"If you're too busy thinking about where you're going,
you don't really have a chance to enjoy the ride."
Hello everyone!
I also somehow managed to do something to my stomach in between, or I contracted something from my dad who had a similar thing happen to him last week or so, which has made me miserable as all get-out for a day or so but it LOOKS like I'm on the mend, finally!
And what else are you going to do when you're feeling poorly but binge watch, I ask you?
It's just one of those things, though tonight's blog post has been finished much, much earlier.
See I've now discovered Netflix, and this is dangerous. LOL
After finishing up Bridgerton I moved on to the other show I really wanted to see (there's a few more on there but I'll be taking my time with those), so I switched easily and just went through it in about ... was it two or three days? Something like that.
But then I've always been a sucker for good music.
Selena, the Series has that in spades!
For any of you who don't know: Selena Quintanilla was a Tejano music star and arguably its reigning Queen for a few short years from the end of the eighties to the beginning of the nineties, right before she was shot and killed. At the time of her death, she was on the cusp of releasing an English album on the international market, the Tejano scene was her playground, she had won a Grammy and her star had never shone brighter.
She was only 23 years old.
A few years after her murder a movie starring Jennifer Lopez in the titular role as Selena was released, but it took decades afterwards for a series to see the light of day under the protective umbrella of the Quintanilla family, who were heavily involved with making it. This is fairly obvious as you watch the show, but the series is still entertaining and very educational.
It begins when Selena is only 6 years old and her father Abraham hears her sing. Abraham used to have big music dreams, but his band Los Dinos never really made it mainstream and he had to find a different job to support his family. Hearing his youngest and her incredible voice sparks that desire in him again, and away they go.
The family initially owns a Mexican restaurant so that was where the band would start playing, but soon enough Abraham would be booking gigs for them all over wherever he could get them, starting with family weddings and climbing slowly upwards.
Because they were starting basically from scratch, the family made their own outfits and their own sets like lights, etc. (lights made out of peach cans are probably one of my favourite scenes in the show). Slowly, however, as Selena became a teenager, their audience in Corpus Christi, Texas, expanded, as did their home-grown fame.
But it has to be said that it shows this was the late eighties - because nowadays, Selena wouldn't have been able to have even a speck of that recognition in the beginning and still be able to walk around freely without immediately being mobbed!
Anyway, the show focuses on the sacrifices the family has to make along the way to signing with a major record label, which include but aren't limited to a big bus (called Big Bertha) that has no heating or AC or anything really, no school (Selena finished her high school through correspondence) and definitely no social life, which was a wear and tear on the three kids from what we get to see.
Abraham, their father, was a hard worker - but I think we're still getting a watered-down version since he sounds a bit like a slave driver even in the show, constantly telling them they can do better, and not to get distracted.
Distractions here include having a social life, and I'm pretty sure I have no idea how AB, Selena's brother and later producer and song-writer managed to find his wife and have his kids, because other than knocking her up by accident (or on purpose!) I doubt his dad would have even let him marry.
Suzette, Selena's older sister, has a similar problem in that during roadtrips, she and Selena would sleep in the same room as their parents and someone was with Selena all the time, as chaperone - but also as a sort of guard?
Plus holding down ANY relationship with them being on the road so much had to be a complete nightmare! AB brought his wife along initially but once they had two little kids she opted to stay home because she was so tired. And I mean, she was kind of right - life on the road is for a special brand of people, not for everyone.
Not to mention they touch on the problem of Selena's voice - with so many shows and such harsh conditions, it's only natural Selena would be hoarse and they'd have to figure out ways to make sure she didn't strain her vocal chords too much, which eventually led to them adding an opening act to their shows, and then Pete Astudillo and his friend actually joined the band, taking some of the pressure off her.
The biggest changes start happening once Abraham decides to stop waiting on CBS Records and signs with EMI Label instead, where the label initially has most of the creative control over Selena's looks, etc., which annoys the hell out of both the girl and her family and they push for more control of their own.
It does, however, launch some of her bigger hits as AB gets to writing them, and slowly but surely Selena's own fashion style emerges, one she's painstakingly trying to get into mainstream because she feels that affordable clothing, cool clothing, should be available to everyone, not just to people with lots of money. In fact, Selena's passion and dream was fashion, not quite the music as her father wanted, and she would continue making her own outfits and outfits for the band (sometimes not to their liking, evidenced by a cowhide set at one point which made me laugh like there's no tomorrow).
Most importantly, however, at this point Selena starts winning awards on the Tejano music scene, and people begin noticing her. And as the battle for an English album continues, another guitarist joins the band - Chris Perez.
For those less savvy, this is the man who will eventually become Selena's husband, but right then and there he's mostly just a long-haired rock'n'roll kind of guy whom AB recruits because he's amazing on the guitar. Jesse Posey (Tyler Posey's brother, him of the Teen Wolf fame) plays him pretty neatly as the guy who was usually content to be in the background and not put himself out there, but he and Selena immediately click and, while initially deciding to keep things friendly, soon can't escape their feelings and end up entering a romantic relationship even though they know it'll mean trouble if they're found out.
And they are, naturally.
Which leads to Abraham kicking Chris out of the band and a big rift in the Quintanilla family because Selena is slowly starting to get tired of just how tightly she's controlled.
This is where part one of the series finishes, with part two slated to release in May this year, and I can't wait to see this conclusion - even though I know I'll bawl my eyes out.
But an interesting question presents itself when watching this show, or hopefully at least: obviously, the kids were all hardworking, but they did also want SOME normalcy in their lives, something their father didn't allow unless it was within the family circle. As the show unfolds, however, we see AB marrying and becoming a father, and we see Suzette entering a long-distance relationship with a guy Abraham approves of (might be because the dude was smart and called him up to ask for permission first, though).
In sharp contrast, we see Selena on the verge of becoming 21 and not allowed a single step outside the lines her father has drawn for her. If you've read Perez's book, To Selena, with Love, you'll know Selena and Abraham clashed quite a bit because their personalities were so similar, and I wonder whether we'll get to see more of that in the second part, because right now Christian Serratos plays Selena as very meek and obedient.
In fact, the only rebellious thing she does is start dating Chris!
Would Abraham have ever actually allowed Selena to have a life outside of music if she hadn't fought for it, though? Is the question. Was it all to protect her, her being his precious baby girl, or was it to protect the steady family income and ensure the goose that laid the golden eggs stayed under his control? That's a question no one will answer, probably, but the rumblings on the internet are that Abraham is painting himself much, much better in this show than he was in actuality.
We'll never know. But what I do know is that I enjoyed seeing AB's creative process and some more of the family dynamics - though I hope we focus more on Selena and Chris specifically in part two. But I can't wait to see it!
Side-note: kudos for the butt padding. If you know, you know 😉
xx
*images and video not mine
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