Glambots and Glitz: The Oscars 2025

Although avant-garde wardrobe choices are at the forefront of Oscar watchers’ minds, the primary topic of conversation this year was the controversial movie “Emilia Perez.” Junkins believes that “good films are the ones that really connect to the audience.” According to Hopkins students and others worldwide, “Emelia Perez,” the movie that was nominated for the same amount of awards as blockbusters like “La La Land” and “Forrest Gump,” accomplishes the opposite of this authenticity. Xander Ciminiello ’27 said that “filming a movie about Mexico in France” was unsettling, and inaccurate. On the other hand, Piazza “understand[s] why ‘Emilia Perez’ was nominated” because of its “big names in the cast and big musical numbers,” but still sees flaws. An
interview with Jacques Audiard, one of the filmmakers born in France, has been circulating the internet.
He states that “Spanish is a language of modest countries, of developing countries, of the poor and migrants,” and when asked if he did research on Mexican history for the film, he responded, “What I had to under- stand, I knew.” Piazza, “as someone who loves cinema and the arts,” found this “really disappointing to hear a film- maker say.” Piazza also explains their thoughts on casting choices: “The film has also been critiqued due to none of its leads being Mexican, although the movie is set in Mexico.” Piazza believes that “casting big names and popular figures in your film rather than casting authentic Mexican actors is just yet another tragedy in ‘Emilia Perez.’”