The backlash surrounding Selena Gomez’s new performance feels all too familiar for second-generation immigrants.

This should have been the best week of Selena Gomez's life. 

On Monday, the 32-year old actress and musician was nominated for not one… but two Golden Globe Awards. After years in the film and television industry, Gomez accomplished the extraordinary by becoming one of a few double nominees at this year's Globes, alongside Kate Winslet, Sebastian Stan, and Jesse Eisenberg. 

With several critically acclaimed projects under her belt this year, Gomez is nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture, for her film Emilia Pérez, and Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy, for the iconic cosy-crime show Only Murders in the Building. 

While Gomez is certainly no stranger to Golden Globe nominations, having previously been nominated for her performance on Only Murders in the Building in 2023 and 2024, the nod this year for her role in Emilia Pérez is a first for the actress in a film category. And it truly is no small feat. 

But amongst all the excitement of this award season for her, Gomez still could not escape the onslaught of criticism about one thing: her Spanish. 

Watch the trailer for Emilia Pérez. Article continues after video.

For context, Emilia Pérez is a musical drama predominantly spoken in Spanish. The film stars Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Édgar Ramírez and follows a powerful cartel leader who hires a lawyer to help her vanish and pursue her dream of transitioning into a woman.

According to Gomez, she spent six months re-learning Spanish for the movie, something she had "lost" since she started her predominantly English-speaking career at a young age. 

"To be honest, I wish I had a bit more time to study. I didn't expect to get the part, to be honest, so I'm really grateful that we were able to mould Jessie into a Latinx community that's kind of where I'm in the middle of, where I know some Spanish, I can understand it. It's hard for me to get it high when I speak it, but I do my best," she shared candidly with Hollywood Lite.  

But despite her honesty about the challenges of speaking Spanish in the film, Gomez has been subjected to harsh critiques about her accent in the movie — including from her own peers in the industry. 

Selena Gomez has received criticism for her Spanish accent in her new film. Image: Getty.

In particular, actor Eugenio Derbez criticised Gomez's Spanish in a podcast episode of Hablando de Cine con. In Spanish, Derbez called Gomez's performance "indefensible." 

"I was there [watching the movie] with people, and every time a scene came [with her in it], we looked at each other to say, 'Wow, what is this?'" he said. 

The podcast's host Gabby Meza agreed, claiming that she found Gomez's acting "unconvincing." 

"Spanish is neither her primary nor secondary language nor fifth," Gaby said. "And that's why I feel she doesn't know what she is saying, and if she doesn't know what she's saying, she can't give her acting any nuance… And that is why her performance is not only unconvincing but uncomfortable."

Gomez has since responded to the criticism, commenting on a TikTok video of the moment. 

"I understand where you are coming from," she began. "I'm sorry I did the best I could with the time I was given.

"Doesn't take away from how much work and heart I put into this movie."

And the commentary on her language skills did not stop there. 

"I'm sorry but I'm a Latina and Selena does NOT sound like she's speaking Spanish," one user commented on a clip from the film on YouTube.

"The director of this movie doesn't speak English or Spanish. He is French. Selena doesn't speak Spanish. Was anyone in this movie in charge of making sure the actors don't sound wooden and that they don't seem to be reading their lines from a piece of paper," another wrote.

Watching all the discourse around Gomez's Spanish accent unfold over the past month has been both frustrating and triggering. For so many second or third generation immigrants, like myself, it is a criticism that feels all too familiar.

Because the reality of living in an English-speaking country your whole life, while fighting to maintain a connection to your cultural roots, is a daily struggle for so many of us. There is a perpetual and unwinnable battle to assimilate, but not to assimilate too much as to lose your cultural identity.

The criticism of Selena Gomez's Spanish accent feels very familiar to immigrants. Image: Getty.

Migrating your entire family and livelihood to a foreign country, where they speak a language that is not your own is a complicated experience. And while some families are able to retain more aspects of their culture, that is not a universal experience for all. Especially when the focus, at that point, is often purely survival. 

Growing up with parents who had to learn English from scratch in order to better fit into their new surroundings, but still faced criticism for their accents, I know there is no winning. You retain remnants of your language in the way you speak English? You lose. You speak English proficiently, but aren't fluent in your mother tongue? You also lose. It is an everlasting struggle between cultures. 

And time and time again, we have seen this exclusionary narrative play out in pop culture. From Jennifer Lopez to Jenna Ortega, we are so quick to call out these women for simply existing, all because their language skills are not perfect.

For me, watching Gomez reconnect with her culture through her work was inspiring. As a third generation Mexican-American, of course, there are elements of her language that have gotten lost along the way. But isn't there beauty in finding that again? Isn't there something worth applauding in her dedication to studying Spanish and being brave enough to project it onto a world platform for all to see? I think so. 

Hearing Gomez talk about the connection she felt to her Mexican roots and how immersing herself in the Spanish language for Emilia Pérez helped her feel closer to her family, felt like a familiar and beautiful full-circle moment in an immigrant story. 

"I feel like I got to reclaim that part of myself, and I was sad that most of my job and most of my life was predominantly English," she said to Associated Press.

"Because I feel unconnected to that, so it felt wonderful to be able to study and spend time with people who were all speaking it around me. It definitely made me think of my family."

Gomez said that speaking Spanish for this role reminded her of her family. Image: Instagram/archiveofgomez.

Let's remember that for those of us who did grow up speaking multiple languages in the home, we are not gatekeepers to our cultures. And someone not being able to speak their ancestors' language well enough, does not make them less qualified or worthy of wearing their heritage like a badge of honour. 

In the end, the immigrant story is anything but a singular experience.

Feature image: Pathé.