That guy on the poster with the beret

Factual Questions
1

Watching some of the war protestors on TV I noticed a number of them with posters of a man with a beret, a moustache, and a generally scruffy appearance.

I’ve seen him on lots of “leftist” material, but I honsetly don’t know who it is.

Could some tell who he is and why he’s so beloved among the protestors and, I’m guessing, the radical left?

Thanks,

2

Sounds like Che Guevara.

3

Also sounds like Saddam Hussein.

4

I think more probably Che. Is this the guy you saw?

5

Yup, that’s him. I’ll do some “googling” for more info, but could someone give me the bottomline on this guy?

Thanks for the link. Heck, even if I knew his name I could’ve never spelled it.

6

Kids today don’t know Che…

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8702/short.html

He was a Marxist and was invovled in the revolutions in Cuba, along with Fidel, and Bolivia, where he was shot.

7

Kids today should know Che, there’s enough posters of him around still. His image is still massively publicised.

8

I found this .

Pretty interesting, but I don’t see any poster purchases in my future.

Thanks again.

9

Are you quite sure it wasn’t this dude? :smiley:

10

If you’re really not interested in the full story, the short dope is that Che - that face that launched a thousand T-shirts - was a ‘cult of personality’-type popular resistance hero in the Cuban revolution.

The People (according to most history revisions) loved him, he was the Symbol of the Revolution, of the Overthrow of Oppression, etc.

(capitals intended, as it’s all about dogma)

Since then, he, or at least his most famous two-tone image has become the Symbol of Revolution in general. After all, his one worked :wink:

Since then, the image has been recycled into pop culture in an MTV-way to the point that kids wearing the T-shirt or buying the latest ‘Rage Against the Machine’ album (google it - they’re the guys that wrote ‘Killing in the name of’ etc) have no idea who they’re looking at any more than they know what the Nike swoosh is a picture of (it is something :wink: ).

Back to events, the image (no longer very strongly associated with Che the person or ideal) is now a generic rebellious sign, popular with people that feel like protesting about whatever.

Just as the ‘Peace’ symbol no longer means just ‘Nuclear Disarmament’, and the peace V sign no longer means ‘Victory’, Che no longer means ‘Marxist Revolution’, just ‘opposition in general’

  • OK, it wasn’t that short, and it’s left out a LOT of interpretation - but I think it gets to your OP OK.
11

dman, the peace vee is different from the victory vee: In the peace vee, the thumb is towards the audience. In the victory vee, the thumb is towards the person.

And what does the Nike `swoosh’ stand for other than sweat shop labor?

12

Oooohkay, I’m going with “asked and answered” on this one.