Che

I’ve always been a fan of Che Guevara, but my admiration increased greatly after watching the ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’. I became a fan. I think I was fascinated with the idea of a young man giving up, what could have been a comfortable life (as a doctor) to become a Cuban revolutionary. But beyond the film my knowledge of Che was really limited. So I decided that it was perhaps time to google Che before I started writing ‘Eternal victory’ (a slogan he used a lot during his time) on my jeans.
I am fascinated by what I read, but what amazes me most is his popularity. The man is everywhere— T-shirts, magazines, graffiti and tattoos! Che is the ultimate symbol of rebellion. Every self-proclaimed radical swears by him. But not every self-proclaimed radical can honestly claim to know him. This has to be the greatest irony of communist history. The man who journeyed from medical school to guerilla warfare; who took many lives for the communist cause before finally losing his own, has suddenly become a product of capitalism. A trademark for every wannabe renegade.
There were plenty of other great revolutionaries, who fought alongside Che, but perhaps it was his charisma, coupled with the fact that this was a man (full of idealism and beliefs) who died young enough to be worshipped that made him a commercial success. Passion is always a great seller, and coupled with martyrdom it is an unbeatable combination. Just think of all the geniuses who died young and you’ll know what I mean. They’re untouchable once dead—all past mistakes are forgiven and forgotten. This applies to Che as well…had he been alive today he would have perhaps been labelled a terrorist by George W. Bush, and hailed by Fidel Castro, both unappealing images of this man.
I wonder then, if history is really a just structured hypocrisy…the winner decides the truth, and in this case the winner is capitalism.

But then I’m not complaining…I’ve always been a fan of Che Guevara and I always will be.

Bhanu