I saw The Motorcycle Diaries for the second time last night. The first time I saw it was at Sundance, and I was completely moved by the compelling story and backdrop of the South American countryside. I was equally moved last night. If you don't know, The Motorcycle Diaries, based on the book by the same name, is the story of a journey 23 year old Ernesto "Che" Guevara took with a friend from his home in Buenos Aires to the northern half of South America in 1952. This is long before Guevara became the controversial figure instrumental in the creation of Cuba. The young Ernesto in this film is a young medical student unsure of what he wants to be and do. In the course of this journey, Guevara's perspective changes. He witnesses the tragic effects on the people as corrupt regimes come to power in many South American countries, and he comes to see all the people of South America as one that should be joined rather than split by these corrupt regimes.

I don't agree with much of what Guevara went on to do with the rest of his short life for his beliefs: he oversaw the executions of hundreds of political prisoners and regime opponents while in Cuba and went onto push guerilla warfare in other Latin American and African countries. But I can relate to the young idealistic man in The Motorcycle Diaries who yearns to effect change for the better. The main question this film draws for me is how. How do we make the lives of those people better?

So often in my life, I see tragedy and I look the other way because I don't know how I can help. I certainly have no plans to go on to lead a Communist revolution, but I feel the need to do something. It's a hard question that seems to be pushed back or completely ignored often here within the apathetic United States. I don't know how to change that, and perhaps that is the challenge.