On Wednesday, the day before the Oscar nominations came out, GLAAD revealed the nominations for their GLAAD Media Awards. The biggest talking point is that GLAAD snubbed Emilia Perez, a musical starring a trans actress, Karla Sofia Gascon. There’s been so much discourse about Emilia Perez, with a lot of negativity coming from Latin American film critics and cultural figures. But it’s worth noting that Emilia Perez is also being hotly debated by the LGBTQ community. Part of the debate – from what I’ve seen – boils down to “is it better to have trans representation in a film, even if the film is largely problematic?” GLAAD’s answer to that question is: nope.
We have the nominees for the 36th annual GLAAD Media Awards, which honor fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community in film, TV, music, videogames, podcasts, journalism and more. But the noms don’t include one of the most talked-about films of 2024 or its trans star. More on that below.
Vying for the Outstanding Wide-Release Film prize are Cuckoo, Drive-Away Dolls, Love Lies Bleeding, Mean Girls, My Old Ass, Problemista, Queer and Wicked. Up for the Limited-Release Film award are 20,000 Species of Bees, Backspot, Before I Change My Mind, Big Boys, Close to You, Crossing, Fitting In, High Tide, Housekeeping for Beginners and A Place of Our Own.
Noticeably absent from the GLAAD noms is Jacques Audiard’s Oscar contender Emilia Pérez, which won the Golden Globe this month, and its trans star Karla Sofía Gascón, who also won a Globe and is up for SAG and BAFTA awards in February. Back in November, GLAAD put out an article titled “‘Emilia Pérez’ is Not Good Trans Representation,” labeling the film — among other things — a “profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman” and calling it “a step backward.”
The “Emilia Pérez’ is Not Good Trans Representation” piece is trending again because of the snubs – you can read it here. I love film discourse and representation discourse, so this piece was a fascinating read. I actually admire GLAAD Media for holding strong in this case and saying “no mas” on what is proving to be one of the most controversial films of the awards season.
Additionally, there is another piece of “we don’t actually like Emilia Perez” news from AMPAS – this year’s Oscar telecast will not include any of the “Best Original Song” performances. They made the decision in anticipation of one or more of Emilia Perez’s songs being nominated. The cover story is that the Oscars will use that time to honor LA wildfire victims and firefighters.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
