The Gothic Elements of

Gothic Elements of Selena's Death

Yolanda Salvidar was the president of Selena’s fan club and the manager of Selena’s clothing line, Selena etc. In less than four years, Selena’s fan club had reached over four hundred thousand people and her clothing line proved to be a major financial success. After embezzling money from both the fan club and the clothing line for years, Selena and her family fired Ms. Salvidar in early 1995.  Later, Selena met with Ms. Salvidar on two separate occasions in order to retrieve financial records that Ms. Salvidar refused to disclose. After their second meeting to retrieve the paperwork, Ms. Salvidar shot Selena in the right shoulder with a pistol. The fatal wound to Selena had struck her in an artery and she eventually died at a hospital due to a massive loss of blood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gothic elements surrounding the death of Selena revolve around the notions of obsession and deceit. Ms. Salvidar had become drawn to the Texas Tejano music scene, and especially Selena, and she had attended multiple concerts of hers.  She had relentlessly contacted Selena's father in order to get in touch with doing business with his family. Abraham Quintanilla finally offered Ms. Salvidar an opportunity to work with Selena, and she ultimately took advantage of Selena’s kind and trustworthy nature. It is incredibly deceitful to harbor money from those you love and work for, and it is a reflection of the internal demons that dwelled within Ms. Salvidar.  It is especially heartbreaking for a family like Selena’s as they all worked together and for each other in the business. Whether it was an obsession with Selena or with the money and greed, Ms. Salvidar allowed her treacherous impulses to control her as she pulled the trigger and aimed at Selena.

 

Another gothic element of the death of Selena revolves around the notion of insanity. After she was fired, Ms. Salvidar  met with Selena in order to hand over Selena's financial records that she had been withholding. After meeting with Selena and having none of the records in her possession, Ms. Salvidar falsely admitted that it was because she had recently been raped in Mexico.  Afterward, Selena immediately took Ms. Salvidar to a hospital where they evidently ruled out the claim and concluded that there was no indication of a trauma occurring. Ms. Salvidar’s disturbing lies involving rape are in relation with at least some level of insanity or psychotic behavior, because she wholeheartedly carried out her fabricated story until she was eventually caught in her own deceit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The setting of Selena’s death is also a very gothic element to the narrative of her life. When she met up with Ms. Salvidar to retrieve the financial records, she had met with her at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas. I began thinking about the setting of a Days Inn, and I thought about how it is a value motel chain and how it is very far from extravagant. Value motels themselves have a sort of gothic feel to them because they embody a sense of emptiness, tastelessness, and austereness. If one were to predict the death of Selena Quintanilla, I highly doubt they would imagine her passing in such a bleak and lackluster setting.