U.S. History
The Battle for
Gelena Somez’s Independence
From the time she was two years old, Genela Somez loved to sing and dance. When
her parents had guests over for dinner, little Genela would entertain them with routines she’d
memorized from her favorite television show, Glee. Mr. and Mrs. Somez decided to enroll
their daughter in dance classes. They also signed her up for singing lessons. Genela’s dance
instructor and her voice coach each told the Somezes that their daughter was exceptionally
talented. Mr. & Mrs. Somez knew how much their daughter loved to dance, so they allowed
young Gelena to take even more classes. Over the next five years, the Somez family spent
thousands of dollars helping Gelena to become a better performer.
When Gelena was 13 years old, she told her parents that she wanted to be a big star.
“Mom,” said Gelena as she approached her mother, “You always say how I am totally cute and
that I am way more talented than Britney Spears and Mylie Cyrus combined.” Her mother
and father agreed that Gelena was a very gifted performer. They also realized that child stars,
like the Justin Bieber, make millions and millions of dollars. Mr. and Mrs. Somez imagined
the amazing mansions they would live in when young Genela finally made it big.
Mrs. Somez knew that they would need a talent agent in order to help Gelena break
into show business. Mr. Somez was concerned that hiring an agent would cost the family a
lot of money. Despite the financial risks involved, the Somezes decided to hire an agent to
help launch Gelena’s career. Mr. Somez had to sell his boat and one of the family’s cars to
help pay for Gelena’s agent. Within one month of being hired, the agent was able to find 3
auditions for Gelena to attend. Mrs. Somez took some days off of work to drive her
daughter to the auditions. Gelena was “super-psyched” when she learned that she got a small
part in a television commercial for organic dog treats. The money Genela made was from the
commercial did not even pay for a week of her agent’s salary.
Genela continued to get small parts on television shows and commercials. Mrs.
Somez knew that if Genela was to become a big star, she would need to move to Hollywood.
Mrs. Somez quit her job and the Somezes used what little savings they had to
rent an apartment in Los Angeles. The neighborhood where Gelena and her
mom lived was not the safest. Mr. Somez took out a loan to install a security
system in their apartment. The Somezes were nearly broke. They had
invested a lot of time, money…and love in their daughter.
Just when things seemed to be at their darkest, Genela got a call from her agent. She
was cast as the star of her very own show on the Disney Channel. Her show, The Wild &
Crazy Adventures of Genela Somez, was an instant hit. “Somez Fever” swept across the
nation (it made “Bieber fever” look like the sniffles). Soon the Somezes were making millions
of dollars from young Gelena’s career. In the early part of her career, the Somezes allowed
Genela to make her own decisions about the roles she wanted to take. She starred in a few
movies that were quite popular.
Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Somez made some bad financial decisions that cost quite
a bit of money. They decided to buy a music studio that could potentially help Gelena’s
singing career. There was legal dispute over who owned the land on which the studio was
located. They spent almost 10 months fighting with the lawyers of a family called the
Francaises. They spent a lot of money in these legal battles, and at the end they were
desperate for money. Mr. & Mrs. Somez fired Gelena’s old agent, and hired a new one who
was much stricter. It was as if her parents had forced this agent to live with Gelena. The new
agent did not allow Gelena to have any say in her career. He chose all of the movie roles she
took and selected which songs would be on her albums. He even told her how to dress and
what to eat. Gelena felt as though she had no freedom and no independence at all! She was
very unhappy. Gelena continued to make lots of money, but her parents took more and
more of it, and they always controlled her. Once, on a trip to Boston, Gelena just wanted to
hang out with her friends on Facebook. Her parents deleted her facebook account,
electronically killing all of her friends.
When Gelena turned 15 on July 4th, 2076, she wrote her parents a letter. She wrote to
them that she had a right to pursue her own happiness. She listed all of the grievances she had
against her parents. She stated that she was firing her agent and that she no longer wanted to
be a part of their family. She also told them that they would need to move out of their
mansion in Hollywood (a property Mr. and Mrs. Somez bought with money that Gelena had
earned). Genela Somez was officially declaring her independence on that day in July. When
Gelena’s parents received the letter, they were outraged. They immediately called a lawyer.
There was no way they were going to let young Gelena walk away with everything that they
had worked so hard for….
This guy is not nearly as
popular as Gelena Somez
Name:
Date:
Core:
U.S. History
Reflections on Gelena Somez
Taking a Stand…
Directions: Use the Battle for Gelena Somez’s Independence handout to answer the following
question.
“Mr. and Mrs. Somez are not entitled to any of the money Gelena earned”
Do you agree or disagree with the preceding statement? Explain your position using direct
evidence (quotes) from the story.
I _____________________________ (agree or disagree) that Mr. and Mrs. Somez have no
right to the money that Gelena earned. I feel this way because: ________________________
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