Line #1 Film/Selena


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/selena_1997_poster.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''[[TagLine The story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true.]]'']]
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4	->''"We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It's exhausting!"''
5	-->--'''Abraham Quintanilla Jr.'''
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7	''Selena'' is a 1997 biographical film written and directed by Gregory Nava, about the life of Tejano singer [[Music/{{Selena}} Selena Quintanilla-Perez]]. The film details Selena's beginnings as a child performer up through her rise to stardom as a Latino and North American icon, ultimately culminating in her untimely and tragic death at the hands of her fan club manager Yolanda Saldivar.
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9	Creator/JenniferLopez stars in the titular role, with Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos as Selena's father Abraham Quintanilla, Creator/ConstanceMarie as her mother Marcella, Creator/JonSeda as her guitarist (and eventual husband) Chris Pérez, and Creator/LupeOntiveros as Yolanda Saldivar. The film is notable for providing a StarMakingRole for Jennifer Lopez.
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11	Not to be confused with the 2014 ''Film/{{Serena}}''.
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13	----
14	!!This film provides examples of:
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16	* AgeCut: Briefly. The young Selena has an ImagineSpot of performing on stage, where she's fades into Jennifer Lopez.
17	* AlasPoorVillain: Yolanda is practically in tears during her stand off with the police, expressing indirect regret for murdering Selena. But given her manipulative personality, she could be crying CrocodileTears.
18	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Selena's husband was Chris Perez – who had long hair, wore punk clothes, and played heavy metal before performing with her. Subverted when Chris turns out to be a NiceGuy.
19	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The scene in the Houston Astrodome was actually filmed in the San Antonio Alamodome.
20	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Abraham says that the scene on the beach where Marcela teaches Selena how to do the washing machine dance didn't actually happen – though they did often sit on the beach and talk about life.
21	* TheBadGuyWins: Played straight and subverted. Yolanda murders Selena offscreen, but the karma gods aren’t mocked and she ends up getting trapped by the authorities in a long stand off.
22	* BerserkButton: Abraham goes into a rage when Selena says she loves Chris. He gets better after the two marry.
23	* BlatantLies: Yolanda tells these when she is confronted by the Quintanilla family about the stolen money from the fan club and boutique. Selena’s family and the audience all know she’s telling lies.
24	* BoyfriendBlockingDad: Abraham towards Selena. While he had good reasons to be wary of Chris dating his daughter, he also just wants to protect her. [[DefrostingIceQueen Eventually, following Selena's elopement with Chris, Abraham admitted that he was upset as he felt like he was losing Selena and apologizes for his earlier behavior; even willing to accept Chris into the family]].
25	* BuffySpeak: Abraham disapproves of Selena's bustier, calling it "a bra with little sparkly things on them!"
26	* CharacterTitle
27	* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Selena dating Chris against the wishes of her father. He gets over it though.
28	* DownerEnding: When the Quintanilla family and Chris are in the hospital and gets the news of Selena's death. They cry slow, painful tears. In RealLife, however, the Quintanilla family still tries to keep her name alive. Selena's father Abraham still manages her estate, image, and musical rights.
29	* FauxFluency: Selena was not fluent in Spanish, so she had to learn her Tejano music phonetically when she was younger (she lampshades how ridiculous the lyrics are when translated to English). However, Abraham pressed the importance of her knowing both languages in order to break through, and after she became popular in the Tejano genre, her English command made it easy for her to crossover to the American mainstream. There's a scene where she holds a press conference in Spanish, and after trying to sum up her feelings in that language, she stumbled and finishes her sentence with "excited", which makes everyone laugh, but with her, not at her. The actual Selena quote this scene is based on is a bit less fortunate, was probably bowdlerized to keep the movie family-friendly. Selena said "estoy muy excitada estar en México" which sounds like it should mean "I'm very excited to be in Mexico" but really translates as "I'm very ''horny'' to be in Mexico."
30	* {{Foreshadowing}}: There was a hint that Selena's father was aware of Selena and Chris's relationship...said hint was her and Chris exchanging romantic gestures before Selena went on the stage to perform.
31	* ForegoneConclusion: Since this is a biopic of a deceased person, the story's end is inevitably sad.
32	* GoldDigger: Invoked. The reason why Abraham wasn't approving of Selena and Chris's romantic relationship was because he was worried that Chris was a gold digger who would ruin everything they've worked for.
33	* HairTriggerTemper: Selena's father is shown to have anger issues.
34	* HateSink: Yolanda, for obvious reasons. And don't forget about the restaurant owner earlier in the beginning who rejected a young Abraham and the Dinos to perform due to his racism against Mexicans.
35	* {{Hypocrite}}: Abraham called Chris a "bum musician," yet Abraham himself had a failed music career and lived through his kids upon discovering their musical talent.
36	* HowWeGotHere: The movie begins with Selena's famous performance at the Houston Astrodome on February 26, 1995. During which, it flashbackes to 1961 during Abraham's early days with Los Dinos. Following the family's rise to fame during the early 1990s, the movie cuts back to the Astrodome concert mid-performance.
37	* ImportantHaircut: Suzy gives Chris a haircut so he can join the band.
38	* {{Irony}}: Yolanda Saldivar holding ''herself'' at gunpoint and feeling no will to live after killing her so-called "best friend" that same day.
39	* JerkassHasAPoint: While Abraham did go too far by yelling at Selena and Chris by threatening to disband the group, he did have a right to feel concerned with what would happen with the band should their relationship lead to marriage. Marcella, even Chris, sees things from Abraham’s point of view later on.
40	* KilledOffscreen: The fatal encounter between Selena and Yolanda is not shown on-screen, simply cutting to police arriving on the scene with Yolanda in hysterics with a gun to her head, almost being DrivenToSuicide after shooting Selena as the police and Feds try to talk her down into surrendering and face trial.
41	* LoonyFan: Yolanda, of the deadly type.
42	* ManHug: Chris hugs both and AB and Abraham when he is welcomed into the family.
43	* MeaningfulFuneral: The film closes on a large candlelight vigil held by Selena's fans.
44	* MexicanStandoff: Yolanda did this for over ''nine hours'' before she finally gave up.
45	* NiceGuy: Chris, AB Quintanilla, and the male band-mates.
46	* NiceGirl: Selena, Suzette, and Selena's mother.
47	* SecretRelationship: When Abraham rejects Selena and Chris dating and kicks him out of the group, they continue to date in secret before eloping. It stops being a secret when news leaks of the marriage, forcing them to face her family... who approves of the decision to marry and welcomes Chris back to the family and the band.
48	* SoapboxSadie: Abraham has quite a bit to say about the struggles of being Mexican-American. His kids roll their eyes whenever he gets going.
49	* StageMom: More like "Stage Dad" Abraham was the one who wanted Selena and the kids to become musicians.
50	* TalentDouble: Jon Seda couldn't manage the guitar riff for Perez's audition scene, so the real Perez doubled for his hands in close-up.
51	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Tomboy Selena who enjoyed playing outdoors, vs. Girly Girl Suzette who did not want to be a drummer because "girls don't play drums".
52	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Selena loved pizza.
53	* TheTragicRose: A symbolic example. During the concert where she sings “Dreaming of You”, Selena stops when a white rose is thrown at her. The look on her face [[FiveSecondForeshadowing quickly foreshadows]] her impending murder.
54	* {{Yandere}}: Implied with Yolanda being a non-romantic version for Selena. When Yolanda is fired from her job, she loses it and wants to kill Selena due to the fact that she can't work with Selena anymore.
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Context Film / Selena