Motorcycle Diaries

The film Diarios de Motocicleta, Motorcycle Diaries was a very interesting look at the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who becomes second in command with Castro to lead the revolution in Latin America. It is evident through the movie that he is being groomed by the life changing experiences that he has on this trip to become a great leader. As he sets out on this adventure of a lifetime with his friend Alberto they both seem to be influenced by the hardships that they encounter as well as being changed by the people that they meet along the way. Ernesto is a medical student with one semester left of school, when he decides to set out on this trip to see South America. There are many evidences in the film that shows his future potential to be a great leader. One aspect is in his continual honesty in dealing with the people he encounters in his travels. He decides early on that he will not even tell "white lies" to get what he wants even if it means going without food or shelter. I found it interesting that his friend was willing to lie to people many times to get his way or to appear agreeable. A striking example was in Ernesto's honesty with the Dr who wrote the book. I feel that the Dr. really respected Ernesto for his honesty in reviewing his book and telling him the truth of how he felt about it. Another vivid example of leadership was how he made people feel special when he met them. He was very genuine and personable when meeting people. He always introduced himself and wanted to know their name and learn of their lives. This aspect of his personality made him very likeable to the people he met. One example of this was with the Inca people in Peru. He was very intrigued with their lives and interested in learning their culture and difficulties. He even learned how to take the leaves "with two hands" as was their culture when eating. Overall he presents himself as a potential leader as he was such a "people" person. I feel that the main differences in celebrations in Spanish speaking cultures from the United States is in the dance. Several episodes in the movie involved dancing and music. The United States doesn't seem to have this heavy influence of music that Latin America does. I did find it interesting how the people in the leper colony wanted to celebrate Ernesto's birthday with him even though he only met them 3weeks earlier. This celebration of life is an important part of the Latin America people.