美国国家公共电台 NPR 20 Years Ago, Biopic Helped Give Pop Star Selena Life Beyond Her Tragic Death

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

"Selena" the movie debuted¹ 20 years ago today.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SELENA")

JENNIFER LOPEZ: (As Selena) My dreams were the same as the dreams of all those people who were out there in the audience, like all their hopes were centered on me.

MCEVERS: That's Jennifer Lopez playing Selena Quintanilla Perez talking about what it was like to be onstage. Selena was the first Tejano performer to crossover to mainstream² American audiences, and in the movie, we hear her singing voice, not J-Lo's.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SELENA")

SELENA QUINTANILLA PEREZ: (Singing) I could fall in love with you, baby.

MCEVERS: The movie came out just two years after Selena was killed by the president of her fan club. Here to talk about the film is Deborah Paredez. She's the author of "Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, And The Performance Of Memory" Welcome to the show.

DEBORAH PAREDEZ: Thank you. It's great to be here.

MCEVERS: So for people who either haven't seen the movie or maybe don't remember it because it has been 20 years, just remind us about this movie. I mean it's a biopic, right?

PAREDEZ: Absolutely. So as a biopic, it's absolutely invested in telling the story of the triumph of her life more than the tragedy of her death.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SELENA")

EDWARD JAMES OLMOS: (As Abraham) They can be mean, and they can tear us apart over there.

CONSTANCE MARIE: (As Marcella) Oh, why?

OLMOS: (As Abraham) Selena's Spanish is...

LOPEZ: (As Selena) What about my Spanish? I've been singing in Spanish for 10 years. It's perfect.

OLMOS: (As Abraham) Singing, yes. But when you speak it, you speak it a little funny.

JACOB VARGAS: (As A.B., Laughter).

OLMOS: (As Abraham) And down there, you've got to speak perfectly³, or the press will eat you up and spit you out alive. I've seen them do it.

LOPEZ: (As Selena) Overreacting as usual.

PAREDEZ: We learn about how she ascended⁴ to fame as both a Tejano superstar but also as an international superstar. And only at the very end do we have the tragic⁵ end of her life. But even in that ending, we get a sense of what her promise was.

MCEVERS: And how popular was she when she was alive?

PAREDEZ: She was tremendously popular not just within Texas. She sang regional music. But because of her particular sound and her style and her particular talent and because of the kind of global reach of the recording⁶ industry, she became truly a kind of international sensation.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SELENA")

SELENA: (Singing in Spanish).

MCEVERS: When you first saw the movie - again, it was two years after she was killed - what did you think of the film? Did you feel like it accurately⁷ depicted⁸ her?

PAREDEZ: I think that the film absolutely depicted an important aspect of Selena. I think that as the official narrative⁹, certainly there's a lot that gets left out.

MCEVERS: Like what?

PAREDEZ: You know, Warner Brothers held these very sort of highly publicized open auditions¹⁰. And over 24,000 young girls and women from across the United States auditioned¹¹ for "Selena."

MCEVERS: Wow.

PAREDEZ: Yeah, it's a huge amount. And girls and young women traveled from all over the country. Auditioning¹² for Selena was for so many young Latinas a way of just asserting their own sense of their own specific Latina identity. And I really think it's so important - and it doesn't get often talked about - is how important she was to queer Latino communities.

You know, for some of the drag performers I talked to, she finally provided a model for them to be able - someone they could inhabit who they could also assert their own cultural identity. And I think often that particular part of the story gets left out of many of the kind of more mainstream stories that get told about her.

MCEVERS: What do you think now looking back has been kind of the long-term impact of this film?

PAREDEZ: I think that many people who were born, you know, either in the era when Selena died or after have come to know about her through the film, and so which means they've come to know about her through Jennifer Lopez performing her. And I think it shows what Selena did not just for those young women auditioning but for Jennifer Lopez, right? To become Selena means, like, you can also catapult your career. But it also means that there are so many people who've understood who Selena was through identifying with her as not just a Tejano but as a Latina - right? - because it's about a Puerto Rican then performing this...

MCEVERS: Right.

PAREDEZ: ...Texas-Mexican woman. I think that it's helped kind of create a particular kind of understanding of Latina identity or Latina identification. I mean I do think that unfortunately times for Latinos aren't much better at this moment. And so, you know, to have this kind of aspirational¹³ tale, you know, as those of us who are trying to still aspire¹⁴ to be acknowledged as citizens I think is really an important reason why that film continues to hold sway.

MCEVERS: Deborah Paredez, thank you very much.

PAREDEZ: Sure.

MCEVERS: Deborah Paredez's book is called "Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, And The Performance Of Memory." The movie "Selena" premiered 20 years ago today.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIDI BIDI BOM BOM")

SELENA: (Singing) Bidi bidi bom bom, bidi bidi bom bom, bidi, bidi, bidi, bidi, bidi, bom, bidi, bidi, bidi, bidi, hey, yeah. (Singing in Spanish).

1 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

2 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

7 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

8 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网

11 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

12 auditioning   

vi.试听（audition的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was auditioning for the role of Lady Macbeth. 她试演了麦克佩斯夫人的角色。
• Which part are you auditioning for? 你试音什么角色？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 aspirational   

志同的，有抱负的

参考例句：

• Most of the images that bombard us all are aspirational. 轰击的图像，我们都期望最大。
• Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India's high figures. 分析师们指出，自助读书、热爱读书是印度人均读书时间超过别的国家的主要原因。

14 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。