On March 31, 1995, the life of
Selena Quintanilla
, the beloved
Queen of Tex-Mex
,
was eclipsed
when the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar, pulled the trigger.
Selena was only 23 years old.
This Friday, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of his death, the Netflix internet series and movies platform premiered a series about his life, authorized by his family.
Selena: The series
offers a new look at
one of the most iconic figures in the Mexican-American community
, whose tragic end cast an indelible shadow over his loved ones and the millions of fans who keep his work more alive than ever.
Selena's Bloom
The new series does not focus on tragedy;
Instead, take the opportunity to tell how the singer of hits, which include
Como la flor,
and her family fulfilled the American dream.
It is also a celebration of what it means to navigate life as a young American while honoring your roots, something that resonates in a year when the number of hate crimes against Latinos in the United States grew.
"
Selena didn't know Spanish when she started singing
. When she started having concerts in Mexico that's when she realized that she had to go back to her roots and embrace the language, the culture, understand more about who she was and where she came from", actress Seidy López, who plays Marcella, Selena's mother, told NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
"Selena explored that approach as she grew as an artist and grew as a woman. I hope this generation can find themselves in that, based on their own experience, because it is something very empowering," said López.
The season
portrays in detail the origins and rise of the star
.
The first part talks about her childhood, adolescence and movement towards the stars, when Selena went from playing with her family at weddings and restaurants to getting a contract with a record company.
The second part talks more about his life as an artist.
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The new show is also
a portrait of the Quintanillas
, a Mexican-American family from Corpus Christi, Texas, striving to have a better life and overcome the difficulties Latinos face in the entertainment industry.
Together they were Selena and Los Dinos.
The show pays special attention to the
role Selena's family played in her path to success.
Christian Serratos as Selena Quintanilla in an image from 'Selena: The Series,' which premieres December 4 on Netflix. Netflix via AP /
Californian actress
Christian Serratos,
who plays the singer, said that to get the role she decided to prepare as if it were already hers.
He hired three trainers to perfect his dialect, voice and physique.
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"If I started preparing for the role and they didn't give it to me, at least I was going to have fun doing research on Selena," Serratos said in an interview with The Associated Press prior to the series premiere.
Serratos has acted in series such as
The Walking Dead
and
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
(
The secret life of a teenager
).
The rise of Selena, with Saldívar in the background
The artist's murderer, Yolanda Saldívar, met Abraham Quintanilla in 1991 when the young singer's career was beginning to take off.
It was she who proposed to the artist's father to create a fan club, of which she became president.
Over time, Saldívar gained Selena's trust and became her personal assistant as well as the sales manager for her clothing brand, Selena Etc.
Meanwhile, Selena's success continued to grow and grow, thanks to her
unmatched mix of Texas music with the rhythm of Mexican cumbia.
The world of music recognized his career in 1994, with the Grammy Award
in the category of the best album by a Mexican American artist, which he won for
Selena Live
.
By then, the relationship with whoever was called his number one fan had deteriorated.
In March 1995 Saldívar was dismissed from his position in the fan club and the deputies began for financial reasons.
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Saldívar has assured that there was never a distancing;
She claims that it was on the orders of Abraham Quintanilla that she was separated from the fan club and from the management of the
Queen of Tex-Mex's business
.
Murder and trial
In March 1995, Selena was recording her fifth studio album,
Dreaming of You,
in her native Corpus Christi.
Saldívar had just arrived in that city near the border with Mexico;
She was staying at a hotel where she was visited by the young singer, who wanted to retrieve business documents.
They had to schedule a new visit the next day, March 31, because Saldívar had not delivered everything he needed.
That day, it is known that the two women argued over the documents.
A 2017 ceremony in which the star was unveiled on Selena Quintanilla's Walk of Fame, in Los Angeles. Via AP / Chris Pizzello for Invision
According to people who worked at the hotel, they saw Saldívar chasing the singer and injuring Selena in the back, who reached the lobby to ask for help and then fell unconscious.
Doctors pronounced her dead shortly after.
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When the police arrived, Saldívar locked himself in his car and threatened to kill himself.
After 10 hours of negotiations, the officers managed to convince her to turn herself in.
Although he later tried to change his story, in his first statements Saldívar admitted that he had pulled the trigger: "I shot him while he was walking," he told detectives.
Saldívar was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder.
Indistinct from the circumstances in which Selena died, the existence of the Netflix series so many years later - when there has also been a makeup line, other series, stage productions, a movie with Jennifer Lopez and more - demonstrate
the power of Selena and his music, which continue to inspire an entire community.
With information from AP and NBC News.