Selenas: A Narrative Fiction

1. Selena 's father says it is difficult to be a Mexican-American.  Why does he say that?

1.Describe the main characters of the film: Who are they? What are their motivations? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are the obstacles they face?

To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there

could you Imagine what it would be like to grow up as a performer in a world that didn’t even except female Tejano singers? Can you imagine how much courage and work it would take to make it to the top? That’s was Selena Quintanilla Perez had to go through. Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas on April 6th, 1971 to Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla. Abraham was a shipping clerk for a chemical company and Marcella was a housewife. Abraham being a well respected Mexican musician, who only sang English songs, and had his career ruined because of that. American people didn’t respect him because he was Mexican, and the Mexican people did not respect them because they sang English songs. By the time Selena reached age 10, it became very

In a scene from the film, Selena, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican-American singer, is ignored by a white sales woman. The sales woman judges Selena on the color of her skin, determining her social status as one unimportant to her business, not realizing that Selena was actually a celebrity. Just as the sales woman predetermined a role for Selena rooted by race and ethnicity, Waretown High maintained class, gender, and race stereotypes in determining girl’s futures and outcomes. Julie Bettie’s Women Without Class discusses these stereotypes through expectations set for las chicas and the preps by the school, families, and themselves, the exclusion of hard-living students, those whose families were low income, and the ability for some girls to become upwardly mobile as an exception to the rules.

Imagine standing among a crowd of adoring fans cheering on a famous singer that is dancing and twirling on stage. This is what many of Selena Quintanilla fans experienced at her lively concerts. Selena Quintanilla was a Mexican - American singer that was on the verge of stardom before being tragically shot. She inspired many people and was a beloved idol. Selena Quintanilla is an influential person because of her upbringing, her singing legacy, her humanitarian work, and her death.

Hispanic-American population in the United states is dramatically increasing as a result of immigration patterns and increase birthrate of the ones already residing in the the United States. The movie Selena is an example of Latino family residing in the country who wants to fulfill the “American Dream”. Isolation and discrimination of Hispanic-Americans particularly Mexican family has also been illustrated in the movie. Despite social class stratification, Selena’s family try to breakthrough to the English-speaking audience mainstream to be accepted. In this film, the father is characterized as the head of the family - dominant, strong, aggressive, invulnerable, and superior. Portrayal of tight-knit family values and interdependence is seen in this movie, as well.

Born in Lake Jackson, Texas on April 16, 1971, Selena Quintanilla-Perez would come to be known as the “Queen of Tejano music.” With the help of different sources to provide evidence and support to my argument, the aim of this paper is to examine how Tejana singer, Selena was able to impact those around her with her career as a musician and through the medium of music. Selena rose to success by continuously crossing over to different markets. She not only impacted her fans one by one, but also brought about social and cultural changes by fleshing out tensions between Anglo and Latino communities by bringing people together through music.

The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez by John Rechy delves into the life of Amalia Gomez; a Mexican-American woman living in a poor rural area of Hollywood. The structure of her family is falling apart due to conflict between the characters and Amalia’s lack of involvement in their lives. Her youngest son Juan is a male prostitute known as a “maricÓn”, her daughter Gloria is falling dangerously close to following in Amalia’s footsteps, and her oldest son Manny although well intentioned starts to clone his father’s criminal tendencies even though he has no recollections of his father. Amalia’s selective perspective also leads to conflict within herself since she is content not knowing the truth as long as the false reality fits her ideal

Selena Quintanilla was such an amazing person inside and out more known as the queen of tejano music. She won the hearts of many people young and old in the little time she was here on earth. Blessing many people with her contagious smile, and positive upbeat attitude. Selena has always had where to pull from when it came to being musically talented. Her father Abraham Quintanilla played in a band called Los Dinos which means the boys in Spanish. He had to give his life up as an artist because he got married and had his first kid. Therefore he had to find a better support system for his family. So when he saw that Selena had talent he focused all his goals and dreams on her. Therefore selena had to make a lot of sacrifices and not live a normal childhood.

Abraham’s passion for music never died. He would teach her older brother and sister how to play instruments. She felt left out because she was the only one that didn't play any instrument so, she questioned her dad why he didn’t let her sing and he would say that the reason was because she was simply too small. That’s when, Selena proved her dad wrong. She showed him what she was capable of, so she began singing. Her dad couldn't believe how beautiful she sounded. That’s when Abraham saw that selena had a great talent. Her dad made Selena practice almost every day with her brother and sister. When Selena was nine, Abraham, started the group “ Selena Y Los Dinos “ meaning Selena and the guys. The band featured her sister Suzette on the drums

I consider myself a dedicated and goal-oriented person. Also, I am avid to learn new things and perfect my English.

After viewing the film Selena (1997), a memoir of Quintanilla’s life, I wanted to know more about her and the complicated life she led. The movie was a success because of its accurate portrayal of the conflicts in her life. I became engrossed in her story and was inspired to begin my learning interest in her culture. Now my passion for Latina empowerment consists of a wide array of genres because my admiration for Selena’s Latin-Pop has influenced my likes for Culture and traditions of my Latina family and the music. Never the less the music is a big part of my life, for it is my personal therapy. Now I have become a involved due to my immediate family members are part Hispanic. The impact of her death was extensive from the consecutive broadcasts

Selena and Justin are in Platonic-based relationship that both probably started out as friends. Since Selena is thirteen years old when she entered a relationship with her boyfriend. Their relationship is considered early starter, as the average age is fifteen. It seem like due to peer pressure, Selena wanted her friends to know that they are in relationship by changing their Facebook status to “In Relationship” and demands a lot of attention from her boyfriend by sitting next to each other during lunch and holding hands while walking in the hallways. Their relationship is in phase one as the couple are learning more about themselves. They are also learning what they want to see in the potential of their romantic partner. It is also mentioned

I searched the area he was patrolling. Selena Blackthorn. She had just passed me with a stare a little too long and Ian caught it.