Motorcycle Sputtering

I find myself sympathetic, but wholly uninterested in the arguments that The Motorcycle Diaries is somehow dangerous because it celebrates the life of Che Guevara.

Firstly, as much as I don’t like Castro, it seems to me that Guevara died before he might have become as corrupt in spirit and action as El Jefe. Secondly, communism as a political ideology has run its course, so why would we still treat it like a threat? Finally, the movie in its own context, speaks to a youthful passion for honor and love… no matter where that might have gone.

But then again, there were a lot of people who could never get past the fact that Max presented Hitler as a troubled human being and not just as a pitchfork carrying devil.

I can sympathize with people who are passionately offended by anything that honors Che and his memory. But in the end, it feels a lot more like attacking A Beautiful Mind for petty inaccuracies than a legitimate reason to let a beautiful movie slip away for consideration in its own terms.

And just wait for the Alfred Kinsey bashing if other studios start seeing that bio-pic as a serious contender...