MovieChat Forums > Selena (1997) Discussion > How famous was Selena...

How famous was Selena...


...before she died? Was she well known throughout the nation/world? I had never heard of her before her death. I remember my mother telling me that Selena had died and I ask, "Who?" I have heard some people say that the only reason she is well known today is because her father and brother have exploited her death in order to make money and use the guise of keeping her memory alive as a way to accomplish this. Is this true? This is not my opinion, I am only stating what I have heard.

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I live in a town in Texas called Laredo. It's right on the border. In order for you to understand what Selena meant to people, you have to understand the culture here in south Texas. This part of the US is very opinionated and is usually set in a negative light. Mostly everyone is bilingual and even fuse the two languages into what is known as "Tex-Mex," (or "spanglish"). This really is a bi-cultural region. Selena's home, Corpus Christi, is 150 miles from both Laredo and San Antonio (where Selena opened one of her boutiques and where her killer is from). Tejano radio stations were permeated by her music in the early '90s. Selena would tour all of south Texas and eventually became hugely popular in Mexico - HER TWO MAIN DEMOGRAPHICS...basically any Latin-populated part of the country knew her. She was also big in Cali, where she won a Grammy in 1994. I was 4 years old when she passed away, but let me tell you, she was HUGE here (and still is)!

She passed away in the process of recording her first English album "Dreaming of You." Unfortunately, it wasn't completed but was released three months after her murder - it was a massive success and catapulted Selena into an international icon.

By the way, her family does not exploit her. Believe it or not, they have to pay royalties to her label, EMI, whenever they want to use one of her songs!

Hope I answered your question!

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Well hello greenday_basketcase007, I live in Laredo too, It's such a small world.

!!!Come See What It's All About!!!
http://www.cosas7.cjb.net

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I'm a 56 year old guy now and live in the southeast where we are usually slow to get exposed to new talent. From what I remember she had just hit Superstardom when that woman killed her. She was great, not in just a 'Madonna' way.

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"just in a 'Madonna' way" - what on Earth does that mean? I think maybe you mean exactly in a Madonna way. That is, someone with true talent.

What you should've said is "not just in a beyonce way". Moron.

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Umm...Madonna was huge at the time...why the hell would he mention Beyonce?

___

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I guess he meant not in a way that uses aggressive sexuality and provocative behavior to get attention. This is a mistake that many people make when assessing Madonna, completely forgetting her singing, songwriting, producing, showmanship and incredible charisma.

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Like Cielo mentioned, my Mom told me about her death as well. I remember it like it was yesterday, I didn't know much about her then, but love her music now. My Mom actually has one of the blouses from Selena's line of clothing. I was living in San Antonio at the time, and Texas all my life. She was very popular there, and most people in Texas know about her and know some of her music.

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thats not true. she wasnt only well known in the hispanic community of texas she was well known in like every latin country and mostly everyone in texas new about her whether you were hispanic, white, black etc.

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That's what i said...re-read my post. I said that Texas and Mexico were her main demographics..obviously there are always exceptions..

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i wasnt talking to you.. i was talking to Lucy774 or w.e her name is.

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[deleted]

no its not "whatever". you had your info wrong, so you should make sure you have your facts straight before you post.

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[deleted]

haha were do you see me bitching? wow,its one of my biggest pet peeves when ppl like you infer things over the internet. you act like you can see my face and my every expression. well you cant. hahaha get over myself? cute one (y)where do you see my getting all hyped up over myself? :S NOWHERE. All i did was correct you k? no need to start anything.

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How was she only known in the Hispanic communities and she WON A GRAMMY?! Come on, do your research.

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They have latin grammys which differs from the english speaking version.

My Love http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/Devenir83/loves.jpg

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[deleted]

[deleted]

As a Latino living in Vancouver, I'd never heard of her until she died. Most of the stuff that played up there was caribbean, tropical.

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I beg to differ (though it's three years after your comment, so you may not see this). I am a 64 year white woman who doesn't speak a word of spanish, but I LOVED that little girl and her music. She touched my heart and made my feet move, even though I was in my 40s when she died. The world lost a girl who would very likely have become one of the BIGGEST tejano stars, but more than that, someone even bigger than ... certainly bigger than that whore madonna.

But because of a low life's greedy, jealous nature, we will never know. I envision her entertaining the Angels and the Saints in Heaven, where surely her band includes Buddy Holly, Stevie Ray Vaughn (hmmm, no, he might be in hell, or at least, purgatory)... with Jim Croce writing vocals....

Sweet young woman who could really sing... would she have ended up suing her parents for emancipation (like I had to do) or get addicted to drugs? Well what if's are worth the breeze created by a fart... she was talented, and destined to die young, sad but true. But she DEFINITELY was not limited to 'just latino' fans, far from it.

RIP.

Life is a journey not a destination. Fear nothing.

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I used to live in texas and when i was a little girl my parents and their friends were big fans and saw her perform. She was just getting started when her life was cut short. She did when a grammy though...lets not forget that.

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In '95 my musical taste didn't include a lot of pop or mexican music so when I heard about the uproar over her death, I didn't really understand why it affected so many people so deeply. I had barely even heard of her. Actually it took about 5 years after her death for her music to even begin to significantly enter my consciousness. The beautiful song 'I Could Fall In Love' began to grow on me and over the last few years I have learned to really appreciate who she was and feel the loss of her tragic passing.

Today I watched the movie for the first time and have to admit it was a very emotional experience for me. J-Lo did a great job with the role and I thought the movie was done fairly well. The actor cast to play young Selena looks amazingly like the REAL young Selena. She undoubtedly was headed for huge stardom and with english being her first language she had all the potential to be an english-language superstar. She truly would've been the next Gloria Estefan. With her last album debuting at #1 she became the fastest-selling female artist of all time (surpassing Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston). However, at the time of her passing I'd have to venture that she wasn't all that well-known in the US, other than in areas with high spanish-speaking populations and obviously in her home state.

On a side note, I went to Corpus Christi a week ago and wish I had seen the movie beforehand. I saw her memorial statue but next time I take the 2-hr drive I'm definately visiting all the historically significant places, her grave, her home, her museum, etc. What an amazing little woman she was - she'll be missed by millions for many years to come.

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She was clearly not very well known outside of Latin markets however within latin markets she was HUGE. She was a coke spokesperson from the time she was 18 until her death, she also did other products as well. Plus winning a grammy was huge too! Someone doesn't have to be huge in American markets for them to be huge somewhere else. Alanis Morrisette was a pop stat in Canada as a teenager. Anyway, she was and still is the most popular latin star EVER.

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^Agreed. That pretty much sums it all up.

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I'm white and I was very familiar with her, but I'm also from Houston. It was a huge deal. She was murdered just a couple of weeks after performing at the Astrodome.

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She was well known but she truly became a star after she died.

My Love http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/Devenir83/loves.jpg

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I am from central Mexico and I remember the day she was murder because we were listening the radio and the guy there was playing Selena's song and saying "recordando a Selena" we didn't know what he was talking about and later we found out that she was killed, she was so popular in Mexico on those days, she was on a soap opera on the Mexican tv with Eric Estrada, lots of people in Mexico knew who she was, hey! even me who was not really into that kind of music, I love her music now, there are a few bands and singers from Texas who are well known in whole Mexico, like Bobby Pulido and La Mafia. Just remember not because you don't know much about her it doesn't mean that she was not famous. If I ever have a daugther her name is going to be Selena.

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She was pretty damn famous, I remember seeing an episode of MadTV where one of Alex Bostine characters gets a make over and when she looks in the mirror she says, "OMG, I look like Selena". So that there tells you how famous she was.

!!!Come See What It's All About!!!
http://www.cosas7.cjb.net

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[deleted]

"She was pretty damn famous, I remember seeing an episode of MadTV where one of Alex Bostine characters gets a make over and when she looks in the mirror she says, "OMG, I look like Selena". So that there tells you how famous she was."

How does that tell you how famous she was before she was murdered? MADtv first aired in October of 1995. Selena was murdered 6 months earlier on March 31, 1995(The Anniversary was Wednesday). Alex BORSTEIN did not join the cast until Season 3 by which time the movie Selena had already made a huge impact.

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She was pretty well known. Not just in Mexico or latin countries. You'd be surprised at how many people she reached with her music.

Every now and then look around, drink it in.Cause this is it.It might all be gone tomorrow.

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