Selena

Today's topic is the movie 1997 movie starring Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla-Perez, "Selena". If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do, because it absolutely blew me away. Not only is Jennifer Lopez completely brilliant, the true story of '90's pop star Selena is impeccably told in an accurate and commendable manner. Which brings me neatly to the point of the true story. Indeed, Selena was a real singer, and quite a success at that. She started out at a young age after her father's own misfortune in the same profession. While Selena was of Mexican descent, she knew not a word of Spanish prior to her father's spontaneous decision to have her learn to sing in the language. Selena gained success in the world of Spanish music, and was doing a successful crossover tour in 1995 when (SPOILER ALERT!) she was murdered. Now, I love the movie and the story for several reasons.
1) Selena was real. Not only in the sense that she was a real person, but that the movie did not portray her as anything but who she was. She was vibrant, energetic, and happy. She did not starve herself or try to be someone she wasn't. She ate medium pizzas "all by herself", stole chips from her sister's secret stash, and giggled at ridiculous things. She lived, she laughed, she fell in love. She was real.
2) Selena was more than "just a singer". Aside from being a singer, Selena had goals and plans. She designed clothing, loved animals, wanted to live on a farm and have a family. She loved her family and her music, not one or the other.
3) It was crazy accurate. Whomever made this movie did an incredible job in the accuracy department. The cast's resemblance to their real-life counterparts was so apparent it was a bit scary. Not only that, but the costumes that Selena wore for her various concerts in the movie was so accurate in their resemblance to the ones the real Selena wore in her real concerts. (Side note: they were all very '90's!)
4) Jennifer Lopez killed it as Selena. I personally, as a rule, have mixed feelings on Jennifer Lopez. She was amazing in "The Wedding Planner", but she should stick to acting and leave the provocative music videos behind. However, her performance as Selena was indisputably wonderful. Having idolized Selena, Jennifer Lopez's performance was inspired and emotionally invested. She seemed to truly connect to her role and the real emotion flowed over, resulting in a shining performance.
5) Last, but not least, on my list of favorite things about "Selena", the ever-present love story. The story goes, Selena falls in love with her bad-boy guitarist Chris. They end up getting married secretly and the fact that the story is true makes it all the better. (Of course, in the end, the camera shows Chris sobbing, curled up against the wall in the hospital after learning of Selena's death. Cue the tears.)
"Selena" was by far one of the best movies I have ever seen. If you haven't seen it, you should go and find it. And proceed to watch it at least three times. (Although you just read an entire blog post of spoilers.) It's still a quality, wonderful film that everyone should see. Be sure to stock up on tissues!
Follow the link to see the real Selena perform her Number One song, "Como la Flor" at a 1993 concert. :)
Always, Cassie
Selena Performs "Como la Flor"-1993