Selena: The Series has been out on Netflix for one week, and early reviews from the general public have not gone over well. 

Selena Quintanilla was a Tejano queen. She was one of the first to be signed and managed by a major label and make it to mainstream topping charts in the 90s. 

That stardom came to an abrupt end when she was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the woman who ran the boutique’s Selena owned.

In 1997, a movie based on her life trajectory was released starring Jennifer Lopez as Quintanilla. The movie launched Lopez to stardom and created even more of a fandom for Selena.

Almost 25 years later, the legend lives on in the much-anticipated Selena The Series on Netflix.

Despite the hype, it hasn’t been received as well as people would have imagined. 

Instead of a deeper dive into who Selena Quintanilla was as a person, her stardom, and her untimely death, the series has little interest in the title character, and is more about her family.

If you’re Latin American, then you can most likely relate to the series. 

Starting from scratch in a new country, growing little by little, wanting to achieve what people consider the American dream are all strong themes portrayed by Quintanilla’s parents. They have kids who will do better, be greater, and achieve the success they so desperately sought.

The problem with the series is that it is essentially based around Quintanilla’s father, Abraham, and not the child that did do better, was greater and did achieve the success he so desperately wanted in Selena. 

Critical fans have gone as far to say the series casts her in a supporting role rather than the lead actress.

It also does not help that the actress playing her, does not even slightly resemble her.

However, season two has already been signed despite the backlash. We can only hope the next season will be better and take into consideration the fans' critiques. But given Hollywood’s deafness to fans, that seems unlikely.