Selena Review Essay

Abstract In this paper I am going to talk about the 1997 movie Selena as it has a strong focus on the singing career of a developing Mexican American singer in the early 1990’s. She experienced many hardships from fans that did not admire the fact she primarily spoke English. She soon embraced her culture and developed loyal devotees to her music and that in the end was what motivated her to grow in her course. Diversity 3 Diversity in America A good motion picture that addresses the diversity in the American society would have to be the film Selena.

This is a movie about a young female Mexican American singer that is struggling to make it in an entertainment industry not made for her individuality. This is based on a true story and it shows her struggling in her career to make it when she is so different than what the Mexican people want. She grew up in America and did not learn Spanish from a young age.

Being Mexican meant that was the type of music she was led into sing. Of course the fans were not accepting of a Mexican American idol that did not know her own culture.

It took lots of years and became a learning experience for Selena to embrace her culture and accept who she really was on the inside. The more she came to terms with her heritage the more fans she had, and soon became a multi platinum selling artist by the age of 24. In the beginning of the movie it shows Selena’s father being a musician in the 1950’s era while he sang in English to the Mexican people. They were booed off the stage and he never had the opportunity to develop his singing career since he did not embrace the Mexican culture.

This is how he knew it was that much more important for Selena to sing in Spanish and be proud of her background. At an early age he started teaching Selena about her diversity and where she came from. This was very vital in Selena’s future success as a singer. The movie focused heavily on her learning experiences of her culture. It shows a scene where she goes to Mexico to have a press conference and her manager and father were terrified the whole time because it was going to be the first time where the Mexican.

Diversity 4 people found out she did not know Spanish. That was a taboo situation for her considering she sang in Spanish. It shows her nervousness in the beginning, but her sparkling personality began to shine and the press even started helping her out with her Spanish. This shows the media relies heavily on stereotypes to be what they expect. They assumed she spoke Spanish and immediately started doing their press conference in the Spanish language. They believed it was a safe assumption on their part.

I do believe this movie depicted the Mexican American culture in a positive light. While at first the Mexican people were not accepting of a change in their singing idols, they found a way to understand Selena’s differences and encouraged her growth by supporting her and buying her albums. In the end Selena eventually gave back to the culture by learning the language and spending a lot of time doing charity work for the Mexican community. It was the outreach she constantly did for her fans that made her such a unique and admired person.

The fans eventually realized it was not the idea that she could not speak a language, but it was more important about the simple things she did in her life to give back to the ones that gave to her. In conclusion, this movie is perfect for someone that is wanting to learn about the struggles Selena had to endure to grow in her career while many did not support her because of her ethnic background. She was constantly trying to please the Mexican community while still trying to attract the Anglos to listen to her music as well. In the end she won the fans over with her kind heart, and clutch for a career she would never get to see.