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Book Review: The Games Gods Play

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Eurovisión 2025 what a Roller Coster

Eurovision 2025 has started with such a mountain of news that it's hard to know where to begin. Or maybe not.

Eurovision is famous for its big shows, whether it's stage, costumes, song or eccentricity, and it's often more fun to see everything around a song, than to hear the actual musical proposal offered by some delegation. It is not surprising that every year it seems to be a show of eccentricity more than anything else, and if that helps the delegations to win, then honestly all the better?

Now with what happened during last year's contest, nothing could have made things much worse, whether it was artists being censored as in the cases of Portugal, Sweden and Ireland, harassment of the press and some delegations or if that wasn't enough, the police presence in and around the arena where the contest is held. This year I must admit that I have remained very much on the sidelines because I wanted to have a more global idea of the songs, rather than focusing individually on each musical proposal. Now I see the error in my logic, because what happened during these last weeks seems so curious and improbable, that I wonder how many times a situation like the one we are currently experiencing has actually happened, am I exaggerating? But with every news that comes out regarding Eurovision, it seems to happen under highly improbable and clearly not impossible circumstances.

Eurovision 2025 has started in such a complicated situation, that anyone would forgive some mistakes. Some artists have decided not to go like the winner of San Remo, Moldova deciding not to attend, Israel on the other hand attending despite what happened last year, boycott and, of course, could not miss: Manipulation of results. Artists must deal with immense pressure to excel not only in musical terms, but also in their staging, which often involves considerable expense in production. In addition, political and economic tensions between countries can influence voting, generating mistrust and controversy. On top of that, public and media criticism and expectations put participants in a vulnerable position, where any mistake can be amplified and affect their image internationally. To handle the pressure, artists can focus on building a strong support team that includes media and psychological counselors. Practicing mindfulness or meditation techniques can help them stay calm and focused during the contest. 

Side note: This is only the first half if you are interested here is my blog: https://mayescnews.blogspot.com

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The finale of Emilia Perez

During the whole awards season I watched Emilia Perez win, every time it did I couldn't help but think that this movie took the awards from more deserving films. Seeing how no one talked about the rest of the nominees broke my heart a little bit and I think emotionally I had already accepted that Emilia Perez was going to win Oscars, whether I liked it or not.

This year it was more than clear that the Academy only votes for what they think will create the most views and dialogue whether positive or negative. Emilia Perez's 13 nominations are in my opinion the work of the publicists more than anything else.

Now after what happened at the Oscars, I must say that it was refreshing to see Emilia Perez lose so many times. In all honesty, I think the biggest problem is that they gave this movie two Oscars that in my opinion Emilia Perez did not deserve and to see them stand up and see how no one involved dared to say anything about the issues of the film left much to be desired. Much more when you see how Zoe Saldaña, takes such an arrogant attitude when she had to talk to journalists specifically with a Mexican journalist.

Her “apology” is so far from it and basically boils down to: I don't share your opinion, the movie is about women not the country, that's not where its heart is, the movie could have been made anywhere else.

I honestly can't believe the level of I DON'T CARE, I just called you sister and I am dismissing your criticism which is, by the way completely valid. If it really doesn't matter then why select Mexico, it's only because of the book? besides, and if that wasn't enough, Emilia Perez addresses a Mexican social problem that is difficult to portray, especially for a European director who clearly doesn't care at all.

The problem here is that Zoe Saldaña just made it clear that no one in the production cared if they were doing a good job of representation, or if what they were saying was even credible to Spanish-speaking ears. They weren't more concerned about talking about four women and that's it, I mean clearly the issue of forced disappearances or the violence caused by the cartels or the fights between them and the government is important.

I hope this whole circus has served as a good lesson to the voting members of the Academy: Not all representation is good and even less so when it lacks life or meaning.

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The Elefant in the Room

I was not going to say anything until I had more information and in spite of everything there is a certain topic that is going to make many live very uncomfortable moments, there will be no way to escape this matter and much less with the information that has come to light regarding a special delegation, which in spite of everything that has happened is going to return.

When a situation as complex as the one we are currently experiencing at an international level affects a singing competition, we must act carefully and although it is true that we should not live in the past, the events that occurred throughout the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, left many, including myself, in a state of fear for the future of the contest and confusion, because of the information that came out by journalists and people who were on stage. Today we are at a crossroads, and the delegation involved (which I refuse to mention by name), knows that they can use this opportunity to transform it into a double-edged sword that they will not hesitate to use throughout the Eurovision season. 

Once again we find ourselves in an extraordinarily political situation, where politics will take the main stage that belong to the art and the music. The problem goes beyond the fact that the delegation in question is present or the fact that the representative is one of the released hostages, the issue is the content of the selected song, if the recently released information is true, I fear that we are facing a new hurricane of controversy, which seems to have no end. I am glad that the hostage is back with her family and I think it is good that she is in conditions to be able to continue with her life. The problem is that I cannot affirm the same when the delegation involved does not do the same to return the people it exchanges. As is apparent, and as I have just illustrated, it is difficult to separate one thing from the other. If we have learned anything from last year, it is the importance of keeping the safety of all involved intact and creating a safe environment for artistic demonstrations that should enact the coming together of people regardless of where they come from.

Just to make one thing clear, Yuval Raphael has an extraordinary voice and a talent that spills out everywhere you look. The delegation she represents is in a very compromising situation where they are going to have to protect her. Outside motives could put Yuval Raphael in a situation that, let's be honest, she doesn't deserve, just for representing the delegation she belongs to. I honestly worry that her voice and talent will be overlooked for a situation completely external to her, time will tell if her musical talent can save the song she is asked to sing.

One thing is for certain, this season has started giving a lot to talk about and while it looks promising so far, we will have to keep alert and support each other, because nowadays it seems that we the fans are the ones who try more than the institution itself, to make this music contest look trouble free.

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A sinking ship called Emilia Pérez

In an interview for Deadline today for the AFI meeting, Jcques Audiard was asked about his comments on the Spanish language and Karla Sofia Gascon.

His answers, to say the least are, to put it mildly: Eye Opening. From trying to say everything he can think of about the Spanish language, to completely ignoring KSG and simply reducing everything to: I don't want to get involved and I will explaining and defend this film.

I will leave here the link from the article from DEADLINE, so that you can form your own opinion.For me this was the most important things where:

I) What shocked me is that either people haven’t seen the film properly, or they haven’t seen it at all and are acting in bad faith. The representation of the cartels in the film is thematic. (???)

II) The real thing that I’m interested in, that I was interested in doing, is that I wanted to make an opera. That demands a strong stylization.

I mean, even in this genre within the musical theater, there must be a narrative thread, it is not just singing for the sake of singing, you must advance the narrative of what you say through the song, it is not just a monologue inside the head of the character.

III) I’ve never claimed that I wanted to make a realistic work. If I wanted to make a work that was particularly documented, then I would do a documentary".

Cherry on top, Jcques Audiard can't brag about all his European awards, what a pity….well I hope you had a nice day.

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What to do now?

All this controversy with Emilia Perez has left a lot to talk about, and to say the least all this controversy with Karla Sofia Gascon has sucked all the air out of this awards season (not that there was much to begin with).

I say this because it is the first time in years that I see dirty campaigning for the fight, for the Oscar and in general the whole awards season. It will be interesting to know how much the critics' opinion has changed regarding Emilia Perez, the director Jacques Audiard and especially Karla Sofia Gascon, who every day that passes shows the kind of person that she is.

There are many examples, from her comments in X to her attitudes captured on camera, example: when she lost the Golden Globe to Demi Moore. My concern is that if they give any award to the film Karla Sofia Gascon and Jacques Audiard, will use it as a weapon to defend their ideas.

I feel so sorry for both Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, they deserve so much more than what Emilia Perez has to offer, and the biggest problem is that neither of them can really escape the scandals in which this film finds itself. Because if it's not Jacques Audiard, giving his opinions about a language he doesn't speak, or a country he looks at through a European vision full of clichés, or the fact that he dares to insinuate that it's thanks to his film that people talk more about the narco (and that's very much not true), but he is European and he understands this issues more than any Latino, apparently.

While on the other side is Karla Sofia Gascon, who every day that passes sinks more her career, because in her new interview offered to CNN Español, which she did without the knowledge of Netflix, left more than one a lot to think about . I don't think she realized how bad it went, because in her head she is a victim and the world is against her. I would like to leave here a small example of why I say so:

In English she basically says: “if I were a racist, I would not have worked with Selena Gomez and Zoé Saldaña”.

In the end I hope her behavior on social media and in front of the camera shows the world and the critics and the rest of her fellow actors who award at the Critics Choice Awards, Baftas and Oscars, the kind of person they are dealing with.

In the end, I hope Emilia Perez doesn't win any awards. It feels bad saying it, but if the award circles are willing to do so, they will be gambling whatever credibility they have, not that they have any, after the 13 nominations for Emilia Perez.

Because awarding Emilia Perez would be sending a strong message that would be: “Cheer up minority, we have selected you this year”, “Be happy that Hollywood pays attention to you; You deserve it”.

And that's what hurts the most. Because it doesn't matter if the film is bad or not, it's knowing that the voters probably will do it because they truly believe that awarding Emilia Perez is the right thing to do, because above all, the members of the academy like to believe that they are doing the right thing, awarding a film that has nothing to do with anything, but the idea that Emilia Perez is a reflection of not only Mexico but the entire trans community.

Because when minorities like us complain about the problems of a film or series. Hollywood looks at us with disdain and decides to shut us up.

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Emilia Perez is a joke of a movie and the US should feel ashamed to claim it as some kind of artistic masterpiece worthy of film awards.

Is insulting to every single mexican who as suffered the violence and fear drug cartels enforce in our country. The absolute audacity of a group of foreigners without an ounce of respect making a caricature of something that actively keeps taking and ruining mexican lives is outrageous.

The phenomena of the missing people in latinamerica isn't a hot topic for you to explore in your experimental musical movie. The pseudo social commentary based on the most basic view of a problematic the creators clearly don't care enough to learn about is shallow and disrespectful.

This is the egotistical vision of a group of people who don't respect out culture nor our traditions nor our people, and who are actively dismissing our voices because their oscar bait bullshit movie is more important to them than the people they disrespected.

I really don't care how good you think the script is, or how "artistic" it may be, or if you liked the songs or if the main actresses (none of them mexican btw) gave the preformance of their life. This movie should not exist because it was made from the arrogance of "I'm gonna tell how things are and how they should be because I just know better despite the fact this isn't my country nor my culture and I didn't even bother to reseach."

And the result is a collage of insentive takes and stereotypes disguised as a "nuace and smart social commentary", triving off of the ignorance around what Mexico really is. Everything around this movie has been non-mexicans saying "we don't care what mexicans have to say, we did this movie because we really wanted to and we could."

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No I don't think so....

Not long ago, I wrote a post in English about Emilia Perez because I thought it was the best option to make known my opinion as a Mexican and Latina about the social problems that Jacques Audiard's film touches on in the most inappropriate way possible, given that his vision of the world and Mexico's problems come from Europe, specifically France.

The message that you will read below. If you do not know Spanish, is wrong and hardly true, this are Jacques Audiard own words:

"Some will tear me apart because of the trans identity, others because of Mexico, but that means that the film is working, that it has an impact. There has never been so much talk in the Mexican press about the disappeared, even if it's just to hit me with everything".

This is a categorical lie, in Mexico we try to talk whenever we can, it is not easy and there are always consequences, but that does not mean that we do not do it or that we do not try.

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Emilia Perez a case study of what not to do.

There are different ways to talk about a film. What some find worthy of admiration others find less than favorable.

Today we find ourselves with a film that navigates a fine line that is becoming increasingly invisible, today I find myself here talking about a film that produces nothing but anger and pain in me.

But in spite of everything, I think it is important to talk about the controversy in which Emilia Perez finds itself. I am Latina, I am Mexican and I would like to say that it is more than disgusting to see how the Academy, the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards and the Bafta Awards hold in high esteem a film that has so many identity problems.

Emilia Perez wants to be a musical, but also a critique, it wants to be a portrait of a reality, but it can't stand criticism. This film, while it looks at itself with airs of grandeur, is nothing more than a set of poorly produced clichés that are rather distressing.

The issue is not just that the Spanish they speak leaves much to be desired, or that the songs don't make sense in Spanish or English or the apparent lack of respect for the LGBTQ+ community or the Trans community.

What angers me is the fact that The Academy is behind this project, what anger me, is not only that Jacques Audiard talks about subjects he doesn't even know about or that he makes gestures against Cynthia Elviro. The fact is that the Academy does not care about what people are saying out loud.

Because Emilia Perez is cheap activism. It's what the members of The Academy believe is the right thing to do. Because inside their social bubble tells them that they should do it, regardless of whether it is the right thing to do.

Karla Sofía Gascón, should be more than sorry for what she has said through her social networks, she should keep quiet and not go to war on X. Because and if you do not know it, she and Jacques Audiard, manage a double discourse where in Mexico they say something but in the U.S. and Europe they say something else.

But what do I know, compared to them. I am Latina and Mexican, I see the insecurity and pain in my country that fights daily for the security that we deserve and should have. They are Europeans, who obviously can explain to me more about the problems in my own country.

The ball is in the court of Academy. What are they going to do now that Karla Sofia Gascon has decided to speak out against Fernanda Torres and the Brazilian team of Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here).

Will they continue to ignore what Emilia Perez's director, Jacques Audiard has said from the beginning? Will they forgive what Karla Sofia Gascon has said, or will they do the right thing for a change?

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Emilia Perez. The movie that is supposed to be set in Mexico but shot in France, doesnt feature one mexican actor, actors in it dont speak fluent spanish, where spanish lines sound like written in France then ran through Google translator, where musical numbers is not even songs just actors singing their lines,treats sex change operations as a joke, where leader of a f* cartel gets a redemption arc and insults real cartel victims and french director said there were no talented mexican actors, got 13 Oscar nominations. And won best international film instaed of brasilian movie Im still here.

Its like making a movie about 9/11 victims, hiring only actors from outside of USA who dont even speak fluent english, have non american director who says there were no talented american actors available so he had to hire foreigners and no matter how many americans would shout the movie offends everyone, it would receive 13 Oscar nominations. Or if it was a movie about school shootings and mother of one of the victims would kiss a hand of the mass shooter because he helped her find her kid's body (that happens in this movie)

The fact this movie receives awards at all is a proof people who vote are incredibly far removed from reality and all these communities.

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[Review]

I was willing to ignore Zoe Saldaña's no-Mexican accent and even the very stereotyped view of Mexico, but then Selena Gomez's terrible Spanish entered the room and that was it for me.

Look, as a Latin myself I can understand that even if the story is filmed in Mexico and "based" on a Mexican cartel leader, not everyone has to speak Spanish perfectly -globalization and mass migration do exist after all- but Selena's delivery is so weak that it is impossible to keep your focus in the story.

After seeing the movie, it is clear that the production is getting praised by non-Spanish speakers. There is no way you think this is a quality story or performance if your native language is Spanish or if you live in Mexico.

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SAY IT LOUDER FOR THOSE IN THE BACK 🗣️

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2025 Movies

New year, new energy, renewed motivation.

Last year, it was a year full of good movies, not so good, others fell by the wayside and others that… it's better not to talk about. For me it wasn't a good year and I hardly went to the movies, there just weren't enough movies to motivate me to go out, but as I said: New Year, new motivation.

This year looks promising, so I was wondering: What are the films you are most looking forward to this year? Is there any genre in particular?

Here is my list:

1)Wolf Man, 2) Tron Ares, 3) Companion, 4) The Fantastic Four: First Steps, 5) Thunderbolts*, 6) Lilo & Stitch, 7) Mickey 17, 8) Jurassic World: Rebirth, 9) The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, 10) The Running Man.

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New Year's Resolution

I've been trying to get my head on straight during these first two weeks of January and even though I don't like to admit it, I have to say that this is the first time in years that I haven't read exactly what I would have liked to read.

Last year was a combination of manga that I hadn't finished and books that I felt compelled to read rather than wanted to, because technically they belong to the kind of books I read.

I think the best use of my free time instead of reading or doing puzzles has been playing video games.

So this year, as a New Year's resolution I've decided to create a reading blog. I think it's a good motivation. Has something similar happened to any of you?

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I forgot to upload this here

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The Sovereign of the Solar Republic | Mustang

“My wife is not as fickle as a flame. She is an ocean. I knew from the first that I cannot own her, cannot tame her, but I am the only storm that moves her depths and stirs her tides. And that is more than enough.”

This is the one Darrow (and Cassius) keep in their wallets… ;) Inspired by Kendall Jenner’s MET Gala vintage Givenchy angel dress. This was a great opportunity to do a fabric study. As difficult as it was I’m happy with how it turned out.

*Do not copy/print/download/reupload to any platform.

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Darrow O’Lykos - Red Rising : Golden Son

My interpretation of Darrow from Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series.

I’m hyperfixating, clearly.