MovieChat Forums > Selena (1997) Discussion > Misleading (the rose thing)

Misleading (the rose thing)

posted 15 years ago by Global_Warming_is_a_Hoax
25 replies | jump to latest

Why did they film the death sequence like that? She was performing "Dreaming of You" and a rose gets thrown on the stage. She stops singing and there is some silence. Then they cut to the scene where we find out she has been shot.
Now I enjoyed this movie and thought it was very uplifting (until the end obviously) but I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Selena fan either; so I didn't know that she was shot in a motel over wanting to fire Yolanda because she was convinced she was stealing from her. The way the film portrayed the murder sequence was made it look like she was shot right on stage.
Does anybody know if they were originally supposed to film it the way it really happened? Because I think it's very strange and misleading how they did it.
Also, was there anything deep/significant with the white rose thrown on stage (other than it being the last thing we see before we find out she's shot dead)?

[–] butterK 15 years ago

I'm pretty sure the stage sequence was purely metaphorical and the myth that she was shot on stage is just an unintended side effect.

I think they chose to not be that detailed about the actual event because nobody really knows exactly what happened except for Yolanda.

Besides I also think they avoided depicting what happened so her death wouldn't overshadow her life in the movie and it might have been to painful for her family and fans.

[–] Global_Warming_is_a_Hoax 15 years ago

Yeah but I think they could have done it in a different way. It makes people think she was shot on stage while performing which is 100% FALSE!
It's funny I was just talking to my aunt about this tonight and she also thought Selena was shot on stage because that's what the movie makes it look like.

Here's how it really happened...

"In early 1995, the Quintanillas discovered that Yolanda Saldívar, the president of Selena's fan club (Texas-section) and the manager of her boutiques, was embezzling money from the fan club and decided to fire her. Soon after the fallout, Selena agreed to meet Saldívar in a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi[13] on the morning of March 31, 1995 to retrieve paperwork for tax purposes. At the hotel, Selena demanded the missing financial papers. Saldívar delayed the handover by claiming she had been raped in Mexico.[2] The singer drove Saldívar to a local hospital where doctors found no evidence of rape.[14] Saldívar returned to the motel where Selena again demanded the missing financial papers.
Selena told her that she just couldn't be trusted anymore and removed a friendship ring that Yolanda had given her. At 11:48 am, Yolanda drew a gun from her purse, pointing it at Selena. As the singer turned and left the room, Saldívar shot her once in the back. Critically wounded, Selena ran towards the lobby to get help. She collapsed on the floor as the clerk called 911, with Saldívar chasing her, calling her a bitch.[15] Before collapsing to the floor, Selena named Saldívar as her assailant and gave the room number where she had been shot.[16] After an ambulance and the police arrived on the scene, Selena was transported to a local hospital. She died there from loss of blood at 1:05 p.m., at the age of 23"

Now I understand that might have been a little too heavy for the type of movie that this was but the way they decided to do it made it like as if they're pretending it never happened. Hell, they could have at least showed her meeting with Yolanda at the hotel before her death! SOMETHING!

[–] butterK 15 years ago

Yeah, I know all that. I can understand your annoyance at the misconception that has been instigated by the rose scene. Everytime I read someone on Youtube saying, "OMG it sux how she got shot on stage!", I'm thinking WTF, doesn't anyone do some research on Selena before they start talking about the circumstances of her death. Of course, I knew about her and how she died since 1995 so I guess that's why the movie didn't have that effect on me.

"Hell, they could have at least showed her meeting with Yolanda at the hotel before her death! SOMETHING!"

Yeah, that would've been fine. So long as there was no scene where we actually see the shooting, I would've been fine with it.

[–] branenj001 15 years ago

I honestly never once thought that she was shot on stage when watching that sequence. To me it looked more like a metaphorical scene sequence showing her doing what she loves and then all of a sudden being cut off abruptly, meaning she was at an amazingly serene time in her life and all of a sudden all of that was abruptly cut off BECAUSE she was shot. I thought it was very effectivly done.

[–] jaddjamar 13 years ago

I'm with branenj001. I never thought she was shot on stage. The rose represented her career and her future, which were both cut short.

Do you understand the words that I am saying to you?

[–] mill2542 10 years ago

I never thought that she was shot on stage and I didn't read about her death before the movie. I think when they cut to the shooting scene it's pretty obvious that she is not on stage but around the parking lot of some hotel or restaurant.

[–] tralycr_c-1 10 years ago

I'm thinking WTF, doesn't anyone do some research on Selena before they start talking about the circumstances of her death.

People shouldn't have to do research before seeing a movie. That's just silly.

There is a man...he travels fast...he has purpose...he brings violence and destruction.

[–] AimC 10 years ago

You actually quoted the relevant part... it says nothing about research before seeing a movie, see the quote again...

[–] tralycr_c-1 10 years ago

WTF are you talking about? Are you high?

There is a man...he travels fast...he has purpose...he brings violence and destruction.

[–] slender4 15 years ago

For whatever reason I'm unwilling to picture the perplexed(?) or angry(?) or hurt(?) Selena in this situation because then I start to wonder when she became in mortal fear for her life.
That's something that I'm glad "Selena" does not touch upon.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Furie89 15 years ago

People are stupid if they think *SHE* shot Selena on stage

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] slender4 15 years ago

Agree. It was tastefully done and in keeping with the tone of that splendid film.

[–] old_skool_ska_kid 15 years ago

Seriously.

[–] AimC 10 years ago

Most people know the news story already, especially the 1997 audience when the movie came out. The film did show what looked like news footage with the stretcher at the hotel.

But I can understand a bit of confusion if you didn't know beforehand.

[–] saramacg09 13 years ago

Maybe you wouldn't have been confused if you paid attention to the movie... they come right out and tell us what happened.

[–] CreamCheeze 13 years ago

I've seen this movie multiple times, and I always thought she was shot onstage.
But I watched it carefully last night and was surprised that she wasn't

I met this six year old child with the blackest eyes,the devil's eyes

[–] pantherfan99 13 years ago

It was a white rose which symbolizes death , white roses are used for funerals

Boston and Philly love to slander us, but they don't have as many fans as us

[–] MydnightRose 13 years ago

People actually thought the movie was saying she was shot on stage? That doesn't make any sense.
Perhaps because I knew the events that actually happened, but I never once thought she was shot on stage. The only problem I had with that scene is I thought it was cheesy and overdone, but don't get me wrong I don't hate it. I always was aware that singing Dreaming of You on stage was supposed to be a dreamlike event that never happened.

I'm not reading your manifesto, keep your damn posts short!

[–] LetMeFly 10 years ago

The white rose symbolized death.

So here, Selena is singing on stage and she's abruptly cut off short when a white rose is thrown at her. It signifies that her death was near and that is why she's looking at the rose.

[–] dalessa28 10 years ago

The first time I found out about Selena was her death and it was all over the news so the ending of the movie was not confusing and nobody should not have to explain.

[–] JohnnyWeissmuller 10 years ago

The end is just about right to my mind. It would have been too easy and quite exploitative to portray Selena's murder on screen, but what was done in the film works and ends the movie on the right note.

NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR!

[–] DjokerFan 10 years ago

The idea that the movie made any suggestion that she was shot on stage is ludicrous. I was 12 years old when I saw this movie for the first time in 1998, with no prior knowledge of the incident, and it was clear to me then that she was not shot on stage.

-News reports telling us she was shot in the motel
-Yolanda sitting in her truck with a gun to her head

[–] AimC 10 years ago

I thought it was a very powerful technique.

It was her most recognizable English song. To have it interrupted in that fashion was as shocking and jarring as it can be for those who know how it must end.

If you want to know the details of the death, there are documentaries and extended news segments on youtube. Some of them are an hour long so the movie couldn't delve into details; it was already around 2 hrs long.