Selena - Tanto Pedo
I'm writing this at the risk of sounding like a hater. Que tanto pedo le hacen a Selena.
Mind you, I skipped my Literature class the day the Movie Selena came out, stood in line with middle-aged woman wearing Selena t-shirts, carrying roses and crying, just to be there for the premier.
I remember the day Selena died. I remember what I was doing. It was my senior year. I was walking to my class and my friend Cesar, who happened to have a walkman, spread the word. SELENA IS DEAD.
I watched Selena in concert, before she was big. I think my friends and I left the festival in McAllen as soon as she got on stage - they didn't like that type of music and Selena was a nobody then.
Oh yea and I had a Selena cd.
Selena's music was good. I enjoyed it and I was sad when she was killed. She was great. She was beautiful. She could dance.
I didn't know it was the 10 year anniversary of Selena's death until I started hearing radio commercials advertising free tickets to a "Selena Vive" Concert. Then, I started seeing her picture on the front page of every local newspaper.
I admit. She was huge. She was great. She was a pioneer. People loved her. Young Latinas saw a beautiful brown woman perform and it made them feel good. I just don't understand why people devote so much time to this, but don't even remember when the great Cesar Chavez died.
Somebody told me, "Porque le hacen tanto pedo a Selena?" I don't know.
It's sad that mainstream America didn't know who she was until she died. I wish they would have. However, is all the borlote needed? I mean, I was a fan of hers before the death, before the fame, but I just don't get it. Maybe my camarada Lucio is right. He says I'm part of the system, part of the problem, and probably a sellout. Hmmm.
I do think it's good that we celebrate he accomplishments and remember her death. However, I wish it were the same for other greats.
posted by Daily Texican at 9:24 AM
14 Comments:
Unfortunately we live in a world where Britney Spears is more famous than mother teresa. But that's just how it is. I just hope that the only reason they did this concert was NOT to further line the pockets of her father. P.S. When she died I was in line for registration at St. Mary's, I called my mom and she was crying, then she broke the news.
9:45 AM
Her death was untimely and tragic, and she did provide Hispanic/Latino girls with a positive image.
But I agree, the cult like following that we see today is aimed at profits, must of the singers at the "Selena Vive" concert are attempting to crossover, to make more money.
I wonder how come J. Lo, now a part of the whole post-mortum hype was not part of the event.
I think Hispanic/Latinos can use both the examples of Cesar Chavez and Selena as ways to advance and integrate themselves in a country that has to come to accept all the different faces and cultures that form part of it.
Not too long ago I posted something about Lalo Guerrero passing away, there was no echo of it at any of the other blogs published by Hispanics/Latinos, maybe he did not have the bod that Selena had, therefore, no one cared. I hope I'm wrong.
8:03 AM
you're not a hater texican. i didn't really know who selena was until after she died. i definitely believe the hype is meant to reap more profit.
not that i'm hating, but i couldn't help pointing out to a friend that jlo, for the most part, owes her career to getting the starring role as selena in that movie. i also suspect that selena might not have liked jlo were she still alive. i know somewhat off topic...sorry.
8:37 AM
You know her dad is gettin' some cash out of it. Hey did you all notice who is sponsoring the event?
Orthoevera(birth control brand). I have to agree with Seyd that it is a much better alternative to the pope hype and seeing the axis of evil at his funeral (Bush Sr. Dubbya, Condi and Tony Blair)
8:57 AM
Okay, I understand exactly where you're coming from. My point of view is a bit different. I know that Selena was living the dream that a lot of young hispanic girls thought was almost impossible. I mean, I was 17 at the time Selena passed. So, I really don't know of any other "greats" from earlier times..my bad. That's just a generation gap. I think another reason is because she was just sooo Americanized. You know? I mean, she was exactly like me...and my friends. We spoke English as our main language...but we understood Spanish. To see that Selena was able to bridge that gap was just amazing. She was able to be who she wanted to be in her every day life, but was also able to connect with her people. I know it gave me a sense of pride...and it was a horrible loss for my generation.
9:47 AM
notice how no one cared about her death untl it finally reached a decade that she had been dead. wonder who got rich from all the publicity? i was like.. 7 when she died.. i was crying cuz i was watching univision (the reffy child that i was) and i was just sobbing about how my favorite artist ever (at the time obviously) was dead...
9:51 PM
Thats just weird cuz I was thinking of the same thing. AT UTPA their was a tiny article on Cesar Chavez on how on his b-day 3/31 there was gonna be some march honoring him. I told this to my bf and we thought that he should be honored more than selena was but he wasn't. It was on that exact same date that I read this article and guess who was all everyone talked about on the radio? Oh well...sometimes what is important is what no one cares about.
12:05 PM
Yep, you guys are right about Abraham being the one in charge of all the publicity. I don't know, maybe somehow that makes him feel closer to her even though she is dead...either that or he likes money a whole lot. I remember seeing Selena, out of the limelight, she was a nice person, very friendly. Such a shame what happened.
11:33 AM
You know it's sad when in this day and age we not only have to worry about being discriminated by other races we have to worry about our own. So what if they made a big pedo about Selena, she worked hard to be who she was, you know like some of you work hard to try not to be MEXICAN, don't lie. If you think that the great CHAVEZ didn't get his, well you know what you have a website do something.
al rato
mima
1:34 PM
You and your ilk must not be from Houston. When I was younger, Selena would play our Quinceaneras and weddings. She was in a sense a part of the family. She was much more than elvis in that way because listening to her music wasnt a show or a concert. It was a family event, and a participatory one.
Perhaps your kindred here didnt grow up listening to Tejano music, but Houstonites did, and so did we in my little suburb in Pasadena. To some people, she was nothing, but she outsold all box office records for the Astrodome in that concert of hers which is quite a feat. And this before her big crossover success. I grant you, her crossover success was most likely due to her death, but that does not mean she wouldnt have eventually made it on her own merit.
When we miss selena, we miss home, tortillas, familia.
2:07 PM
Reading all of this, I'm wondering if anyone is from South Texas/San Antonio/Corpus Christi? I'm here in San Antonio--but when she was alive, I lived in Austin.
They are very different places and it seems to me that I've benefited from the move. Lalo Guerrero's passing was a notable event here and the local concert for Selena didn't appear to be about greed. The march to honor Cesar Chavez could have been better attended (15,000) but was the largest ever.
But Selena, like her music, is part of la familia here. She's on every jukebox and most relate to her as a sister or daughter--and so she makes sense here.
5:01 PM
wasn't Selena supposed to be turned into a santa? she wasn't catholic though. anyway, I was a fan before she was big and I watched her on Johnny Canales. J-Lo didn't do the 10 year event cuz her and Sr.Quintanilla can't stand eachother.
9:25 AM
I agree with all of you. Daddy making all the money here. He even had the guts to say on the radio here in a local station in San Antonio, that all the $$ was going to a charity and to pay all of the expenses. HIS CHARITY! Viejo Huevon,this is the only way he can make $$$$ like he was before her death, and I also fell the same way for Emilio Estefan.
10:47 AM
I am a huge fan and will be her number one fan for ever and I'm realy happy her brother is kepping her alive and he as a band Kubia Kings there good selena did great things with her music and could have done mare
1:32 PM
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