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| Fifth Column |
| Give Me a Rebel, but Hold the Politics |
| 2004-03-30 |
| Sam & Seb is a children’s clothing store in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn that specializes in the sort of garments, tiny Levi’s, baby Dries van Noten tops — that have been created with the assumption that 3-year-olds don’t want to look 3. But a while back the store’s owner, Simone Manwarring, began getting requests for an item that was unusual even by those standards. "Lots of parents were coming in and saying, `Hey, wouldn’t it be great to have a Che T-shirt?’ " Ms. Manwarring said. By Che, the parents meant, of course, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary executed by Bolivians in 1967, whose beret-wearing image once adorned college dormitories from Berkeley to the Sorbonne. Ms. Manwarring started making the shirts, with sizes even for a 3-month-old. She now sells about 10 a week. Reminds me of the time I called Revolution Books in NYC and asked if they sold Karl Marx boxer shorts. The commie counterperson huffed and raged and started to lecture me. Then I called a store named Little Ricky (specialized in kitsch) and asked the same thing. The guy there burst out laughing and said, "No. But if someone made them, we’d certainly sell them!" The Che industry has been fairly robust over the years, with keepsakes including posters, cigarette lighters, watches and nail clippers sold in many parts of the world. But lately it is clothing with the image of the rebel, from the iconic photo taken in 1960 by Alberto Korda, that seems ever more coveted as street wear. It has turned up on Moscow artists and on 11-year-old boys in the New York suburbs. In the last six months, sales of fitted T-shirts, loose T-shirts, tank tops, hooded sweatshirts, caps and camp shirts have increased by about 40 percent at Thechestore.com, said John Trigiani, the company’s owner. Mr. Trigiani began selling Che paraphernalia about five years ago after he returned home to Toronto from Cuba with a statuette he had bought for $2, and resold on eBay for $128. damn baby boomers trying desperately to hold onto one of their idols. Why the renewed interest in Che, when so many communist governments have failed? Mr. Trigiani said, "I think there are many reasons for this and one of them is Mike Tyson." A few years ago, the prizefighter got a picture of Che etched onto his rib cage. Other catalysts include two coming movies, one "The Motorcycle Diaries," based on the journals Che kept during his travels through South America as a medical student in 1952. That film appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is due in theaters later this year. The second film, an epic called "Che" to be directed by Terrence Malick, is beginning production next year. I hope there are protests outside theaters that show this whitewashing crap. Revolutionary ideology seems to have almost nothing to do with the emerging Che style, which is manifest also in men’s sweaters, high-end bikinis and underwear. "I met a college student who wanted the T-shirts, and she had absolutely no idea who Che was," Mr. Trigiani said. "Che’s true legacy is simply one of terror and murder. That dreaded midnight knock. Wives and daughters screaming in rage and panic as Che’s goons drag off their dads and husbands – that’s the real Che legacy." The image seems mostly a visually compelling logo to those who are buying Che-wear today. "Mao Zedong’s is another head we’re thinking of," Ms. Manwarring said. "Both of these have become strong pop cultural images; I don’t think people want these things on their clothes as a political statement but I think they are drawn to the graphic intensity." "Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers clubbed with rifle butts outside La Cabana as Che’s firing squads murder their dads and sons inside – that’s the real Che legacy." Patrick Symmes, the author of "Chasing Che: A Motorcycle Journey in Search of the Guevara Legend," said, "I think the more that time goes by, the chicer and chicer Che gets because the less he stands for anything." "Thousands of heroes yelling "Viva Cuba Libre!" and "Viva Christo Rey!" before firing squads of murderous drunks whom they’d have stomped in open battle – that’s the real Che legacy." About two years ago, Mr. Symmes said, he discovered a bar in London called Che. "It’s ultradeluxe and a young guy was the owner," Mr. Symmes said, referring to Hani Farsi, a wealthy Saudi Arabian. "I asked him, `Why Che?’ and he answered, `Oh you know, rebellion and all that.’ " "And let’s not forget the craven "Don’t shoot – I’m Che! I’m worth more to you live than dead!" (Then why didn’t he save his last bullet for himself?) Perhaps the defiant yells of the men he murdered actually affected Che the Lionhearted? By 1960 he started ordering that his victims’ mouths be taped shut. Perhaps there was a trace of human emotion in this icy dolt after all? Genuine bravery and defiance unnerved him. When the wheels of justice finally turned, Che was revealed as unworthy to carry his victims’ slop buckets. He learned nothing from their bravery. He could only beg for his life. So yes, the craven request when cornered in Bolivia is also the real Che legacy." All quotes about his "legacy" come from this devastating putdowwn. |
| Posted by:growler |
| #5 Getcher Simon Girty tee-shirts right here! |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-03-30 5:32:06 PM |
| #4 heh. I prefer the one without text, though. |
| Posted by: growler 2004-03-30 2:00:24 PM |
| #3 How 'bout one of these? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-03-30 1:51:18 PM |
| #2 equally satisfying is the lack of royalties paid....heh heh |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-03-30 1:49:20 PM |
| #1 I must admit, while I find the ideologies represented by Che and Mao to be repugnant, there is a certain poetic justice that the key to their ongoing popularity lies in the exercise of good, old-fashioned capitalism. In the flood of popular demand for goods with these images, I hope they will cease to have any attachment to their formal legacies, and will simply be pretty baubles for the teeny-boppers to wear. In the end, the true devotees will be outraged that Abercrombie's new Che line is selling for 70% off on the clearance rack. Vive la revolucion! |
| Posted by: mjh 2004-03-30 1:15:01 PM |