Selena: A Série

It's way better than the movie from 1997. More depth and it made me not see the dad alittle different. Music was decent loved the dynamics. Well worth the watch.

My uncle put it best, "it can't decide if it wants to be a comedy or a drama." Some shows are able to pull off both genres, but this show can't. The comedy can be awkwardly delivered and the dramatic moments are comedic, take for example the ending of part 1. Chris gets kicked off the tour bus, Selena looks out to him brokenhearted and the "Ayyyyy como me duele" line from 'Como La Flor' plays in the background with the happy keyboard melody that follows. I had to laugh.

Selena is very, unfairly, one dimensional in this show. That's not the fault of the actress, that's the writing. All she thinks about is her career and music, her love for fashion is shown too. However when it starts to get interesting, for example Selena's time in school or crushing on boys, the show immediately moves on and puts an end to it with a rushed conclusion. It does take plenty of time with Abraham scenes though. It tries to portray him as some sage father figure giving his kids the best "don't give up" type of advice, when in reality he was Mexican American Joe Jackson. Living his dreams through his children, whether they wanted it or not. Selena is like a background character in her own show, she repeats and says whatever the father wants to hear. The other characters seem so unrealistic and cartoony. It's obvious this entire show was rushed.

I will give credit where it's due, I learned more about the inspiration for some of her best songs, about what Suzette and A. B. were up to during their unorthodox childhoods. People are being too harsh to the actress playing Selena, I think she's trying her best, she's working with what she's been given, which is crap. Suzette's actress isn't so bad either, she's very natural. I wish the show was better, I wish it was based on Chris Perez's book instead of Abraham Quintanilla's B. S. I'm not going to compare it to the film and neither should you as these are two completely different things; based on the same story but completely different. That's like comparing Beetlejuice the film to the animated show.

I'll still watch part 2, might as well, but with Abraham Quintanilla behind the scenes, it'll be Abraham's version of Selena's story part 2.

UPDATE (after watching part 2): There was definitely improvements made in Part 2. "Abraham: The Series" took a backseat and it became about Selena, as it should've been in the first place. It still paints Abraham in the most positive light possible, still tries to justify why Abraham and apparently, Suzette, made it impossible for Selena to be with Chris. Finally, It still doesn't do Chris much justice but towards the end the events do add up with what Chris wrote in his book, before getting there though, it's debatable.

The good things, Selena is more realistic - we explore her feelings and emotions more this time around so that was a welcome change. More learning about the backstories to her classic songs, this was an element that was present in the first part that I really enjoyed and it was nice to see this continue with even more detail in the second season. The acting definitely got better from the first season, the actresses playing Suzette and Marcela Quintanilla are still fantastic, as well as A. B's actor, but everyone else got better, not Emmy winning performances but still decent. The way they bring Yolanda into the story definitely gives a better backstory to those who weren't familiar about how this woman sneaked her way into Selena's life, even showing how deep her unhealthy obsession with Selena went as well as the public negative effects her check schemes had on Selena's image. The actress playing Yolanda does a good job of playing a timid, pathetic woman that was able to trick everyone into thinking that's all she was and sadly had Selena fooled until the terrible end.

I thought the show was gonna end with Selena's final show at The Houston Astrodome and then have captions explaining what happened, but it ends showing the tragic end. I was moved to tears, because well, it's never easy to see that sad event; just thinking about it breaks my heart because Selena deserved to continue making her dreams a reality. The way they showed how little things like A. B's burger bringing back memories of his sister, something that simple creating such a powerful emotion, I really liked that and definitely made me more emotional. However, I did wish they showed images and clips of the real Selena rather than of the actress. I know I said not to compare the movie with the show, however I do think showing the real Selena at the end was a decision the show should've made too - it just makes the moment all the more powerful and reminds you of how profound the loss of this beautiful, sweet, talented girl was.

There are still corny moments, the corniest one being of Selena running into Beyoncé at the mall in San Antonio. I mean it's nice to have that story confirmed by both parties, but the moment was acted in such a cheesy way. The dialogue was just unnatural, how the mom had to name drop "Beyoncé Knowles"... yeah that could've been better. Also the scene with the judge at the city hall coming to tell Selena his daughter was a fan and that he could marry her and Chris on that same day to get "brownie points" with his daughter and the nosey "fan" calling the radio station to tell them Selena got married - yeah that whole scene was corny, could've been written and acted out better.

Still, I definitely enjoyed Part 2 better than Part 1. It's still imperfect and still biased, but it was a better production where Selena was at the center of the story, as she should've been in the first place and there was more to her than just the need to be a singer. Thank you to the crew that took people's critiques and made necessary improvements.

Selena forever ~

As a fan of Selena as well as a fan of the original movie, I like the series overall. While I agree with some of the other reviews that the actress portraying Selena is not the greatest, I love the fact that they dove deeper into the background of the family and the band. I find it disrespectful that anyone can say the family is capitalizing off Selena's name when they had the greatest loss but also were the band from the beginning. I personally enjoyed seeing every step that the group and Selena had to take before making it.

The movie was phenomenal but they only showed few events (as they usually have time for in a 2 hour movie). This was a tight knit, loving family that struggled for years until they made it and I think the series, like the movie, captured that. Also, people complaining about how they don't focus on Selena as much, I get it. But as a fan, I personally liked watching how AB wrote and produced the music as well as the relationship between Suzette and Selena. I have to say that the standout performance for me was Ricardo Antonio Chavira who portrayed Selena's father Abraham.

While Selena should always be front and center, I enjoyed watching the family as well. I think it's important to remember that while Selena was an amazing artist and performer that died a horrible tragedy, that's not her whole story and certainly not the families. I am hoping for more depth and complexity to the characters in the second season as we draw closer to the inevitable tragic ending.

I happened upon this series as I was driving down the freeway by seeing it advertised on a billboard. I thought, The movie wasn't enough?! But I decided to give it a shot anyway. First of all, I can't get passed how Lifetime-ish the acting is! Second of all, I was born and raised in Corpus and I still currently live here. I don't recall my town being THAT clean and with what looked like a mountain in the background? Um...??? Third of all, I don't want to see a constant presence with Abraham! I want to see Selena! I thought that was the name of the show? Anyway, disappointment all around. I guess the movie and Fiesta De La Flor wasn't enough cash grabs. Oh well...

I was looking forward for this show and so far, I'm enjoying it. Before anything, for all people out there saying "the actress doesn't look like Selena, her hair doesn't look like Selena's" .. just do a little research and you'll find out that Selena actually had pretty curly hair and in her earlier years she did rock her curls! Only later she started to style her hair in a different way. You'll see that her hair curls and color actually looked like that before... Later on in the show you'll see she changes her style as she matures and becomes a woman! I am, like many people, a huge fan of the movie with JLo, but obviously they speeded up in order to make a 2 hours movie about her life, the series portrays a more detailed and slower paced timeline. So they actually did a great job by showing her hair like that. Just give it some time because the series is showing her earlier years and the process of her becoming the Selena we know. Yes, there are some negative aspects, but I think that it's overall consistent and well portrayed. Sometimes the acting isn't the best performance, but it isn't THAT bad either. Obviously the actress can't dance as JLo, hasn't the same curves as JLo , but she's good and as far as I know, Selena's family chose and approved her to play Selena... That has to mean something. Just enjoy the series for what it is. Don't compare to the movie. It's a different kind of magic and it's great that her memory is being honored.