡ªMusical or Comedy and Best Foreign Language Film at the 2025 Golden Globes. The film also won Best Original Song for El Mal, while Zoe Salda?a won her maiden Globe for Best Female Supporting Actor for her performance.
The film had received a total of 10 nominations at the 2025 Golden Globes. It was nominated for Best Picture¡ªMusical or Comedy, Best Director for Jacques Audiard, Best Screenplay for Jacques Audiard, Best Non-English Language Film, Best Original Score for Cl¨¦ment Ducol and Camille, and Best Original Song for both El Mal and Mi Camino. Additionally, the film's cast received nominations, including Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Karla Sof¨ªa Gasc¨®n and Best Supporting Actress for both Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana.
About Emilia P¨¦rez
Emilia P¨¦rez is based on an opera of the same name by director Jacques Audiard, which was itself loosely inspired by the novel ?coute by Boris Razon. The film centers around a feared Mexican cartel leader, Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, who wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery and start a new life as Emilia P¨¦rez. It highlights Emilia's journey as she enlists the help of a lawyer, Rita Mora Castro, to help her disappear and achieve her dream of transitioning into a woman.
Why are Mexican netizens enraged over Emilia Perez's Golden Globes sweep?
Online backlash against Golden Globes has intensified after Emilia P¨¦rez's big win, as Mexican netizens slam the movie on X, calling it a 'racist, xenophobic mess with awful Mexican representation.'.
An internet user also cited a lack of diversity and inauthenticity in the representation, stating French director Jacques Audiard didn't 'care' enough to research the Mexican culture.
"Emilia Perez is a clear example of how not to approach cultural storytelling. A French director, a mostly non-Mexican cast, racist stereotypes, and disrespect for real issues like missing persons¡ªit's ignorant, offensive, and an insult to Mexicans. That¡¯s the problem," the user added.
Emilia Perez is a clear example of how not to approach cultural storytelling. A French director, a mostly non-Mexican cast, racist stereotypes, and disrespect for real issues like missing persons, it¡¯s ignorant, offensive, and an insult to Mexicans. That¡¯s the problem¡ https://t.co/4sIW2QtWfw
¡ª Connor (@august_cbmyn) January 6, 2025
Another user, meanwhile, called out the film for its lack of diversity in a thread, adding the only Mexican actress in the film was Adriana Paz, who plays a secondary role, just like Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana, but she wasn't chosen for a Supporting Actress nomination unlike her co-stars.
The only Mexican in the film "Adriana Paz" plays a secondary role just like Selena and Zoe, but she was not chosen by the directors as a bet in the best supporting actress categories. pic.twitter.com/1VH7gCirLT
¡ª D. ?? (@offthetableag) January 6, 2025
"Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez criticized Selena's Spanish not only for its lack of a Mexican accent but also for its disassociation with the language. After Selena commented on his valid criticisms on TikTok, his fans harassed him to the point that he had to publicly apologize on TV," the user added.
Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez criticized Selena's Spanish not only for its lack of a Mexican accent, but for its disassociation with the language. After Selena commented on his valid criticisms on TikTok, his fans harassed him to the point that he had to publicly apologize on TV. pic.twitter.com/YpxQHWZJHv
¡ª D. ?? (@offthetableag) January 6, 2025
"The problem isn't that this is a French film telling a Mexican story; it's the way they did it, which feels ignorant, disrespectful, and arrogant. It doesn't help that Selena and Karla responded so disrespectfully to the criticism from disgruntled Mexicans," the user added.
The problem isn't that this is a French film telling a Mexican story, it's the way they did it, which feels ignorant, disrespectful and arrogant. It doesn't help that Selena and Karla responded so disrespectfully to the criticism from disgruntled Mexicans. pic.twitter.com/bq6PAowRIg
¡ª D. ?? (@offthetableag) January 6, 2025
"YEEESSS!! This is like the prime example of someone taking a very interesting and tragic subject matter but not understanding it in any way and trying to make it funny and "entertaining." It's not funny, entertaining, and doesn't have any value other than the Saldana performance," commented another netizen.
YEEESSS!! This is like the prime example of someone taking a very interesting and tragic subject matter but not understanding it in any way, and trying to make it funny and "entertaining". It's not funny, entertaining and doesn't have any value or than the Saldana performance.
¡ª IGP (@IGP60374852) January 6, 2025
Check out some more tweets calling out the film:
we¡¯re actually witnessing history this awards season tbh. we may never see a film as dogshit as emilia perez win awards. this is generational delusion from voting committees that we may never see again.
¡ª George Carmi (@georgecarmi) January 6, 2025
Not to be friend that¡¯s too woke but the Emilia Perez cast and crew not using any of their platform tonight to talk about securing and protecting the right to gender affirmation care given the nature of the film and the climate we¡¯re in is mad dark nasty evil spirit behavior
¡ª Jordan (@Jordanbloked) January 6, 2025
So you are telling me that the voting body for the Golden Globes thought Emilia Perez was a better musical than Wicked?#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/cwVQgrE4TJ
¡ª Shay? (@sunshine0nme) January 6, 2025
¡°and the golden globe goes to emilia perez¡± pic.twitter.com/vnDuTqWAUR
¡ª emy (@theamazingemy) January 6, 2025
Emilia P¨¦rez is now streaming on Netflix in select regions.
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As an Entertainment Content Writer with 3+ Years of experience, I have been keeping a keen eye on who wore what. A self confessed Koreaboo, I am your fangirl next door. Ps: I take pride in saying that I grew up watching "It's Controversial" as a kid.
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