Over at OpinionJournal.com, Bridget Johnson surveys Hollywood’s contributions to the idolization of Communist murderer Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries and beyond:

Now that “Motorcycle” has ridden into the awards sunset—ironically, considering the nature of communism, also picking up two Independent Spirit Awards—the sequel to Che canonization is on the horizon. Filming is scheduled to start later this year on “Che,” a Steven Soderbergh (”Traffic”) vehicle starring Benicio del Toro as the famed Marxist. The plot line as listed on the Internet Movie Database: “An epic about Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara, who fought for the people.”

Wait, there’s more. IMDb lists another movie titled “Che” currently filming, written and directed by Josh Evans, son of Ali McGraw. If one can assume that Sonia Braga’s “Celia” character is Guevara’s mother, are we in store for another innocent, youthful portrayal of the guerrilla in “The Tricycle Diaries”?

Annoying as the Che adulation is, a recent comment by a 14-year-old on an online movie message board was truly disturbing: “I just saw The Motorcycle Diaries, which further made me question: Why is communism bad? ... Young people are told how bad communism is, but we are not told why. ... The Motorcycle Diaries showed me how Ernesto Guevara wanted to help people. ... But this did not explain why he was such a ‘bad’ person and apparently deserved to be murdered by the U.S.”

Is this a legacy of dangerous ignorance that the makers of “Che” wish to continue? Might this teen be taught that the product of Guevara and Castro’s “revolution” is a nation whose inhabitants still risk their lives to escape—and an estimated one-third die trying? A nation where neighbor spies on neighbor, where dissent lands one in the clink—or worse—and persecution is punishment for everything from religion to homosexuality?

What feature films have showed the true nature of communism? There was “The Killing Fields,” showing families torn apart, cities emptied, forced labor, bones littering the Cambodian landscape. Adding to the authenticity was its star, Oscar-winner and real-life survivor Haing S. Ngor, who would have been summarily executed had his intellectual background been discovered by the Khmer Rouge. As a cinematic achievement, it ranks as one of the best films of all time. As a historical testament, it shows that communism had nothing to do with betterment of the masses but stripped away everything that comprised the individual. Though this film should be required high-school viewing, not much else springs to mind that could counter the effects of pro-Marxist cinema.

Usually Hollywood’s antipathy towards capitalism comes through more subtly. Businesspeople are almost invariably portrayed as corrupt people bent on destroying the environment or ruining the lives of workers. The heroes are usually those who fight against the evil corporations. That’s the typical script on the micro view capitalism, so it isn’t much of a surprise that on the macro level, Hollywood also glorifies enemies of capitalism.

Hollywood apparently doesn’t understand the irony of making money by selling such films...unfortunately, neither do audiences.