Selena is the biographical musical drama that tells the story of a young Mexican American girl named Selena, and how beside her family struggles and being a victim of stereotype she became “La Reina del Tex- Mex.” It is directed by Gregory Nava, who is well known for his previous film Mi Familia (1995), he had created a reputation of being able to portray the life of a Mexican American in its true form.
The film opens with Selena played by then sort of unknown Jennifer Lopez performing to a sold-out crowd of 65,000 at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Then it flashes back to 1961 when her father was a part of a musical group “Los Dinos” and are rejected for an audition by a restaurant owner due to a whites-only policy. Then they get
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Nava’s movies usually are very different in tone and structure and according to Joseph Milicia from the Film Reference “his commitment to stories that emphasize family values and the struggle of Latino/as to find a place for themselves in American culture” is what made him the perfect fit to make the film. Here you have an American girl who comes from a Mexican American household that sings songs in Spanish despite not knowing the language, this didn’t stop her from gaining popularity “Texas Hispanics” and then eventually in Mexico. Before her death, she was finishing her crossover album, which would have eventually had launched her already successful career with the ultimate goal, the American …show more content…
telling them what is takes to be a true Mexican American and why it is so important. “Being Mexican-American is tough. Anglos jump all over you if you don’t speak English perfectly. Mexicans jump all over you if you don’t speak Spanish perfectly. We got to be twice as perfect as anybody else.” According to him we need to know about John Wayne and Pedro Infante. We got to know about Frank Sinatra and Agustín Lara. We got to know about Oprah and Cristina. Then he goes on to saying his now famous line “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It's exhausting!” After saying this Selena and her brother find that
By showing the historical struggle of Mexican immigrants to be equal members of American society, portraying the humble and unique characteristics of Fernando Valenzuela, and by emphasizing his incredible rise to fame, the film Fernando Nation introduces a new type of American dream. Fernando Valenzuela became the embodiment of the Mexican-American dream to many people. By understanding his story we can understand the hopes and dreams of many Mexican immigrants in America today.
Afterwards, in the 1990s films portraying Latinos would take a somehow new direction, one of the most famous filmmakers would be Gregory Navas, he directed the movie My Family/Mi Familia, a film that portrays the lives of a Mexican-American family and the difficulty that the couple faced in order to establish in the U.S. “by passing as immigrants and all the struggle to integrate their family in another country” (Peña Acuña, 2010). The film let the audience see a potential reality that most immigrants went through when they first moved to the United States and how the system worked differently and the way immigrants had to adapt not only to the system, but also to the language and culture.
In 1990, Selena released a collection named Mis Primeros Exitos. This collection some of Selenas best songs in the 80’s. Selena also released another album after that one named Ven Conmigo or Come With Me in English. One of the big accomplishments in her career was her album Ven Conmigo, because it was the first Tejano album to reach the gold status. In 1991 Selena did a duet with Alvaro Torres, the song they did was the song “Buenos Amigos” which mean Good Friends in
Many of their fans have crossed the border illegally, or have relatives that have done so. The song goes into saying, “Mis hijos son grandes y no les entiendo-- no hablan español,” translating into “My children are grown but I do not understand them-- they do not speak Spanish,” (1:14). A study done by the Pew Research Center reveals that the number of Latinos in the United States that speak Spanish is slowly decreasing (Krogstad and Lopez), which shows that this is an all too real issue facing those among the Latino community. This particular occurrence is becoming too common for many families because as they push to fit into the American way of living, their roots may sometimes get lost in translation. It is one thing to not be able to properly communicate with your children, but it is another to not be able to talk to them because of a language
My first knowledge of her came from the movie that was produced about her life. This movie included her childhood, her rise to fame, her relationships with her family and her husband, and her untimely death. She was a stunning flower that bloomed very young and kept growing with no sight on stopping. She had a gorgeous appearance. She had big brown eyes, ever changing hair styles, and a petite figure. Her husband was just as cute. A smaller guy but not too small. Selena and Chris fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. I developed a deep admiration for these two people and the things they experienced in their youth. I was always looking to learn more about their lives and what happened in Selena's tragic end that shook the world. After finding out that her widow wrote a book about her life, I was excited to get it and begin reading. I wondered if the movie had been completely valid. What did the movie leave out? How did Chris felt about her death? How does he feel now about all that transpired after Selena's death since this was not a perspective that the audience got to clearly see the movie? So, I went immediately, to buy the
Alvarez demonstrates generational boundary when discussing,“The quince tradition has always been important, but there’s this retroculturation going on right now” (56). Alvarez illustrates that retroculturation is a pattern within the Hispanic community where loss of culture is present for a generation. Alvarez explains how the first generation wants to assimilate in America with their culture, while the second generation has adapted to American norms so they have lost their culture and no longer speak spanish; however, the third generation is born and bred in America and now wants to learn about their hispanic culture by learning Spanish. Teens shop at popular American malls but listen to Spanish radios to embrace diversity (56). Similarly, Munoz is confronted with the issue of generational boundaries when he admits, “I was born in 1972, a generation that learned both English and Spanish” (308). The generation before Munoz grew up speaking only Spanish which causes a barrier between one families generation to the next. Munoz speaks Spanish at home and English in public along with his other cousins who serve as translators for their household. While the second generation before Munoz have no way of following Spanish because they have already adapted to American norms and in some ways lost an important cultural aspect (308). Alvarez and Savan are interconnected because each
9Belayck Benibo, “Anglo- and Mexican American Attitudes Toward Selena’s Memorialization,” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences February 1999: page 78 paragraph 5.
Selena Quintanilla-Perez was an artist in the Tejano music industry that contributed to revolutionizing the style of music in the United States today. The Tejano music genre is originated from Texas but it may be called Tex-Mex because of its Mexican background. Selena absolutely loved her fans so she went to great lengths in order to keep her fans happy. (Angelfire 2) Her rise to stardom was also very successful thanks to the support and persistence from her father. She won a lot of awards and achieved amazing records in her musical career. The band that her family formed not only helped her find fame but it also helped her find love in a musician named Chris Perez.(Hispanic 2) Once she rose to stardom Selena was not corrupted by money. It appeared that her fame made her cherish her family a lot more and become less selfish by supporting charities. (Biography 1) The brink of her successful career was short lived due to a traumatic murder caused by the betrayal of Yolanda Saldivar. Selena was a Tejano artist that changed the style of music by uniting a clash of several cultures and therefore leaving a mark in history even after her death. (Texas 2)
... all as a society can benefit from today. Such as, studying his literature, reading his autobiography, and looking up to him as a role model. Rodriguez is an educated man with a very good grasp on what life and the American society expect from all of us. Speak our language if you're going to live in our country. If one chooses not to make any sacrifice needed to accomplish the basic skills needed to learn English then your chances of belonging and succeeding will not happen easy. While our heritage and culture may remain forever tied to and expressed in our native or "home" language, only through the dominant language of our country (English in most cases) can we achieve a place in society that gives us a feeling that we belong amongst everyone else. The only way we can truly become a part of our community and fit in is to dominate the current spoken language.
The “George Lopez Show” has been very successful up until now in starting to remove the typical Mexican stereotypes in America, but it still has a long way to go.
reminded that he should marry his own kind. His own kind being one of Mexican
Selena’s death sent “shockwaves” across the Latin community as well as the English-language. Tens of thousands went to her funeral to pay their respect to her and her family. After her death, Selena’s first English album, “Dreaming of You”, was released and became a huge hit. They made a movie of her biography in 1997, starring Jennifer Lopez as Selena and James Edward Olmos as her father. Thousands of people visit her grave, Mirador de la Flor, in Corpus Christi, near the Selena Museum dedicated to her life, fame, and career. Even today, she’s still considered “La Reina de Tejano” and her legacy still lives on.
In Esperanza Rising, one sees accurate elements of the Mexican culture through speech, setting, and traditions. Although Esperanza and her family are Mexican, they gravitate their English side. “Cuidate los dedos”, said Papa. “Watch your fingers”. (Ryan page 4). Speaking Spanish and English isn’t just a skill, it’s a gift. The fact that her family
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 were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.
Ragland, Cathy. Música Norteña: Mexican Migrants Creating a Nation between Nations. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP, 2009. Print.