The Motorcycle Diaries V.S. Easy Rider

I'm a Film major( switiching over to English with a minor in Film soon), and this is what we do, so I'm just using my skills. We don't just ''watch movies''.

After seeing The Motorcycle Diaries(Diarios de Motocicleta) for a second time I realized how much it parallels Easy Rider as a road movie. Although both films are entirely different, many of the central themes in both are very similar.

In Easy Rider, the main characters take off on motocycles on a journey across the U.S. on a spiritual journey to discover themselves and to find ''the american dream'' which really does not exist. Their journey fails in the end because they don't discover anything about themselves, really. Although, they do make it to New Orleans, drop a lot of acid , do a lot of drugs, spend some time with hookers, and hang out in a commune, among other things. There is no hint that these events sparked a sense of revelation in them. They are also killed in the end. The fact that they never achieved their desired self-discovery is crucial to the film's time period. The 1960's Vietnam era was a time of chaos, and revolution, times were changing and morality was lacking. The sadness and chaos of the 1960's I think is really reflected in the cynical and decadent mood of the film. The main characters do not accomplish anything, and any idea of the ideal America they were apparently searching for could not be found.

The Motorcycle Diaries, on the other hand is the story of two men's trip across the continent of South America. The young Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, a medical student and his friend, Alberto Granado, a biochemist journey from Argentina, to Chile, Peru and Venezuela. Their journey does actually prove to be productive and successful, Ernesto and Alberto spend time working in a leper colony in Peru, and learning of the injustices of the indigenous people in the Andes mountains who are homeless on their own land.Ernesto discovers at the end, that all the injustice that he has seen is shaping him into a new person with a new identity.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the desire that most of us share to see the world and travel is so important to a person's self-journey. Being in another place and meeting up with all different types of people really can make you discover some amazing things about yourself.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Che was lucky. He was able to travel and learn what he wanted. The movie is one of my favorites. Great men and woman are create by living, learning and traveling. Thank you for the amazing story.
Coyote