Here's Why 'Selena' Netflix Biopic Doesn't Do the Legendary Singer Justice
Netflix's biographical drama "Selena: The Series" has met not only positive comments but also negative ones.
The show premiered on Friday. However, instead of focusing on Selena Quintanilla-Perez's memory and remarkable performance, it reportedly centered around her father and brother, who oversee her estate.
The Quintanillas were the executive producers of the series, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Related story: "Selena: The Series"-Netflix Release Date, News, Cast, and Spoilers
The controversial series was created and directed by Moisés Zamora and Hiromi Kamata, respectively.
The series spent much attention on the character development of the men behind the career of the "Queen of Tejano Music." With this, viewers never got the chance to actually know who Selena is, what motivates her, and what holds her back.
The Characters
The first two episodes of the show presented that Selena's musician father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., played by Ricard Chavira, is an ambitious and demanding dreamer.
Selena's father was determined to pull his family out of poverty by pushing his kids towards the music scene. He then assembled a family band named Selena y Los Dinos, which became the driving force of Selena's success.
His loyal son or Selena's brother A.B., played by Gabriel Chavarria, is a bass guitarist and aspiring businessman who tries to meet his father's high expectations. However, he is torn between his family and starting a family of his own.
Selena, played by The Walking Dead's star Christian Serratos, is a charismatic singer.Serratos added her own touch to the role. However, she was not given much to work with offstage during her depiction.
In the Netflix series, Selena is portrayed as a sweet girl who likes designing clothes, dyeing her hair, and singing. The series rarely goes deeper than what was portrayed of the singer.
Related story: Selena Quintanilla's Death: Could a Blood Transfusion Save the Singer?
As the series moves into Selena's teen years and early 20s, her career successes and trials are used to define her. Her inner life was never put into the spotlight.
Even when she went on the venture of knowing who she really was, it was done from the perspective of asking advice from her father.
In one episode, her father commented on her frequent hair dyeing, to which she replied that some singers have a costume.
"They do their hair different every time or their makeup because that's who they are. Well, I don't always know who I am until I am," Selena said in the show as quoted by an LA Times report.
Also, the series did not much put into focus Selena's career. Refinery29 reported that the series did not include a single scene of Selena with her first-ever album release.
It did not explore her feelings on her label's decision to market her as "exotic" or that she has to accept the "racist" marketing to avoid any conflicts.
Some reports said the series did not recognize the woman meant to showcase with her name as its title.
"Selena: The Series" may have difficulty coming at par with "Selena" the movie adaptation because of its inconsistencies and failure to acknowledge the star.