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Plot:
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Selena Quintanilla was a major figure in Tejano
music, a Grammy-winning recording artist, a beloved
star in the American Southwest and Mexico, and
seemed poised to cross over into mainstream popularity
on the U.S. pop charts when she was murdered on
March 31, 1995 by the president of her fan club.
Written and directed by Gregory Nava, this biopic
concentrates on Selena's relationship with her
family and her rise to fame, dealing only briefly
with her tragic death. Abraham Quintanilla is
a veteran musician who leads a family-based singing
group, The Dinos. At a young age, he notices that
his daughter Selena (played as a child by Becky
Lee Meza) has a strong singing voice, and he works
her into the act. However, as she grows older,
Selena (played as an adult by Jennifer Lopez)
wants to establish her own musical identity; while
her heritage is Mexican-American, her primary
language is English, and her favorite artists
are American pop acts like Donna Summer. While
Selena and Abraham sometimes argue about the musical
direction of the group, he always respects and
supports her talent, and her blend of Tejano roots
music and danceable pop rhythms soon sparks a
revolution in Latin music. Selena later earns
the wrath of her father when she becomes romantically
involved with Chris Perez (Jon Seda), a rebellious
and long-haired guitarist hired to play with the
group, but when they elope and Selena convinces
Abraham that their love is sincere, Chris is welcomed
into the family. After a long string of successes
on the Latin charts and playing to a sellout crowd
at the Houston Astrodome and a crowd of 100,000
at a stadium in Monterey, Mexico, Selena begins
recording her first album in English, which is
expected to make her a mainstream star on the
level of Whitney Houston or Gloria Estefan. However,
the fates decreed it was an album she would never
complete. Selena was produced with the participation
of the Quintanilla Family (Abraham was executive
producer), and Selena's own recordings were used
on the soundtrack.
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©
2004, 