Awards season is in shambles. The internet is ablaze. With each passing day, another film is engulfed in controversy. In what has quickly devolved into the most chaotic Oscars lead-up of all time, old tweets have resurfaced, accounts have been deactivated and dear films have been shut out. The only constant: no one knows who’s the favorite to win Best Picture.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science unveiled the 97th Oscar nominations bright and early on Jan. 23, streaming live on YouTube. “Saturday Night” star Rachel Sennott and “Wicked” star Bowen Yang did the honors, listing the five finalists in each category. The excitement for those watching at home, especially those on X, quickly withered as the controversial crop of nominees unraveled.
French film “Emilia Pérez” secured a gargantuan tally, notching 13 nominations, including five above the line (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress). One small problem: the film is almost universally hated. Social media was up in arms after the film won four Golden Globes, citing its inauthentic depiction of Mexico, its alienated perspective on the transgender identity and its awkward musical numbers. The backlash has grown even more pronounced amid a shocking unearthing of lead actress Karla Sofia Gascón’s old tweets.
The appalling collection includes a diverse assortment of hateful rhetoric, including Islamophobic remarks, racism, anti-vax sentiments and a defense of Hitler. Though the tweets were all deleted before eventual deactivation, the internet has its receipts with screenshots of Gascón’s tweets posted on X.
One tweet reads, “More and more, the Oscar films look like an independent and protest film awards ceremony. I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M.”
Gascón has addressed the backlash on her Instagram but withheld any sort of apology. The Academy is one of several notable Instagram accounts that has unfollowed the actress under the circumstances.
Although “Emilia Peréz” led all films in nominations and had a decent shot to win several big awards at the ceremony, the odds are dwindling. With the presentation still weeks away (March 2), voters have ample time to familiarize themselves with and reject the controversy.
Senior UO student Emily Kavanagh expressed disappointment that “Emilia Peréz” is receiving top acclaim this awards season. “The wave of nominees is downright perplexing,” Kavanagh said. “It’s widely disliked for a reason and so insulting to Mexico.”
Kavanagh mentioned Luca Guadagnino’s thrilling tennis drama “Challengers” — which received zero nominations — as the film’s rightful replacement in the Best Picture line-up, adding support for Zendaya as Gascón’s replacement in Best Actress.
Fellow senior UO student Caden Weigel echoed a similar position. “I would swap Emilia Peréz for Challengers … duh,” Weigel said.
However, the nominations aren’t without their inspired choices and fun surprises.“The Substance” became one of the rare horror films to land a Best Picture nomination. Brazil’s “I’m Still Here” shocked the world with a surprise appearance in the same category. Gascón became the unfortunate recipient of a momentous title: the first openly transgender person to be nominated in an acting category.
“It’s nice to see ‘The Substance’ recognized,” Kavanagh said. “But it’s like the Academy can only do one ‘hip cool’ thing a year.”
Other leading nominees included “The Brutalist” and “Wicked,” which received 10 nominations apiece, and “Anora” and “Conclave,” which received eight nominations each.
Another strong Best Picture candidate, “The Brutalist,” has recently come under fire for using AI to enhance the few instances where the lead actors speak Hungarian in the film. Top contender “Anora” has collected its fair share of critics for its decision to shoot without intimacy coordinators on set during sexual scenes.
In the upcoming weeks, those invested will sit back and plead the roller coaster slows down soon. Though the chaotic nature of awards season prevails, the volatility of this year’s cycle has taken an exhaustive toll.
