Selena, The Netflix Series - Inspiring The World & A New Generation Of Fans

I first heard Selena Quintanilla-Perez on the radio as a young girl.

Too young to appreciate what I was listening to – Disney sing-alongs were more my thing– I dismissed her music.

Years later, as a teen, feeling all the feelings, I came back to her music and her story.

She helped me through so much, as she did for so many.

Seeing her story come alive first through the movie and then through Selena, the Netflix Original Series, has been such a joy.

Admittedly, it took me a while to finish, given its tragic ending & my own connection with the artist. 

I did it and loved it. Loved all of it.

As I watched the series and took in the beautiful cinematography, the costumes, the writing, and the performances, I couldn’t help but feel inspired to create. 

Selena was crafty, and as someone who loves costume jewelry, I was inspired to create: 

• Heart drop earrings inspired by a set she wore to an awards ceremony
• Paper heart earrings, somewhat modeled after those same earrings
• A flower backdrop inspired by one of her iconic photos

I also thought it was about time to read Chris Perez’s book To Selena, With Love – which I now have, and eventually also read her father’s book, A Father's Dream: My Family's Journey in Music.

As I feel inspired and find more to share, I’ll update this blog. 

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Apparently, I have an unpopular opinion, and I am unashamed of holding firm to said opinion.

I LOVE SELENA, THE NETFLIX SERIES.

I love the cast. 

Not only did they look the part, they portrayed each character beautifully.

I love the costumes. 

80s fashion is incredible, and seeing the transition from the 80s to the 90s was a thing of beauty. 

I love the writing. 

There were so many lovely quotes – some of which I’ve included below – and scenes that held me captive. 

I love the music – which is all original music from Selena y Los Dinos.

Truly, I found it masterful.

This is where I get controversial.

In my opinion, Christian Serrattos did a brilliant job at portraying Selena.

To me, Selena’s aura was part of what made her such a successful artist.

Her personality. Her zest for life. Her love for people and animals. 

All these qualities were, to me, a significant reason why she resonated so strongly with her fans.

Watching Selena come alive through Christian Serrattos performance in The Netflix Series filled my heart with so much joy.

She nailed Selena’s personality, as I’ve come to understand it, and because of that, I love her in this role. 

I just couldn’t imagine anyone else portraying her.

In this interview with Suzette Quintanilla, she notes that she and her family loved Christian’s performance as well and that they were quite impressed with how well everyone was cast.

So happy to hear a family member put their stamp of approval on the show. 

They all look so much alike and were also able to portray the family authentically, which, apparently, to prepare for their roles, watched videos of the family and band members for reference. 

Oh, the beauty of the internet…

Back when Selena, the movie, was being shot, JLo and the cast didn’t have this video archive.

Instead, they personally met with the family to prepare for their roles. 

The screenplay was truly masterful, thanks to a team of writers. 

Moises Zamora was the screenplay writer, and his team included:

• Claudia Forestieri
• Pamela Garcia Rooney
• Eddie Serrano
• Aaron Serna
• Jorge Ramirez-Martinez
• Jessica Lopez

Together, they gave us incredible scenes and memorable quotes.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I love a good quote. I hope you do as well because I’m about to share some of my favorites. 

Before doing so, I have to apologize because most of these are not formally quoted on IMBD – my personal source for most movie research. 

Instead, I wrote them down as I watched the Netflix Series. 

Please forgive me if I’ve written them down incorrectly. 

CONTEXT

Chris and Selena are getting to know one another and have found that they both love “More than words” by the band Extreme. 

Selena comments on how different Side A of a cassette tape is compared to Side B.

This is such a warm and intimate moment between them. 

It's also a reference to both of their lives as it relates to the band.

They’re not just part of Selena y Los Dinos – they are both more than the band. 

Maybe I’m reading more into this quote, but I thought it was perfect.

CONTEXT

Suzette shares her insecurities with Selena about her talent as a drummer and about the direction the band is headed as they gain popularity and success.

This scene broke me. 

I love their intimate bond and the wisdom of Selena’s words. 

So often, when we fall in love with a band, we tend to focus all our love on “…the hair” – the lead singer, and we undermine the rest of the band and their contributions. 

Essentially, this quote outlines why I love this series so much. 

It truly shines a light on the contributions of everyone in the band. 

This was the moment Christian Serratos truly won me over as Selena.

BTW, Noemi Gonzalez! 

Where did this woman come from? She’s so sassy and classy and perfect!

CONTEXT

AB Quintanilla is putting himself out there and building connections on behalf of the band at an awards ceremony. 

He approaches a reputable songwriter and with great passion, he says:

AB Quintanilla’s determination is amazing. 

Truly, I never knew that his role in the band was so vast – band member, singer, songwriter, deal maker. 

It’s no wonder that The Cumbia Kings, his next band, was such a rapid success. 

I rarely take the time to look up the costume designer of a series, but from the start of Selena, The Netflix Series, I was transfixed. 

I loved that the story and costume design transitioned beautifully with the passing of time. 

80s fashion is incredibly bold and beautiful and one of my favorite eras of fashion. 

Sometimes, I find that when there’s a flashback to the 80s in movies or TV, it’s too much or not quite right. 

Adela Cortazar did a wonderful job setting the stage and doing it, in my opinion, just right.  

In the article “How Selena: The Series Charts Selena Quintanilla’s Fashion Evolution” By Savannah Salazar, Adela Cortázar explains:

“The most difficult part [of dressing for past decades] will always be choosing fabrics, because when fashion evolves, so do the fabrics,” Cortázar explains. “For example, ’80s sequins are completely different from the sequins you find nowadays.”

I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to be asked to take on the monumental task of creating costumes spanning multiple years as a way of telling a story.

Adela’s work seemed seamless. 

But, of course, that was far from her reality. 

Of Selena y Los Dinos iconic cow-print ensembles, she notes:

“The cow print, I looked for all sorts of cow-print fabrics — pretty, ugly, expensive, cheap, high end, low quality. I even considered buying real cow leather, but nothing looked like what we needed,” she says. “But looking at the costumes more in detail and going through pictures and videos, I came to realize that it was simple: That was not a cow fabric; they were black sequin appliqués over a plain white fabric.”

See the original cow-print costume by Selena in this video, where she performs with it!

Regardless of whether Christian Serratos can sing or not, no one can sing Selena’s songs like Selena.

I am so grateful that the decision was made to keep all of the original songs and showcase the original recordings.

It adds an authenticity to the series, which would otherwise be missing.

As someone who came to her music long after she passed away, I have really come to love her older music. 

Had it not been included in this series, I wouldn’t have taken the time to listen to anything other than her greatest hits.   

The introduction of Chris to the series was a bit…cinematic? Dreamy? Cheesy?

Was it intentional? Maybe.

As I recall, when he’s introduced, he walks up to Selena’s house, and the wind is blowing through his hair, and he gives Selena his boyish, charming smile.

I found it distracting as the show is more dramatic. 

This scene was more The Princess Bride, kind of silly. 

If it were a silly movie to begin with, it wouldn’t be an issue, but because it’s more of a serious biopic, I wish this scene would have been treated more seriously. 

If you haven’t seen the series, let me explain The Chris Effect – When Chris arrives, he’s presented as a handsome bad boy with a boyish grin, windblown hair, and a dreamy light surrounding him. 

It might sound like something out of a romance novel, but it’s more of a silly exaggeration than a dreamy scene. 

Given that he was such an essential part of Selena’s life, I wish his introduction had the same tone as the rest of the series. 

Like most Selena fans, I love her colorful, bold style.

When I ran into this photo of Selena, I couldn’t help but stop and imagine a few original design ideas. 

Most of them involved creating paper hearts, but working with paper takes time, and given that I was determined to showcase an original piece for this video, I ended up pulling out some buttons I’d purchased years ago.

These earrings are special to me, not only because they’re inspired by a piece worn by Selena, but because they turned out better than I’d ever expected.

I worked with heart buttons as a focal point for this project for this video. 

I each heart with black Swarovski Crystal bicones, 11o silver-lined seed beads and topped them off with stainless steel hardware. 

The result was a perfect amalgamation of inspiration and originality. 

Would you agree? 

If you’re inspired by Selena’s story, I highly recommend reading Chris Perez’s book, To Selena, With Love. 

It's more than I expected.

What I expected, to be honest, was a story of a man who wasn’t accepted by his father-in-law. 

A.K.A. a gripe fest. 

Instead, we get an intimate view of their family life through short stories about different facets of their life together.

It isn’t all perfect. 

It’s honest and told in an authentic voice. 

I go into more detail in the video above. 

I love the delicacy of paper jewelry. 

I love that each piece is absolutely unique—no two beads are exactly and could never be the same—and that it holds a little part of a beloved story.

On the other hand, working with paper beads has proven to be quite unpredictable. Paper can be very fragile and challenging.

Still, I adore the aesthetic of paper jewelry – and hope to one day design an entire jewelry collection made of paper. 

The image of Selena with a flower backdrop has always inspired me.

Yes. Selena stands out beautifully, but the flower background is swoon-worthy as well. 

It’s probably a product of good photo editing, but none-the-less, I really wanted to give my hand at creating a flower backdrop of my own.

And I’ve done it. 

No. My flower backdrop isn’t remotely close to what I’d imagined or to the original, but I’m happy to have given this project a try.

For this project, I used a kit by Sterling Innovations – Beautiful Paper Flowers: Elegant – And Easy To Make – Blooms.

The kit includes everything needed to do the project:

• 24 sheets of crepe paper in different colors
• Floral wire
• Floral tape
• 24 stamens
• Beautiful Paper Flowers, a 64-page project book

I found the book’s step-by-step instructions very helpful and easy to follow, and completely worth the price.

I purchased this kit in 2016 for under $10.

I was too busy to take the time to sit down to work through the kit before now; it’s just sat within my collection of crafting supplies until now.

Too enamored with the idea of creating paper flowers, I haven’t had the heart to throw it out before trying it.

If you’re interested in purchasing your own kit, you may be able to find it in the following outlets:

1. BookOutlet
2. ThriftBooks
3. Amazon

This is only my first go at both making paper flowers and creating a flower backdrop.

The fact that my paper flowers don’t look like they’re something from an episode of Nailed It!, is a testament to how well-crafted the book is in this kit.

With that said, if you do take the time to browse around for a kit of your own, you’ll find that its price varies quite a lot.

If you spend more than $20 USD, I honestly think you’re paying too much because you can find other kits on the market that are readily accessible, comparable, and fairly priced.

I hope you enjoyed this blog.

It was my intention to create something that would inspire others to learn more about Selena if they hadn’t already discovered her talent and beauty. 

And if you’re already a fan, I hope you enjoyed my perspective.

Hopefully, we can connect and gush collectively over our love for Selena.

You can reach me via email: lovealways@kaleidoscopesandpolkadots.com or via a direct message on Facebook or Instagram.

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