For many, Selena, released in 1997, was one of the first films about Latino culture they watched. It was for me. While Mexican television shows such as El Chavo del Ocho and telenovelas like Rubí were frequently playing in the living room, Selena, a biopic about Tejano musical artist Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, is one of the earliest movies about Latinidad I can recall being shown.
The film will be screened Wednesday at the Last Picture House to kick off the Quad Cities Latino Cinema Series, created in collaboration with the Davenport theater and Moline-based AJV Original. Four films will be shown for the monthly series, including Stand and Deliver, In the Heights and La Bamba.
Each showing is hosted by a different local Hispanic nonprofit organization. Selena will be emceed by LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) #5285 Council (the organization’s Moline chapter), and 100 percent of ticket sales will go toward the council’s scholarship fund.
As much as Selena is about a young woman’s life being cut too short, it is also about nurturing young Latinos and bolstering them to achieve their dreams. Appropriately, funds from ticket sales directly benefit a scholarship fund dedicated to, “funding educational opportunities for deserving youth across the U.S.”
Though the event is a meaningful partnership between community orgs and arts programming, it’s also an opportunity to see a film about an iconic Latina megastar that catapulted the career of another.
Jennifer Lopez became a household name following her portrayal of the late singer in the 1997 film, and she is a cherished figure in my home. I distinctly remember my mom telling me to pay extra attention to a shopping scene in Selena in which Lopez delivers the Latina equivalent of Pretty Woman’s “huge mistake” moment. (Let’s hope that a similar moment did not happen when the actress toured the University of Iowa campus with her son this past February.)
The film is also the reason why I always find myself bawling my eyes out every time “Dreaming of You” comes on the radio. Latina Hollywood movie stars are few and far between, and my mom always made sure I knew their work. Nearly six years later, she still finds a way to play the J.Lo and Shakira 2020 Super Bowl halftime show on the television.
It’s fitting then that three of the four films playing in the Quad Cities Latino Cinema Series center music. It will be nothing short of magnetic to see the iconic Astrodome sequence (the real-life concert was something my mom also frequently revisited) and Selena’s fabulous purple ensemble shimmer on the big screen.
