JLo vs. LDP

Do you ever think about how two seemingly similar people can go in two completely different directions on the path of life?

Kind of deep, I know. But, let me bring it back to the shallow end for ya.

I’m not talking about anything or anyone of any importance here (shocking I know for this website), I’m talking about two actors/performers. 

When I was a kid, I loved movies that had musical numbers.  What kid doesn’t?  Somehow on the endless cycle of cable television, I found myself hooked on 2 movies in particular.  The 1987 classic La Bamba, about the metoric rise and untimely death of Ritchie Valens and the 1997 classic Selena, about the metoric rise and untimely death of Selena Peres.

These movies popped up in a conversation I was having the other day and it got me thinking.  What the hell happened to Lou Diamond Phillips? And why is JLo so popular?

See, those were the 2 stars of those movies.  LDP playing Ritchie, JLo playing Selena.  Although these movies came out a decade apart, they are nearly identical in story line.  Aside from the fact that Ritchie dies in a plane crash and Selena is murdered, they are virtually the same movie about the successful, short-lived careers of Hispanic singers. 

Both movies had young, up and coming actors as the lead. Both movies did respectable at the box office (La Bamba actually made $20 million more than Selena) and they both received decent reviews.  Yet, for some reason everyone in the world in 2012 knows who JLo is, and we’re running out of people who remember LDP.  I don’t get it.

After Selena, JLo went on to make some pretty terrible movies, including Gigli.  Yet, she proved to be a dual threat, as it was her music career that really took off after Selena.

After La Bamba, LDP made some decent flicks…some pretty terrible ones too.  For some reason, he got type casted as an outlaw in pseudo-western movies.  He never had the music career like JLo, and if you look at pictures of him now, he’s aged about as well as a catcher’s mitt.

If you simply look on paper, there’s really no reason why JLo is SO much more famous then LDP.  They have both taken very similar career paths (acting wise that is), yet LDP has fallen by the wayside.

I don’t really have a conclusion for this analysis, I guess I just find it interesting how two people who on paper seem relatively similar, can turn out so different. 

Someone get LDP some work. 

-Eric Rothman