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October 25, 2004
The Motorcycle Diaries, or, La Revolucion is the new yoga
"I will be on the side of the people … I will take to the barricades and the trenches, screaming as one possessed, will stain my weapons with blood, and, mad with rage, will cut the throat of any vanquished foe I encounter."
No, its not George Bush or John Kerry, silly!
Its something that the real Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna wrote in his diary. But really, like a lot of people in the audience, I went to see The Motorcycle Diaries for the eye candy, and was not disappointed. Latin heartthrob Gael Garcia Bernal is almost pretty enough to distract from the gorgeously filmed South American scenery. What I was expecting to see was a romanticized version of a firey, wild-eyed revolutionary but I found the film to be a convincing (okay maybe a teensy bit heavy-handed in places) and surprisingly, almost disappointingly subtle portrait of transformation. This is not entirely a cartoon revolutionary, and there are moments which remind the viewer that Che was no pacifist. These struck me as remarkably understated. In a casual conversation while lounging about in Machu Picchu, for example, his traveling companion, Alberto Granada -played by Rodrigo De La Serna, a real-life cousin in the Guevara family - outlines a peaceful strategy to change the world, and Che, in an offhanded way, makes it plain that he is fully convinced there will be no successful revolution without using guns. And if one delves deeper into the real (or imagined, at this point it is impossible to discern) life of Che Guevara one finds that Che was in fact, really not a pacifist to the extent that he presided over firing squads in Cuba. He also founded labor camps which were later used to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and people with AIDS. So what is the deal with the t-shirts and whatnot all of a sudden? Could it be that people are looking for a savior because the world situation is dismal, but Jesus is taken? Is Che the alterno-martyr? Che is the new Jesus, like knitting is the new yoga.
Speaking of knitting, the improvised black sweater has taken over my life, I am shaping arm holes right now and contemplating how to make the shoulders, and if I should try to give it sleeves. The Rowan Wool Cotton makes nicely draping fabric, and I am hoping to complete a whole wardrobe from it at some point, I love it so much. I think I will marry it.
Here is something else I would like to make! Ooh so pretty, pretty!!! I find I am always taken in by cute models. Its a problem. More than the knitted thing I think I want the pigtails.
Saturday I will be heading to Savannah, GA, to scope out the skool, and see if it is someplace I want to live. There is one yarn store in Savannah that I know of and I am hoping also to get to it, if there is time.
Look for Savannah photos on future Knit-A-Logs!
Viva La Revolucion!!
Posted by at October 25, 2004 05:23 PM