While the Academy hasn’t been immune to controversies, which is reasonable given the subjective nature of the medium, the glory of the Oscar is still considered one of the highest honors an actor can receive. Different actors have their own ways of handling their golden statuette, as while on one hand, Kate Winslet keeps it in her bathroom to allow her guests to imagine this glory, Jared Leto, on the flip side, lost his one three years later.
Zoe Saldaña, however, has opted to dedicate her Oscar statuette to the trans community, which goes by the pronouns they/them.
Zoe Saldaña dedicates her Oscar statuette to the trans community
Despite being one of the most polarizing releases of 2024, Emilia Pérez entered the 97th Academy with 11 Oscar nods, including Zoe Saldaña‘s nod for Best Supporting Actress. What should’ve been a celebration of the trans and Mexican community ended up leaving a sour taste among fans due to its lack of trans and Mexican representation.
Some even called the movie a step backward for the trans community for its recycling of old stereotypes and clichés.
However, amidst all the hoopla surrounding the movie’s lack of inclusivity, which further escalated due to Karla Sofía Gascón‘s controversy, Saldaña is doing her part to uplift the trans community. When asked about her Oscar statuette, the Guardians star revealed that her Oscar is “trans”, which “goes by they/them”.
She told People:
We have it in my office and my Oscar is gender fluid.
Although this has done little to change the consensus surrounding the movie, the core issue did lie with the writers. And Saldaña’s effort to speak to the trans community amidst these troubling times is admirable.
Zoe Saldaña addressed the backlash from people of Mexico
In addition to being one of the biggest positives of the movie, Saldaña, who created history by becoming the first American of Dominican origin to win Best Supporting Actress, addressed the storm that riddled the movie.
The Guardians star apologized to the people of Mexico for elements that might’ve proven to be hurtful for them, even though she expressed that, to her, Mexico wasn’t the heart of the story.
She said (via Deadline):
For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico; we weren’t making a film about a country, we were making a film about four women, and these women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza.
Saldaña’s decision to dedicate her Oscar glory to the trans community mirrors Jamie Lee Curtis’ Oscar win, as the latter, too, used gender fluid pronouns for her statuette to showcase support for her daughter, who came out as trans. As for the Guardians star, given her stature as an actor, hopefully, she’ll continue to dominate Award seasons with her future gigs.
Emilia Pérez is available to stream on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
