I haven’t see the movie. Basically, I have the same philosophy with it as I had with Fahrenheit 911. If I missed the previews (I did), I’m not paying money to see it. I might watch it on HBO–or whatever–one day.

A friend in the movie biz (God bless him for staying sane!) was kind enough to share one of the routine “for your consideration” Oscar ad packages Hollywood types get around this time of year. It’s for The Motorcycle Diaries.

It’s a lauding pictoral look at Che Guevara’s young life as portrayed in the movie, filled with adoring, though relatively minimal text (compared to the overwhelming photos).

And, well, heck, I almost like Che now.

It explained why I’ve been feeling off recently, though: I should have seen the movie. It would have changed my life. Or so the Oscar ad says in word and image. I’d be into the whole Che Chic thing Jay Nordlinger has written so ably about. Had I seen it, I would get Che and be, at last, chic. As Christy Lemire of AP reviewed the film: “After seeing this film, you’ll want to follow them wherever they roam.” (That’s one of the quotes scattered through the ad book.)

Shortly thereafter, in the commerical package, you are reminded, “that Che is a modern hero…”

And, of course, MD is “a love story.”

And there is some dialogue from the film here and there. Like:

Communist Woman: Are you two looking for work?
Ernesto: No, we’re not looking for work.
Communist Woman: No? Then why are you traveling?
Ernesto: We travel just to travel.
Communist Woman: Bless you…Blessed be your travels.

You need to understand, you see, that: “The story has a universality that transcends politics.” – Stephen Farber, Movieline’s Hollywood Life

“…the story tells how Guevara begins to find himself morally and politically.”–David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune

“‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ could be about anyone spreading his wings for the first time, and that’s what makes it so touching.”–Ruthe Stein, San Fran Chronicle

And you should see the warm–and hot–movie stills. He goes from egghead to glorious, in love, an adventurer, an inspiration.

HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THIS YOUNG MAN, THIS GUEVARA?! HE IS EVERYMAN. (What was that Jay anti-Che-ism all about?!) My emotions are charged from the overdose of Motorcycle Diary Che fluff (emotional sugar) in the Motorcycle Diaries ad book!

To quote Señor Jay Nordlinger, in the current NRODT: “To turn the tide against Guevara would take massive reeducation–a term the old Communist would very much appreciate.” He’s a hot hero who moves the world (“sexy” makes it into the just-short-of-70-pages commercial—not that it is needed. Again, the images tell that story).

And there are the endnotes: “It’s a love story about loving the person that’s your neighbor; it’s a love story about loving the land and therefore loving oneself.”–Gael García Bernal (who plays hero Che)

I think they forgot to mention the love.

“‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ is the kind of movie that can change us all for the better.”–Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

There’s not even a decent hint that the subject is a man who would be a controversial figure. Because, I guess, he really isn’t. The Communist thug who is the stuff of legend now. (And “Fidel” is “uncle.”)

Jay writes, in his piece–which should be printed on index cards to hand out everytime you see someone with a Che shirt:

The fog of time and the strength of anti-anti-Communism have obscured the real Che. Who was he? He was an Argentinian revolutionary who served as Castro’s primary thug. He was especially infamous for presiding over summary executions at La Cabaña, the fortress that was his abattoir. He liked to administer the coup de grâce, the bullet to the back of the neck. And he loved to parade people past El Paredón, the reddened wall against which so many innocents were killed. Furthermore, he established the labor-camp system in which countless citizens–dissidents, democrats, artists, homosexuals–would suffer and die. This is the Cuban gulag. A Cuban-American writer, Humberto Fontova, described Guevara as “a combination of Beria and Himmler.” Anthony Daniels once quipped, “The difference between [Guevara] and Pol Pot was that [the former] never studied in Paris.”

[Emphasis mine.]

The cover, by the way, of the Oscar MD lovefest says “Let the world change you…And you can change the world.”

Well, it didn’t say for the better.