Imagine going to the cinema, hoping to see a film about your home country or culture on the big screen, only for it to be another generic, distasteful, and stereotypical depiction of said country. We’ve seen this before unfortunately, in several American films that depict Latin America, specifically Mexico as a gritty, sepia-toned, desolate landscape of nothing but barbaric levels of violence, corruption, drugs, and cartels. Enter “Emilia Pérez,” a film that prides itself as a blend of “musical-crime-thriller-drama” in an attempt to boldly explore gender identity. Aside from the poor writing and cringeworthy musical choices, it stills falls flat in its insensitive tropes of Latin American culture as synonymous with organized crime.

Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, and featuring an ensemble cast of stars such as Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir, and Édgar Ramírez, “Emilia Pérez” follows a Mexican cartel leader, (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), who fakes her death in order to receive gender-affirmative surgery and adopt a new identity as Emilia Pérez, while trying to reform from her criminal past with the help of her attorney (played by Zoe Saldaña). 

Instead of offering more insight and fresh narratives within the story, “Emilia Pérez” reuses the same trope of a cartel drug lord as the main focal point of Latin American storytelling, which reinforces stereotypes about Latinos being inherently tied to criminal activity, gangs, and violence, rather than displaying other cultural and diverse aspects of the culture. 

There’s the issue of overall cultural insensitivity and ignorance on the behalf of the production and writing crew involved, particularly from the director himself, who admits to not having studied much of Mexican culture, as well as making questionable comments about the Spanish language as “a language of emerging countries, of modest countries, of poor people and migrants.”

I mean, how would he feel if a non-French person directed a film about France, but only portrayed unflattering stereotypes of French people and their culture? In response to the controversy surrounding “Emilia Pérez,” Camilia Aurora González, a trans Mexican filmmaker and influencer, directed and released “Johanne Sacreblu,” as a parody in which Mexican actors portray French characters in a satirical way. When non-Latin filmmakers take on Latin-American stories, they must do so with respect and sensitivity, rather than with ignorant reinforcement of dangerous tropes.

The film follows an unfortunate pattern in both Latin America and Hollywood where colorism impacts casting decisions, as lighter-skinned actors were cast in leading roles — with the few darker-skinned actors being regulated to background or antagonistic roles, which excludes the voices of other diverse racial and ethnic groups within Latin America. The film also drew criticism for the notable absence of Mexican actors in the main roles, (with the exception of Adriana Paz, who is Mexican, and Selena Gomez, who is Mexican American), as many called out the casting director, Carla Hool, for her suggestion that there is a lack of talent in Mexico. 

Another scandal arose when lead actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, found herself in hot water over resurfaced tweets from her now-deactivated X (formerly Twitter) account, which document disturbing racist and Islamophobic comments, including mocking George Floyd, Muslims, Asians, and people of Catalan descent, which caused public outrage and her removal from the film’s awards campaign, with Netflix cutting ties with Gascón. She later appeared on CNN en Español with an emotionally charged apology, in which she claimed that she was “not a racist,” and that her past remarks were misinterpreted, at one point insinuating the comments were fabricated and all part of a smear campaign against her specifically as the Oscar season was around the corner.

For many Latin-Americans, seeing their culture grossly misrepresented is not just merely annoying; it’s a painful reminder of the racial trauma and stereotypes that do immeasurable harm to the Latino community. When the film industry repeatedly depicts Latin America as crime-ridden hellscapes, it only stokes the ignorant and intolerant ideals of bigoted and hateful people who wish to silence the very voices and degrade the culture, which is present more than now, with the frightening increase of anti-immigration sentiment within the United States in the wake of the second Trump administration.

While many cite that the film has flaws, there is progress in featuring a transgender woman as the main protagonist in mainstream cinema. Manohla Dargis, chief film critic of The New York Times, applauds Gascón’s performance, as giving “[Emilia] grande-dame hauteur but also lucid expressivity that allows you to see the emotions pulsing under her skin.” Even our own Maryland icon, the “Pope Of Trash” himself, filmmaker John Waters, sings the praises of “Emilia Pérez,” in a review in Vulture Magazine, in which he expresses that “This wildly original musical-drama about the Mexican drug syndicate and a transgender crime boss hiding in plain sight proves you can sing about anything in a film if it’s well directed.”

Yet, the film doesn’t shy away from the harsh circumstances that Emilia finds herself in. She finds herself grappling with the changes that come with her newfound identity in a culture dominated by patriarchal values where other individuals like her are often outcasts, coping with the estrangement from her wife and children, whom she is still desperate to protect, while also guarding her own life and fighting for a second chance — which testifies her determination to persevere. 

Hollywood is fully capable of shaping the way it depicts different cultures, yet time and time again, cultural inaccuracies and deeply racially insensitive depictions of various marginalized groups still show up in films. While I give due consideration and credit to “Emilia Pérez” and those involved in the production of the film with regards to transgender representation and its overall experimental approach, there is still much work to be done in terms of Latin American representation in film beyond the narrative of Latin America being rampaged by the cartels and people living in miserable and grim conditions. The people of Latin America represent so much more in a history of great intellectuals, artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders whose contributions make up the greater story of the history of their respective nations — and it is our responsibility to portray each and every culture and story from the eyes of those within.