Selena: The Series
Ratings: 3.5/5
Duration: 9 episodes
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Biographical Drama
Director: Hiromi Kamata
Writer: Raymond Arturo Perez, Pamela Garcia Rooney, Jennifer Gutierrez, Henry Robles, Moisés Zamora, Jessica Lopez, Claudia Forestieri
Based On: life of Selena Quintanilla
Producer: Donald Todd, Giovanni Ximénez , Henry Robles, Simran Singh, Aldo Jovan Diaz, Gladys Rodriguez, Jaime Dávila, Claudia Forestieri, Hiromi Kamata, Ulrich Maier, Rico Martinez, Suzette Quintañilla, Simran A. Singh, Moisés Zamora, Brenna Kouf, Rico Martinez, Abraham Quintanilla Jr.
Music: Lynn Fainchtein
Cinematography: Chuy Chávez
Editing: Mario Monroy Nieblas
Art Direction: Hector H. Rivera
Release Date: 4 December 2020
Streaming On: Netflix
Star Cast: Rico Aragon, Luis Bordonada, Jesse Posey, Christian Serratos, Madison Taylor Baez, David Fernandez Jr., Carlos Alfredo Jr., Mark Atkinson, Gabriel Chavarria, Ricardo Chavira, Noemi Gonzalez, Seidy Lopez, Julio Macias, Juan Martinez, Hunter Reese Peña, Michael Antosy, Bryan Arion, Oscar Avila
Plot: The tragic life story of Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano music and an iconic Mexican-American pop star.
Review: 25 years after her death, the life and musical legacy of the Grammy-winning Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla is now shown on Netflix show “Selena: The Series”, which seeks to amplify the life of the beloved Queen of Tejano, beyond just her musical journey.
The new show is at its core a story about the Quintanillas, a Mexican American family from South Texas striving for a better life while also overcoming the struggles Latinos face in the entertainment industry. Christian Serratos, known for her role as Rosita Espinosa in AMC's "The Walking Dead," plays Selena in the series. Selena was 23 when she was fatally shot by the president of her fan club.
The first part of Selena: The Series starts from her birth in Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1971 until the release of her second studio album, “Ven Conmigo” in 1990. It is about navigating life as a young American of Latino heritage.
“Selena didn't know Spanish when she started singing. When she started performing in Mexico is when she realized that she had to go back to her roots and embrace the language, embrace the culture, understand more about who she was and where she came from,” said Seidy Lopez, a Mexico native who plays Marcella, Selena's mother. “She explored that as she was growing as an artist, as she was growing as a woman. And I hope that this next generation gets to see that and that they bring it into their own experience because it is very empowering.”
However, the series has blown away the chance to show the life of such a legend. There were no mentions of growth of the U.S. Latin music industry, closer look at Selena’s music, challenges of her early life, her complicated feelings, and the real and personal struggles
The character portrayal of Selena is shown as childish and as interested in clothing as she is in her music career. She is never meant, she makes no mistakes, and she has no inner dialogues or conflicts; overall, the humanising aspect is missing, big time!
The nine episodes released on Netflix this week are only the first half of Selena’s story. It stretches from her childhood to the just-beginning of mega-stardom and strain in her family relationships. It also briefly introduces Yolanda Saldívar, the woman who will eventually bring about the end to the Selena dream. Production has begun on the second half; it is all waiting, anticipation and slight disappointment before that.
