Jon Hamlin
Contributing Writer
Too often we forget what really happened in history. Instead, we romanticize it and cling to it as if it were something sacred. This is what has occurred concerning the legacy of Che Guevara. For evidence, you need only watch the movie “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
The Robert Redford-produced film, which is to be shown in Elkins tonight, depicts the journeys of a young Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado, as they travel across South America by motorcycle. The movie’s screenplay comes from the books Guevara and Granado published. Granado was also an advisor to the film and endorses it.
Unfortunately, even with his close involvement, the movie is not without error.
The movie seems to center around the time Granado and Guevara spend volunteering at a leper colony run by Catholic nuns. The harsh treatment of the lepers paints a picture of corrupt and authoritarian nuns. In one major scene, Guevara leaves a birthday party thrown for him by the nuns to swim across a river to where the lepers live. The movie intends to portray this behavior as almost Christ-like — someone giving up the riches of normal life to spend time with poor and oppressed peoples — in contrast to the nuns apparent coldness. According to the books written by Guevara and Granado, Guevara swam across the river two days after the party, three miles from where the lepers live, and does so to show his athleticism, rather than to partake in the struggles of the lepers.
But while the factual errors of the movie are prevalent, they are generally unimportant. Viewers should realize that almost no movie is an exact representation of what truly occurred. What is far more disturbing is the message this film portrays. It tries to give basis to the idealism that would later characterize Guevara, brought on by his first-hand view of the struggles of the Mestizo peoples of South America.
But in reality, Guevara was not this kind-hearted person. As Fidel Castro’s right-hand man, Guevara had his hands in many actions of Communism throughout the world, and was part of the first firing squads of the Cuban Revolution.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Guevara pushed for war, a war that would have led to nuclear holocaust. According to Armando Lago, the author of “Cuba: The Human Cost of Social Revolutions,” in Cuba alone Guevara was personally responsible for the deaths of more than 4,000 people. Once Guevara left Cuba, he participated in revolutionary uprisings throughout South America. Most disturbing though, is Guevara’s founding of the Cuban labor-camp system, which today imprisons Cuban dissidents, gays and AIDS sufferers, among others.
All of this, and Guevara is idolized as someone who died as a martyr. In reality, he died in Bolivia, leading a revolutionary effort. Guevara alone did more to damage the opportunity for democracy in South America than any other person in this century.
As actor Anthony Daniels said, this movie is similar to as if someone decided to make a movie about Hitler, emphasizing the fact that he was a vegetarian who loved animals and was against unemployment. It is based on only partial truth.
Go see this movie tonight to enjoy the outstanding cinematography, which provides unequaled views of South America. Go to enjoy the performance of Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo De la Serna. But remember what Guevara really represents. Remember that this is not a history book; this is a movie, and a flawed one at that.
2-3-2005