Fact or Fiction?


It is estimated that at least half the storyline of the film was completely fabricated. I get that the Hollywood angle was a family, rags-to-riches biopic but some of the events portrayed in the film likely never happened. Such as:

The opening scene in which the Valenzuela family was picking fruit at a Northern California orchard.

Bob taking Ritchie to Tijuana so he could have sex.

The whole faith healing thing with the snake rattle necklace warding off evil.

Are there any other scenes that don't ring true in the real life of Ritchie Valens?

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[deleted]

The family did pick fruits at a migrant camp in the 1950s. The way Bob comes home and leads them away was fictionalized though

During the 1950s, Morales and his migrant family worked temporarily in San Jose agricultural camps picking produce and loading them onto trucks. Among the family was a young Ritchie, who shared a close and playful bond with his brother Bob, despite the fact that they were born to different biological fathers

https://www.dailynews.com/2018/09/20/la-bamba-bob-morales-older-brother-of-rock-legend-ritchie-valens-dies-at-81/

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