La Bamba
The film La Bamba, is based on Ricardo Valenzuela also known as Ritchie Valens. The movie is about the uprisings of Ritchie and how he became famous. But the movie also showed how life was back in the 50’s. The film depicts, race, gender, social class and how that all tied in with Ritchie and other Chicano’s in the United States.
The film’s main characters were Ritchie Valens, Bob the brother, Rosie which is Bob’s girlfriend, Connie mother of Bob and Ritchie, and lastly Donna as Ritchie’s girlfriend. The family dynamic is the first thing I notice to be interesting, Ritchie and Connie both lived in a small farm and worked as agricultures. This is something we see often now, woman with children supporting themselves without the help or support of a man figure. From the start, this represented a gender role, Connie was not a stay at home mom, but she was the sole provider. Ritchie without the presence of his older brother, or father was the male role for his mom and his sister, he too worked hard along with his mom. Since Ritchie was the only male figure, he assumed the position of “the man figure” for his family. Many daughters and son, assume the role of mom or dad when a parent is absent. I related to Ritchie in that part of the movie, I have both parents, but at times I take the role of my parents for younger brother. This role of being one of oldest siblings, means you take responsibility when a parent is absent or can’t be there.
Class was a present factor in the movie. Ritchie and his family would be classified as working class. They worked and lived in a type of farm or ranch. And the Valenzuela family moves because Bob was able to afford a house in Pacoima for the family. Later in the movie we see Bob works for a garbage facility, also selling drugs that he gets from Tijuana. Not all Latinos have to sell drugs to make a living, so the movie showed the working class to be in need of money that Latinos would do anything to make more money. On the other hand we have Donna who lives in a very nice neighborhood, her mother seems to be a stay at home mom, and her dad is a car salesman. Class in the movie is either poor or comfortable. In Ritchie’s family, Connie and Bob work to support the family while Ritchie goes to school. But when Ritchie signs his contract with the record label, he buys his mom a house and he is also gifted with a car. The class status for the Valenzuela family changed drastically with the help of Ritchie’s career.
The issue with race was not so obvious, it was at times subtle but was still there. Donna’s dad assumes Ritchie was Italian, I don’t see why he thought that, but I assume it was because Ritchie was of a lighter but still tan complexion. When Ritchie signs for the label with Bob Keane, he assumes being Mexican is the reason he changes his songs while recording the music, which has nothing to tie in with him being Mexican. Bob also changed Ricardo’s name to Ritchie Valens because Ricardo Valenzuela was not going to “sell”. Bob Keane’s intentions with Ritchie never seemed malicious, but he tried changing Ritchie to becoming more Americanized, and less Chicano, it was going to sell more if people didn’t read the name Valenzuela.
A side note of the film that was interesting was Ritchie inability to speak Spanish. Ricardo Valenzuela is Mexican and Chicano, I assume him to be maybe 2nd or 3rd generation in the United States. Many non-Latinos, assume all Latinos/Chicanos can speak fluent Spanish, but it’s not the case for all. I enjoyed watching a Chicano film were not character spoke Spanish. Why you may ask? Because it’s a misinterpretation of Latinos, it’s a bad stereotype. And Ritchie was one of many Chicano’s who don’t understand the language, but it perfectly normal. Let’s end the stigma. Not all Latinos or Chicanos can speak write or talk Spanish, but we are still Latino’s. The film La Bamba was a very enjoyable Chicano film, and showed a real working Chicano family in the 50’s.