Zoe Saldaña is officially an Oscar winner! But with success comes much criticism, and the actress seems to be swimming in it lately. After winning Best Supporting Actress for “Emilia Pérez,” the internet had a lot to say over what many are calling a tone deaf response to ongoing criticism.
A Mexican reporter called out Saldaña during a Q&A session post-Oscars. She said the film’s portrayal of Mexico, where the movie is set, was “really hurtful for us Mexicans,” to which the actress simply apologized saying “I’m sorry so many Mexicans felt offended. That was never our intention.”
But quickly, Saldaña pivoted and doubled down. “I don’t share your opinion,” she continued. “For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico.” And oh boy, did that send red alerts across the Net!
X User @jaehyvnszn wrote “for a non mexican woman to get up here and tell an actual mexican citizen that they dont agree with how mexico feels about this film is a pretty disrespectful and disgusting response.”
Another user, @badnina_x, agreed saying “Imagine telling an entire country how they should feel about their own portrayal.” And just to add more fuel to the flames, Saldaña continued her “apology” saying “These women [in “Emilia Pérez”] could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza.”
User @rsquejesusfreak was confused by the actress’ statements. She wrote “a movie abt a reformed cartel boss focusing on finding the missing relatives of mexican families victimized by the cartel could’ve been about any group of women?”
@lovelltrin called BS on Saldaña’s response saying “location MATTERS in stories.” They continued with “the movie uses the trauma and stories of mexicans from mexico and then slams the door in those same people’s faces when they speak up about how hurtful it is to them.”
On the surface, Saldaña’s response might not seem too controversial, but the actress has an interesting history with criticism centered around a few of her past roles. “This is very similar to how she didn’t care for the criticism about her doing Nina Simone (in Black face),” @dariacott recalled.
Saldaña’s 2016 portrayal of American icon Nina Simone drew much criticism after her dramatic makeup had folks calling “blackface.” Now, some fear she’s repeating a similar tone. One user, @NinaSerafina, boldly claimed “Zoe Saldana navigates in the industry like a white woman.”
One X user, @CBuburron, wrote in Spanish that Saldaña “reconoce abiertamente lo que hace emilia pérez: tomar la violencia en méxico y sus víctimas como una escenografía que se puede cambiar y desechar si es necesario, que ni si quiera merecen ser mencionadas porque pueden ser sustituidas por otras.”
This translates to Saldaña “openly acknowledges what emilia perez does: taking the violence in mexico and its victims as a set design that can be changed and discarded if necessary, that do not even deserve to be mentioned because they can be replaced by others.”