Perryman on Che

Mark Perryman writes in the Groan’s comment is free on Che Guevara:

Tonight in cinemas across the country Steven Soderbergh’s immense biopic Che is showing in New Year’s Day advance screenings.

Slapped on to T-shirts, morphed into Christ and Richard Branson to promote everything from church-going to venture capitalism, the image of Che Guevara is reckoned to be amongst the most reproduced images in the world. Che represents a unique mix of revolutionary ideals and popstar celebrity. Icons of rebellion have a nasty habit of degenerating into cults of personality. But in this regard Che is more Banksy than Bolshevik. Corporations commodify it with do-it-yourself politics, others turn his face to whatever ideal they think worth fighting for.

Would that be evil murdering bastard Che? And comparing him to Banksy, for God’s sake. I might not rate Banksy, but so far as I am aware, he hasn’t murdered anyone.

It is when I read such apologist drivel, I realise just what it is that the Groan represents. When they talk of revolutionary ideals, they mean communism and the repression that goes with it:

Of course what gives Che substance is that together with Fidel Castro and their ragbag army they turned their ideals into a victory that has endured. It’s no accident the film is being launched tonight, on the 50th anniversary of the day that the US-backed Batista regime was toppled from power in Havana.

Those “ideals” persist today. Tell the political prisoners locked up by this ragbag army’s leaders for expressing differing points of view about those “ideals” not us.

Che however remains the single most important key to Cuba becoming a symbol of global inspiration.

There is something distinctly warped in the world when a vicious murdering totalitarian despot is deemed to be a “symbol of global inspiration”. And does it come as any surprise that the Guardian should be an apologist for such evil? I shouldn’t be surprised, really, I shouldn’t.

However, this murderous wickedness is glossed over with a rather neat little bit of whitewash:

…but Che’s idealism, Cuba’s survival are ever present however they are worn or depicted. Instead of a leftist purity over the process of commodification we should concern ourselves instead with how to make these connections vivid and pleasurable. How to turn that faraway ideal of Che’s sunny socialismo into something burning bright amongst the grey, drab party politics we have to endure when we come out of that cinema tonight.

“Sunny socialismo” fer chrissakes, give me a break! That would be the sunny socialismo that makes it okay to murder 14 year olds in cold blood would it? Sunny fucking socialismo, indeed; tell that to the families of the people this evil bastard murdered, you shit-head apologist for mass murderers.

And who is Mark Perryman?

Mark Perryman is one of the organisers of the CHElebration New Year Party for the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution on Friday 2 January with Radio Revolucion, Hank Wangford, Luke Wright and Movimentos Sound System.

Jesus, what a nasty little fucktard. I’ll leave the final word to DK:

In short, the man was a total fucking scumbag and anyone who reveres him is competing to be almost as bad. After all, to paraphrase Obi Wan Kenobi, who is the bigger shit—the shit, or the shit who follows him?