If you’re anything like me when it comes to pop culture obsessions, your social media has been all about Wicked for the last few months, and it’s been amazing. As film award season has begun, Wicked is, of course, many people’s favorite to win, especially after watching the Golden Globe Awards for film and television. However, another musical won most of the awards for the show’s Musical and Comedy category, and I honestly can’t wrap my head around it.
When I heard that Emilia Pérez won Best Musical or Comedy, I was slightly disappointed but figured it was well deserved, considering it got some of the most nominations of the night, until the next day. When I opened social media the next morning, I saw clips and commentary on the film that I knew nothing about and was shocked.
I found poorly written and sung songs, many that seemed offensive and ignorant towards Hispanic and transgender communities, not to mention its direction by a group of French filmmakers who have upset many by filling the script with stereotypes that don’t represent Mexican culture well.
Emilia Pérez won the most Golden Globes out of any film that night, taking home four awards after receiving 11 nominations. Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were recently released as well, and the controversial film received three nominations for its cast’s performances. It seems as though the only people who think the film is genuinely good are critics and award-show voters.
The controversy over the early success of Emilia Pérez has dubbed it this year’s award season villain, but what is this, and what gives a film this designation?
Award show villain status
Being dubbed the villain of award season is most definitely a marketing team’s biggest nightmare, but it’s one that they often deal with. This can be given to films, television series, actors, or directors, all simply because of the movie’s content, past actions of cast and crew, or the fact that they are beating more fan-favorited projects and actors.
An example of this from the television category is Hulu’s The Bear, a comedy series that has been highly successful in award seasons. However, many claim it to be the villain of the Emmy Awards for being in the wrong category and stealing the spotlight from true comedy series.
This started in its first season, taking nearly every Emmy Award away from the beloved series Ted Lasso in its last season, with many complaining about it claiming comedy status to win awards. This continued for its second season, taking awards from other popular series like Abbott Elementary and Saturday Night Live. Finally, in its third season, The Bear has started losing awards, many crediting this to the Television Academy recognizing its drama and not comedy status.
A recent film example of this came from the 94th Academy Awards, in which CODA became the unexpected Best Picture winner. This drew a lot of hate for the film, as it was simpler and had a lower budget than the typically A-list-filled winners. Many expected Jane Champion’s Power of the Dog or Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story to take home that honor, both films winning big in other categories, leading to divided opinions on the winning series.
Anti-blockbuster bias
It’s no secret that the film award industry hates massive budgets, high CGI, and hugely grossing films. Superhero films, big-budget musicals, and even beloved animated films are often excluded from major categories, with many believing it’s because of “film snobs” attitudes in the industry.
Recently, at the 95th Academy Awards, Jamie Lee Curtis won her first Oscar for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film that won nearly every award that night. The issue? No one really wanted her to win.
The clear favorite for the Actress in a Supporting Role category was Angela Bassett for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, so when Curtis’s name was called, it was tense, and she became the villain of the awards in a heartbeat. The Oscars faced much criticism for giving the award to Curtis, with the actress taking the brunt of the hate herself. Still, you can’t argue that the bias against superhero and action films was a significant factor in why Bassett didn’t take home the Oscar that night.
However, this could be a reason why Wicked got snubbed by Emilia Pérez at the Golden Globes. The musical based on characters from The Wizard of Oz is a massive project, being one of Warner Brother’s largest and most expensive films. While it’s objectively the better musical, it carries the weight of being a blockbuster project, a massive burden going into award season.
Controversial cast & crew
If there’s anything Hollywood has plenty of, it’s controversial figures everywhere. There’s no exception for award season, which often causes a film to become a villain due to actions made by the cast or crew.
The 89th Academy Awards is infamous for misreading the Best Picture category between La La Land and Moonlight. Still, Manchester by the Sea received backlash due to its lead actor, Casey Affleck. The actor had recently become involved in a sexual harassment case previous to the award season, causing many to hope for the film’s downfall so he wouldn’t see success. However, Affleck won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, beating fan favorites like Ryan Gosling for La La Land and Denzel Washington for Fences.
This season’s two major remaining award shows are the Screen Actor Guild Awards and the Academy Awards. As I mentioned before, the SAG Award nominators caused lots of stir for Emilia Pérez’s success in nominations, but the show will air on Feb. 23, so we’ll see if it can continue its Golden Globe success then.
The Academy Awards, or Oscars, holds the most desired wins of the season, and nominations will be announced on Jan. 23, with the ceremony scheduled for Mar. 2. However, that’s subject to be moved due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
Many are hoping that Emilia Pérez being deemed the season’s villain so early will cause it to be snubbed by the Oscars, but only time will tell. Critics aren’t exactly known for agreeing with audiences, so I would expect a bit of a disappointment.
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