As Selena Returns To The Box Office, Cultural Observers Discuss Her Enduring Legacy

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was a cultural force to be reckoned with in the 1990s.

The late Tejano music star had a radiant confidence and was all the rage during the peak of her career, says Maria Garcia, host of the popular ‘Anything for Selena’ podcast. With her big hoop earrings, crimson red lips and frizzy hair, the singer unapologetically embraced her Mexican-American heritage, Garcia says, a big reason she still resonates culturally today.

“I still wear Selena t-shirts and when I see other people wearing Selena stuff, to me that’s a sign,” says Garcia, whose podcast was named one of Apple Podcasts’ Show of the Year for 2021. “That’s like somebody saying I somehow stand in solidarity with you, like you and I, in some way, we are the same. There is some sort of solidarity between us, and to have that link with other people, through her, throughout my life has been really profound.”

The 1997 biopic Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez directed by Gregory Nava, returned to theaters this week, in honor of its 25th anniversary. The movie earned over $35 million, or about $70.8 million adjusted for inflation, during its North American theatrical run, according to data from research firm Nash Information Services.

Also this month, the Quintanilla family plans to release an album from the late singer that includes previously unreleased music, new adaptations by her brother, A.B., and artwork from her sister, Suzette, according to The New York Times.

Quintanilla-Pérez, fondly referred to by fans as simply Selena, put Tejano music on the map. In 1994 she made history as the first Tejano artist ever to win a Grammy for the Best Mexican-American Album, according to Forbes, for her album Live!. Her No. 1 hits include “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “Tu Solo Tu,” and “Amor Prohibido.”

The singer’s legacy and cultural influence continues to resonate within the Latino community, so much that in 2020 Sonya M. Alemán, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio launched the course “Selena: A Mexican American Identity and Experience.” The goal is to connect fans and help them understand how the star continues to inspire new generations. Alemán says the course has drawn positive feedback from students and she plans to expand the curriculum.

Professor Alemán’s class places a focus on the second-generation of Selena fans, the ones who grew up with the biopic version of the star—Lopez. Alemán recalls being pleased with the film, and felt that it was worthy of Selena and her story. Lopez starring in the film “provided a way to see the similarities in the Latino community,” says Alemán. After the film, both Selena and Lopez’s rise shined a light on pan-Latino identity, Alemán says, as there are very few Latino representations in the film industry.

“If you look at the scope of work that mainstream Hollywood produces,” says Alemán. “Latino-centric or lead characters in film, it’s so minuscule that if we’re looking for them as a community, if we want to see ourselves, that’s where we’re gonna go to. We’re gonna rewatch Selena.”

The singer became one of the first Tejano artists to cultivate a sizable fan base outside of the U.S., which wasn’t common for that style of music. She was seen as a Latin music crossover artist near the time of her death, going from producing songs in Spanish to later focusing on the English-speaking music market.

“What really struck me was that she had crossed over into Mexico, a place that has historically really rejected Mexican-American artists and especially artists who don’t speak Spanish well,” says Garcia. “To see her find success and to be beloved and accepted… it wasn’t just that she succeeded in Mexico, it’s that she was accepted as one of their own.”

In July 1995, her fifth and final studio album “Dreaming of You” came out and earned a No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, according to Forbes. That album was released posthumously; she was murdered in March 1995 at a Corpus Christi motel by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club.

Garcia says her death came amid rapid population growth for the Latinos in the U.S. According to Pew Research Center, the hispanic population grew by 12.8 million, or 58%, between 1990 and 2000.

During that period there were a lot of negative stereotypes about Latinos, Garcia says, such as ones about “lost dropouts, dangerous gang members or teen moms.” Despite that, Garcia says, Selena embraced her heritage, which was a source of pride and hope for many.

From her bilingual interviews to her fashion choices, Selena embodied a very specific working-class Mexican-American aesthetic, says Garcia. “Having her after she died as this shining example of staying connected to your heritage was so valuable to me growing up,” says Garcia, later adding that, “she represented ascending in American society without letting go of her roots.”