Listening to> 'Dry Your Eyes' - The Streets
Reading> 'The Descent of Woman: The Classic Study of Evolution' - nearly finished
Working On> Trying to stay awake
Film of the moment> Amelie & Motorcycle Diaries
The school was having an 'international' film festival - which meant they showed a foreign film a night for three days. The last day was Wednesday, and 'Zatoichi' was the film. Unfortunately, I had class and made the choice to stay whilst everyone else left halfway to catch the screening.
My reaction to 'Amelie' is the same as always: feel content, then fear, and lastly depressed. It's really quite simple: one begins to identify with Amelie's character and then realises self is too cowardly to actually reach out to another being. I could never do what Amelie did in the film. With my relationships the pattern is clear as day: I could not be with the men I wanted (either because they were taken, or that they didn't like me) so I immediately rush into another relationship with someone I would never think of being with. This 'surrogate' person would inevitably hurt me. An example include the two married men I briefly dated. Of course I had no idea they were married, and quickly broke it off. But after a while I started to wonder, what was it about me that these sort of guys would latch onto?
*groans* No more. It's lonely not to have someone, but I suppose it's better than being used for creature comforts.
When I watched 'Motorcycle Diaries', I truly, truly wanted to believe in Che the rebel. History can be whitewashed, and it's up to the individual to decide whether he is the canonised liberal saint, the harbinger of evil to Cuba.
There are other views of Che, as well, and I still can't make up my mind about him. Part of the problem is that the actor who portrays Che is Gael Garcia Bernal, and he seems to play the same dreamer in all the films I've seen in him. Don't believe me? Try 'Amores Perros', 'Y Tu Mama Tambien', 'El Crimen del Padre Amaro', and this one. I'm looking forward to 'La Mala Educacion', which is more known for Bernal's transvestite character than its controversial Catholic Church storyline.
But I digress. Bernal is good in the role, but I can't help wondering how much of the story is fiction. It seems so artfully done, almost like propaganda. I grew up seeing more obvious propaganda films in Eastern Europe, and can spot these elements a mile away.
Yet I have to commend the director for the way he introduced Ernesto's growing radicalism. After an hour of growing to like Che, there's less of an incentive to hate him when he's being righteous and political - even if he has already decided a revolution without arms is useless. One gets the feeling that Che is really just another Simon Bolivar, who merely seeks to unify South America. The end captions seeks to glorify these supposed beliefs by mentioning his fight in the Congo and Cuba. It further accuses the CIA of murdering Che, and links his revolutionary ideals with the emancipation of the native peoples of South America.
There is another film that portrays just how devastating such a movement can be and that is 'The Dancer Upstairs'. They're both rather depressing films, but in truth, they're only mirroring reality. No movement has ever successfully united the South American countries or released the indigenous people from their social and economic constraints. Not since Simon Bolivar, and definitely not under Che Guevara. Perhaps not ever again.
Too heavy, right? How am I going to live up to my username? What happened to the dirty little notes I used to write?
Luckily, I received a g-book note from Tea asking for a Draco/Ginny fic.
I shall try my best at it, and hope you like it :)
P.S. It's on the next diary entry, as I think my entries are wayyyy too long.