Thread by @NopalitaMami

My full time job for 2020 has been examining Selena’s life & legacy. I’m also a lifelong fan. I’ve read everything. Seen all the archives. Spent time w her dad & sister. I'm going to unpack why so many ppl feel betrayed by #SelenaNetflix #selenatheseries and why it matters

First, a preface. Selena was a woman, like a living, breathing actual person, not just an icon or an idea. Her family lost a daughter, a sister, part of their heart. I never want to forget that this is also a story about a family's deep pain & resilience. I speak from love.

Let's begin with Selena's character. We hardly see her. She's kind of quiet, her smile a bit meek, usually in the background. This was the antithesis of Selena. The whole reason we are still enamored w her a quarter century later is bc of her ferocious, big spirited personality.

There was a fullness to Selena's presence, a bountifulness that filled every room. She had a striking, uncontainable laugh. She could switch from irreverent diva to humble girl-next-door in a literal blink of an eye. She exuded boisterous joy AND elegant self-possession.

That's why even ppl who were born after Selena's death become ardent fans. Even now, her charisma spills out of the screen. So it feels like whiplash to go from that abundance to a shrunken Selena on Netflix -- someone made to be smaller, physically and metaphorically.

Selena's role wilts in service of her manager father and songwriter brother. It's time we recognize their contribution to music. At one point, AB was one of the most prolific songwriters in the fastest growing genre in the country. It's a big part of the story. We should see it.

But her brother and father were not the only geniuses. Selena was a disciplined musician. She'd mastered her craft. She was a true vanguard, transforming a tradition-bound genre. An artist who emoted her songs with dazzling skill and intensity. We should see this!

Which brings me to the physical shrinking. At 5"5 and 130 pounds, Selena was thin, but thicker than most women on TV. Seeing a brown, voluptuous woman was a big deal, even on whitewashed Latin American programming.

As @mala_munoz 's threads have reminded us, many ppl are incredibly protective of Selena's image. People saw themselves in her mestiza features. So it's not just about whether the Netflix depiction is true to Selena. It's whether it's true to everything she stands for.

Ardent disputes over Selena’s likeness demonstrate that even now, her appearance matters bc its laden w meaning. Her physical self -big hoops, pronounced lips, a celebration of curves before today’s mainstreaming of big butts -served as a symbol of transcendence w/out compromise

In 1995, the year Selena died, the country was in the thick of a major demographic shift. The Latino population surged by almost 60% between 1990 and 2000. Anxieties about Latinos being the fastest growing ethnic group in the country as it rounded out a new millennium took root.

Latino youth were portrayed as gang members, teen moms or college dropouts. Selena broke the narrative. Even before her death, ppl hailed her as a shining example of what Latinos could be. There was an aspirational earnestness to her. She talked about her success like it was ours

Selena’s face became a ubiquitous symbol right as Latinos were being newly recognized as a collective, a constituency in the U.S. Her likeness transformed into a shorthand for a whole experience.

I’ve come to deeply understand something I intuitively felt as a 9-year old watching the Selena biopic. The guarding of Selena’s image is a protectiveness, not just of a star’s legacy, but of one of the most potent symbols of an American experience.

I'm producing @selena_podcast about all of this! Subscribe here -> podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/any…