Selena’s music holds a special place in all our hearts, but it means even more for us the Latinos. I remember exactly how I felt when Selena was murdered. Her loss was shocking and devastating. It brought us all together to mourn the loss of one of our icons.
When we hear her music, it takes us back in time. It’s like a time machine. It brings back memories. It brings back all kinds of emotions. It makes us cry, laugh, dance, and sing along.
Everyone loves Selena, she was beautiful, talented, funny, smart, and humble.
“Are you kidding me, man? This bumper is going to go on the wall of my garage, carnal! I’m going to put a little sign under it that’s going to say, ‘This bumper was pulled off by the bus of Selenas!’
That scene from Selena the movie is exactly how we feel about Selena. You would do anything for her because that’s how much people love her.
Her murder had an impact on all of us. There was vigils and memorials held everywhere in her honor. Celebrities around the world contacted the Quintanilla family to express their condolences. She’s the female version of John Lennon, or Elvis Presley and has been referred to as “The Mexican Madonna.” Her murder was front-page news in The New York Times for two days.
The People magazine that was released after her murder is a collector’s item. The issue sold out first and second prints in two weeks. Something that was unheard of in the history of People. In fact, it led them to launch People en Español.
Two weeks after her death, then Governor George Bush declared her birthday April 16th “Selena Day”.
For die hard music fans, there’s only a hand full of musicians who have official “days” named after them (Kurt Cobain, The Beatles, Elvis, Prince, Bob Marley, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Adam Yauch, Freddie Mercury, and Abba).
She’s a big deal.
When I heard that Netflix was going to make a series, I couldn’t wait to see what story they were going to tell. How they were going to portray not only Selena, but how they were going to portray our culture and community. What storylines they were going to focus on.
This weekend I sat down, and binge watched the whole thing. There’s been a lot of mixed reactions to the series, so I tried my best not to be influenced by people’s reactions. So far there was things I loved about the series including the wardrobe, sets, locations, and the different eras. The whole thing was nostalgic. It seemed to focus on her rise to stardom. But it was missing something, I was hoping to see more of Selena as an individual. I was also hoping to see more of the forbidden love between her and Chris Perez. Overall, it was a trip down memory lane, but honestly it felt generic. I’m hoping Season 2 is better.