The Battle For

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: U.S. History

Date:

Core:

Reflections on Gelena Somez

Taking a Stand…

Directions: Use the Battle for Gelena Somez’s Independence handout to answer the following question. Use the “structuring your response” box to help you organize your ideas.

Mr. and Mrs. Somez ______(are or aren’t) entitled to the money that Gelena earned because: ______

______

Who is entitled to her money???