A Conversation with Academics about Selena

TRT: 59 minutes, in English, Color, copyright: 1999

A Conversation with Academics about Selena is an examination of the life and mythology of Selena through an academic lens. Five prominent feminist scholars, Sandra Cisneros, B. Ruby Rich, Cherríe Moraga, Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano and Rosa-Linda Fregoso engage in a lively cultural analysis of Selena, the Tejana pop star who was killed in 1995 by a friend who was the president of her fan club. As the academics try to separate the mythology of Selena from the young woman pressured by her father into a singing career, they confront their own cultural ideology and familial influences. They piece together the mythology and rumors around her death, and try to shed light on the forces at play that shaped the trajectory of her story. The icon that Selena became after her death is revealed to be a mirror reflection of many competing cultural forces, including the myth of the American dream, the mainstreaming of Tejano culture, the modeling of women in the mold of men’s desire, patriarchal control, and the media fascination with and distortion of lesbian desire. The film concludes with brief interviews with the academics about their mothers, echoing the theme that where and who we come from shapes our ongoing yet often mysterious destiny.