Karen Deniz

Professor Lewenstein

English 2

4 April 2019

Selena: Taken Away But We Keep Her Forever

    Imagine passing away and still being one of the most famous Latina women alive. What exactly must one have to do so they are remembered more than two decades after dying? Well, Selena Quintanillas story will let you know. She was a young Latina star on the road of success that swept all of us from our feet and took us with her on a beautiful ride alongside of her thriving career.
With a voice like an angel and a charismatic personality, Selena could never be forgotten, even if we tried. In the film Selena, Jennifer Lopez, who portrays the Tejano music star, is shown singing “Dreaming of You” then she suddenly stops, which symbolized her death. They then show blurry scenes of EMT rushing her into an ambulance and trying to save her, as she was shot by Yolanda, not only president of her fan club but a family friend. The pure nostalgic feeling I had towards this film had me attracted to write about this film. Selenas music was always played around when I was growing up, she sadly died about three years after I was born but that didn’t stop the fact that I still listened and danced to her music.  Although Selena was taken away from us in such a vicious manner, her legacy is still alive and only keeps striving more every year showing what a true icon she truly was.

    Selena Quintanilla had to overcome many obstacles in her life and career alongside her family. Many believed that their success came overnight but it truly did not. Ever since Selena was small she started to sing and everyone around her realized she had tremendous talent. From playing in her father’s restaurant and moving after they closed it down, she they never gave up as a band and family. Even though their father filed for bankruptcy after closing their restaurant down due to economic issues, they kept singing and pushed Selena to become the woman that would inspire many of us now. No one ever shows the hard part of becoming successful, in her interviews, she never forgot to talk about how hard everyone in her family and circle of friends had to work to get where they are. I took alot of money and fighting for to be famous and actually have talent. Selena once said, “We never thought we’d get this far, but here we are” (Ilich, 2019).

    I feel as the family started this for fun, and then when they realized that Selena and her siblings had talent, they started to stretch out of their comfort zone but performing. Their dad worked hard to get them gigs, it was truly a mission so for them to become as big as they did, Selena said this in the most humble way. Starting out with nothing and ending up with a huge a success is one of the many reason as to why Selena is a true icon.  When Selena's tour bus gets stuck, two fans happen to be around to offer their help to Selena and her family to get them out of the sucky situation. Her brother was trying to do so but had no luck, so they decided to accept the men’s help. They offered to pull the bus out with their car. Everyone else thought it was not a good idea but as since they insisted to do so, they went ahead. In the scene, after attaching the car to the huge tour bus, they try to haul it out for couple minutes. After four or five tugs, the cars bumper pops out and everyone freaks out. Everyone starts apologizing and Selenas brother offers to pay for it saying, “We have money”. The two men remain very calm and one of them starts to speak and says, “Are you kidding me man? This bumper is going to go on the wall of my garage carnal. I am going to put a little sign under it, and it is going to say ‘This bumper was pulled off by the bus of Selenas’ …. anything for Selenas” (Gracia, 2019).

    This scene shows how much love her fans really had for her. So much that they would refuse payment if she, essentially, messed up their car. They basically built a shrine for her, admiring the fact that their bumper had been torn off by Selenas tour bus. The accuracy in the film is great because it let’s not only Selenas fans know the silly things they went through, but it has people who are trying to learn about her how much of an impact she had on her fans. 

    “Selena: 20 years after her death” was mainly a background of Selenas life, hardships, triumphs and fun facts (Hetter, 2019). Even though Selena was killed by a jealous fan many years ago, it is safe to say that she would had still been a star today, as she planned to expand her music and had already gone number one on the billboards. She was already reaching towards other fans, other than latino based fans. When Selena was doing all these breakthroughs as a musician, there wasn’t a lot of artists doing so, maybe only a couple, like Rita Moreno and Gloria Estefan. Selena started singing Tejano music at a young age in her fathers restaurant. Selena did not speak perfect Spanish, she was trying to perfect it even though she did not grow up speaking the language. Even though Selena was in the public eye, there were many things her fans did not know about her, and here in this article they were listed. Things like having to learn Spanish at an older age, selling out astrodome, which by the way was sold out by many huge artists like Michael Jackson, her album going number one and even the sad fact that her killer will be eligible for parole in 2025. The conclusion of this article was mainly all of Selenas fun facts, it was made to speak of her success and maybe reminisce about her since she was so loved. Even though she has been dead for a long time now, it goes to show how timeless she really is.

     Mentioning that Quintanilla was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, they also mention what Texas is known for. For example, their unique culture, food, traditions, sports, and music. Tejano music is mostly, mainly appreciated in Texas and that’s why Selena thrived the way she did there. This article takes it back, uncovering how young Selena really started her musical career, which is at the age of six. Joining her on this musical adventure was her brother Abraham, also known and AB and Suzette. Selena faced many obstacles during her musical career, and she was often compared to other artists; she was criticized for her unpolished Spanish, since she grew up never having learned Spanish. She was neglected for not being able to speak fluent Spanish; however, using her charm and charisma, she was able to win acceptance in Mexico. That was something everyone loved about this woman, her character, her genuine care for her fans and all around.

    Her charisma was something out of this world and we truly didn’t deserve her and with, she didn’t deserve to die that young, quite frankly, the way she died was undeserving to anyone. This article focuses on her struggles, hoping that many can relate. They mention her siblings being part of her music as well, because somehow, they tend to be forgotten. The film did focus only on her, her point of view, he personal love story and struggles, so I can see why some forget to think about AB and Suzette. “The death of Selena was devastating, especially for the Hispanic community.” That is was, and now a day’s people who are just finding out who she is are just as devastated as her earlier fans were. The title of this article grabs my attention as it speaks the truth, “A star that will always shine.” That is a sentence that speaks for itself when it comes to describing Selena Quintanilla.

    At first when you look at the Selena movie poster you may think there is not much to it. You see a photo of Selena herself, smiling pretty big. That alone, I think, represents how she truly was as a person. Very charismatic and approachable. The bright lipstick she wears goes along with her go-happy self as well. When you start looking at colors, you may notice the bright ones first, but if you look deeper, you realize all the darkness in the poster. The black background may represent her unexpected and tragic death. Even though this film was made to let us have a deeper look into her career, love life and all in between, the darkness lets us know to expect something tragic. Her smile is definingly something that grabs my attention.

You can’t deny that her smile is quite contagious. If I didn’t know about her, and I saw her smile. I would be interested in knowing who that woman is or was. What did she do to deserve a film and how great was her life, that it made her smile that way? The creator of this image wants to hit our emotional spot. Putting one of her most sweet looking photos all up on the cover, basically covering at least ninety percent of the poster. That either makes you go down memory lane or it hits you with the reminder that she isn’t here with us anymore. Selena was known not only for her amazing vocals but for many other things. The way she valued family was well known and in a latino based culture, that is a must. Her outfits during performances were captivating and quite innovative for her time. They may have seemed sexualizing, grabbing many kinds of attention, some bad and some good, regardless, she had the attention. I think the creator of this image used a logos strategy knowing the intended audience will get hooked with Selenas smile. I can conclude that the poster is good as is. The colors shown are a perfect mood match. Heartbreaking yet heartwarming, making your emotions run wild before even watching the film itself.

    There is a smaller photo at the bottom left who I believe is Jennifer Lopez, who portrays Selena Quintanilla in the film. I could be wrong, could be Selena herself, but either way I personally think the photo of Selena, where she is wearing the hoop earrings, overpowers the whole poster, which is great. If they had put just Selena’s photo of her smiling, I would have still been interested.

    Anybody that I have met, have all agreed that Selena is a true icon. With all my research, I can prove and reassure anyone about it. At this point it is not an opinion but a fact. When someone becomes famous, they either become someone to look up to or the opposite. Selena had proven that her hard work got her where she was and her success had blood and tears, and that is worth admiring. Her death not only took a toll on her family but her fans as well. People were heartbroken and cried as if their own family died. I believe that Selena will live in our hearts forever and the children of our children will recognize her, knowing her legacy for years on.  I truly never get over it. It inspires me to go for my dreams and that sadly, I must watch out, as there are people I should not trust. Even though they seem to be there for our best interest, they might also stab us in the back, or in this case, shoot you. I am always up for reading a new Selena article, as I get to learn about her, even though she passed away.

Work Cited

Hernandez, Valeria. “Selena Quintanilla-Perez: A Star That Will Always Shine”. Stmuhistory.org. April 11, 2019. Stmuhistorymedia.org?author/valeria-hernandez/

Ebert, Roger. “Selena Movie Summary”. Rogerebert.com. April 11, 2019. Rogerebert.com/reviews/selena-1997

Galvan, Joe. “Something Everyone Could Agree On”. Belivermag.com. April 11, 2019. Believermag.com/something-everyone-could-agree-on/

Hetter, Katia. “Selena: 20 years after her death”. Cnn.com. April 11, 2019. Cnn.com/2015/03/27/entertainment/feat-tejano-selena-quintanilla-perez-20th-anniversary-death/ondex.html

Ilich, Tijana. “The Story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, the Queen of Tejano”. Thoughtco.com. April 11, 2019. Thoughtco.com/biography-of-selena-quintanilla-perez-2141134

 

Garcia, V. Jessica. “Selenas Dad Clears Up The Truth Behind The Iconic ‘Anything For Selenas’ Scene”. Wearemitu.com. April 11, 2019. Wearemitu.com/entertainment/selenas-father-just-confirmed-what-scenes-from-the-selena-movie-happened-in-real-life/