Back in 1993 or thereabouts, I was watching Univision one weekend night (for variety and to learn some Spanish), and they were airing a special: a live Selena concert. I remember thinking how beautiful and talented she was, but also how BIG. Madonna had nothing on her level of popularity, which seemed almost to exceed it. Barely twenty years old, Selena's meteoric rise seemed inevitable. I had become a fan of hers after watching the Univision concert, and knew of her name and her work, but never thought that it would be the last time I would ever see her. Only James Dean's premature death in 1956 rivals this tragedy for the loss of talent at such a young age. It is scary to think of what Selena would have become had she simply not been killed.
The movie focuses on Selena's rise to fame as a crossover Tejano music star, more popular south of the border than in the United States, but becoming famous in both lands nonetheless. Other than Selena (Jennifer Lopez), the movie centers around her family, her husband Chris Perez (a very competent Jon Seda), and her strong-but-loving father, Abraham (Edward James Olmos in what is easily the best performance of his career).
Lopez checked her attitude at the door for this film, and plays Selena with reverence. Her resemblance to Selena and singing ability made her perfect for this role, and Olmos made an excellent second-fiddle. The scenes between father and daughter transcended fame and showed the normalcy of Quintanilla family life as the backdrop for the spiraling fame that threw them into chaos, such as when Selena had planned to tell her father about her sudden marriage but the radio had beaten her to it.
As we all know, Selena was tragically murdered by her fan club president, a woman I will not name so as not to give her any more fame (I urge others to do this as well). How someone with such a precious access to a precious individual could snuff out a life so young, so talented, and destined to be one of our greatest superstars is beyond comprehension. This crime was senseless even among other senseless crimes.
This is a loss that in some ways has still never been recovered from. Women like Selena come around once in a lifetime, and she was it for us. Sadly.
My heart goes out to her family for having to endure such a horrifying experience.
The movie focuses on Selena's rise to fame as a crossover Tejano music star, more popular south of the border than in the United States, but becoming famous in both lands nonetheless. Other than Selena (Jennifer Lopez), the movie centers around her family, her husband Chris Perez (a very competent Jon Seda), and her strong-but-loving father, Abraham (Edward James Olmos in what is easily the best performance of his career).
Lopez checked her attitude at the door for this film, and plays Selena with reverence. Her resemblance to Selena and singing ability made her perfect for this role, and Olmos made an excellent second-fiddle. The scenes between father and daughter transcended fame and showed the normalcy of Quintanilla family life as the backdrop for the spiraling fame that threw them into chaos, such as when Selena had planned to tell her father about her sudden marriage but the radio had beaten her to it.
As we all know, Selena was tragically murdered by her fan club president, a woman I will not name so as not to give her any more fame (I urge others to do this as well). How someone with such a precious access to a precious individual could snuff out a life so young, so talented, and destined to be one of our greatest superstars is beyond comprehension. This crime was senseless even among other senseless crimes.
This is a loss that in some ways has still never been recovered from. Women like Selena come around once in a lifetime, and she was it for us. Sadly.
My heart goes out to her family for having to endure such a horrifying experience.