Why is he so popular with college kids?
Did he invent the iPod?
I’ve always wondered if Guevara would be amused or appalled that someone is making so much money off of his image, considering his political sympathies…
Though the basis for the T-shirts and posters is the Korda photograph, the really famous iconic image was painted by Irish painter Jim Fitzpatrick. It looks copied from the photo, though I did read once that Fitzpatrick actually met Guevara when he was on a layover in Shannon airport, flying between the USSR and central America.
Yes, according to the Squink’s wiki link, the famous painting was done from the photograph.
Am I the only one who can’t think of Che Guevera without thinking of cows with guns?
On a totally unrelated note, Death Ray that has to have been the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time! I’m laughing hysterically!!!
Personally, I preferred those shirts:
Serious answer: He’s seen as a romantic, a revolutionary, a machinegun-toting, cigar-chomping, battle-hardened philosopher who gave up the practice of medicine to overthrow tyranny, selflessly champion the downtrodden, and fearlessly stick it to The Man–until The Man gunned him down in Bolivia and stuffed him into the trunk of a car.
How much of this is reality is subject to heated debate. I’m no Guevara fan but, as revolutionaries go, Che claims the top spot in international t-shirt sales.
A sort of real life version of Trashman.
I tripped over those on the Web last year. All I could think of was, “Whoa! I haven’t seen a Che shirt in over two decades (including stops in a few college towns along the way), but there’s still a bunch of right-wingers who are obsessed with him!”
Does anyone still wear Che shirts??
Oooh. There’s an idea for a t-shirt project there… for people with skillz, anyway.
Oddly enough, I saw a young man wearing one a few months back. On a military base, no less.
The irony, it burns.
Dayum, that’s bizarre.
Yea, they still do, at least in some circles…
I’ve even seen belt buckles with that image… I’ve always wanted to say that I didn’t know Che converted to capitalism, but I was afraid of getting into a discussion with the (usually guys) who sport his wares.
Now, a poster of him I may want to have…
Can attest that there are still quite a few people into Che-wear. Usually people who weren’t even a gleam in the struggling working classes’ eye when he was buried. But in recent years you could be pretty sure to spot them at anti-globalization rallies. Or on 8th-year-and-counting “juniors” at the UPR Social Sciences Department 
But real, serious, revolutionaries do not need Che-wear to make a statement. It’s sort of the radical equivalent of wearing a gigantic designer logo or conspicuous but cheap bling.
BTW, the Korda photograph is copyrighted and both Korda and the Guevara family seek to control what uses are given to it. (Memo to the Guevaras: er, oye, viejo it’s called intellectual property for a reason, a “moral rights” copyright claim IS a claim of private ownership!) Fitzpatrick, OTOH, is reported to have claimed to have no knowledge of the origin of the photograph and to have encouraged the unrestricted reproduction thereof.
At my high school, Che was a popular icon on the shirts of those who tended to smoke pot and be “rebels” themselves. Typical sight: a stoned kid in the hallway, hair over his eyes, wearing a baseball cap with Element (a skateboarding company)'s logo on it, a Che t-shirt, baggy pants and skater shoes, listening to Bob Marley with his iPod or playing hacky sack with all his friends who are just as different in the same way as he is.
I say this with a fondness, having gone through a similar stage myself, and having described my little brother to a T . This was at one of the best high schools in Alaska, and my guess is that you’d see similar things throughout West Coast (public) high schools.
Poster advertising “The Peoples’ Revolutionary Dance Party” at my college:
“No, we aren’t actually communists, but we do think Che Guevera looks pretty dashing in that beret.”
There’s also a “Students Against Screenprint Che” group on Facebook.
The only kid I know who actually wears a Che shirt says he’s a communist. He also says he’s gay, republican, christian, and jewish. I just call him “pretentious.”
In the original photo, shown in the Wiki article, he seems to be scarred under his left eye, and that eye is pointing in a different direction than the other. Did he have “lazy eye” or had he suffered some injury?
It also looks like he’s wearing Michael Jackson’s “Bad” jacket, c. 1984…