Selena 1997 is a biopic directed by Gregory Nava and is based off of the life of the famous Mexican American singer Selena Quintanilla. The films leading role is played by a fellow Latina Jennifer Lopez, who is a New York born Puerto Rican American actress, she plays the role of the famous singer and in my opinion nails the part. Because this film is based on a Mexican American person we get to see not only some of the struggles that Selena, like many of us as American born Latinas face in our day to day life, but also the way that a Latinx based film portrays Latinx.
In the film although we do see the singer go through many hurdles in her career specifically related to her being a woman, from not being taken seriously in the Tejano music world because of her gender to having to choose between a career or love, one of the most impactful hurdles that I feel is very relatable to many Latinx American people is the stereotyping she faced. Like so many people of color stereotypes are often portrayed vividly in film and in this biopic that was no different. In the eye rolling scene when Selena and her friend walk into the bougie store to buy a dress for the Grammys we see two white ladies sneeringly tell the pair that they may not be interested in the dress because of the price point. They automatically assume that because she is a Latina she is unable to afford the dress. This type of racial profiling and stereotyping is common to see in the real world and is almost always mimicked by Hollywood as an added drama.
Conversely, casting typically calls for Latinx to play the role of the less fortunate and in this same scene we get to see just that. This time however it is not because of the reenactments of the ordeal with Selena at the store, but with the very specific roles of the fans in the backgrounds. If we look closely at the mob of excited fans who here the news that Selena was in the mall we can see how the stereotypical Latinx were chosen as “the help”. We have the older Latina as the cook, the Latino men as the janitors, the front of the house employees as white while the back of the house are clearly Latinx, and then the only “fan” that speaks to her looks to be white or white passing. These very small trivial touches in the film may have been unintentional however the stereotyping of “the help” being a person of color is an ongoing theme in Hollywood. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see these small types of depictions in a film based on the life of a huge Mexican American singer and directed by a Mexican and Spanish director.
Although I do believe that this film for the most part honored not only the life of Selena but the Mexican American culture as a whole I feel that small stereotypes of Latinx is something that warrants careful examination as roles for us are far and few between. As The climate of our world changes and immigration becomes a hot topic I believe it is most important to remember how these small details effect the bigger picture. As a super fan I can only give the film the benefit of the doubt but as a Latina I wish Hollywood would get it together. As Nericcio, in his essay “Autopsy of a Rat” says, “blood stains of cultures in conflict (often in combat), stereotypes fade, mutate, and evolve but they never really go away” (227).
Ali, I like the movie you selected for your film review. The Fact that the protagonist is Puerto Rican American Jennifer Lopez, playing the role of Mexican American Selena Quintanilla is great because both women have similar cultural backgrounds which helps Jennifer Lopez in Portraying the Late Selena.
It is unfortunate that the Selena fans depicted in the film were stereotypical images of the type of fan base she might’ve had during that time, however, I don’t think it was unintentional by the directors. I think they understood that the characters had to be believable for the audience. You touched on a subject that raises the following question for me: If the fans would have been white, even if they actually were, would the film have been believable to a general audience? And by general, I mean the Latinx community as well as non-Latinx. I don’t think so, and I think this is one of the reasons that these stereotypical Latinx images will continue to be created and dramatized by the film industry. At this point in time, I think that the stereotypes that were used to tell Selena’s story about were expected by both the Latinx and non-Latinx communities and to some degree, part of a predictable film experience for the audience. I feel your sentiment about what you wish about Hollywood, but I think “Hollywood” will resist the change if moviegoers continue to patronize their work.
Hi Lupita, to answer your question I believe that yes, had the fans been more diverse it would have still been believable. My reasoning is because not only was she in Los Angeles for the Grammys she was attending the Grammys as a Mexican american cross over singer. She had hit the Billboard #1 so her fan base had grown far beyond Latinx community at this point. But I agree the stereotypes in the film industry is something that would be hard to shake especially for those movies geared toward a specific people.