Since 1994 I have taught a Core III class at Millsaps College entitled, “The Quest for the Holy Grail.” It is a Medieval course (800-1500), but it also encompasses the Mythic World View that permeated that period in time. In order for the twenty-first century nineteen year old mind to truly understand this world view, we study myths, symbols, and the universal paradigm of the Journey of the Hero. Their first paper in the class does not deal with the Middle Ages at all, but with understanding the paradigm of the hero. In order to do that, the students write the first paper on a movie or a fairy tale that embodies this archetype. Topics range from The Matrix, Superman I, Groundhog Day, Star Wars (Luke Skywalker), The Last Samurai, The Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings (Frodo), and so on and so on. You can see from just these examples that the paradigm is universal.

However, last night I went to see The Motorcycle Diaries, a movie brought to Jackson by Crossroads Film Festival. It was the first time I wanted to write the paper that I give my students.

This film relates the story of Ernesto (Ché) Guevara before he became the political companion to Fidel Castro in Cuba’s Revolution. This movie is the story of Ernesto’s journey through South America. It is a hero’s journey of enlightenment, understanding, knowledge, and awareness. Ché Guevara embodies the true spiritual hero who comes to realize the pain and suffering in the world, and somehow wants to alleviate the pain. His journey helps him see the Soul of the people of South America that were hurt, hungry, poor and abused. Somehow, Ché wants to restore his land to some order and wholeness. What begins as a magnificent adventure story becomes transformative, not only to Ché, but to everyone around him. Ché had been studying leprosy in text books as a medical student in Buenos Aires, but only when he reaches the leper colony on his journey, does his heart explode with compassion and suffering for the leper. His heart breaks. He is moved and touched to the core, and so is the audience. He disobeys and touches the unclean without gloves. He feeds them and helps them. He hugs them. We begin to understand what caused this huge soul to want to heal and restore all of South America. His intent was to bring justice. His intent was to bring wholeness and peace. But no one was listening. Somewhere in his life he had to pick up a gun to be heard. But this movie does not go there. This movie only tells the story of a true spiritual hero whose only desire was to heal the world. If we could only listen to Ché Guevara’s voice now, but this time somehow do it in peace: the peace that Ché was never able to attain.

--Mary Louise Jones