Breathe
By Pamela Cerdeira
No, I'm not even close to being a film expert, but I think the arts are like wine: you either like them or you don't, and that's it. I did like Emilia Perez. I had read Yuriria Sierra's column, but I put the film on without much expectation. The idea of a musical still didn't fit in my imagination, especially one that tells the story of a drug trafficking leader who identifies as a woman and decides to transition to become a trans woman.
I'll start with the don'ts: it's not Mexico, it doesn't look like Mexico, nobody in that movie speaks like a Mexican and that generates a bit of a short circuit while watching it. But I like it because it tells a story that happens within the Mexican context, and I don't remember any precedent of a musical that does something similar. The film is risky in everything: it takes risks with the theme, it takes risks with actors who don't speak like Mexicans, it takes risks by not filming in Mexico, it takes risks by having the characters sing at the slightest provocation, sometimes without the song making much sense. He even takes risks with the genre of those songs.
I read those who know (don't miss Susana Moscatel's column, also here in Opinion 51), and I listened carefully to my daughter, who has dedicated her life to musical theater and has strong opinions about music. But I enjoyed it.
Yes, it is implausible that a drug dealer who becomes a trans woman would decide not only to abandon his life of crime, but also to become a "good person". But it's a musical. It doesn't have to be plausible, does it? I think it just has to tell a story, preferably an endearing one.
And yes, I am going to talk about Karla Gascón and her transition, because that is perhaps the part that excites me the most. I met Karla shortly after Peter Pintado became a memorable character. Then I read her book, which I venture to guess has a huge autobiographical weight to it, and followed her transition process. If trans women have to go through a swamp of hate every day, I don't want to imagine what it was like for her, given that her transition happened in the public arena.
As I was watching Emilia Perez, I was thinking about her, and for me the story of a trans woman fighting to regain what matters to her was not Emilia Perez, it was Karla Gascon. And I was watching it at the same time.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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