Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Che in the city

So Guerrilla opens Dec. 12. Benicio Del Toro portrays the Argentine revolutionary.

Here's how a few of the posters for the film have fared around the neighborhood.




Sixth Street and First Avenue.



First Avenue near Fifth Street.

Meanwhile, as City Room reported, there's a life-size statue at the Doris Freedman Plaza — at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 60th Street — by Christian Jankowski that depicts a street performer dressed as Che Guevara.



According to a post on Commentary magazine from Nov. 21: "Why is the most vibrant capitalist hub in the world playing host to a statue of a murderous communist thug? Bailout mania? The Castroesque extension of Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s reign? The base of the sculpture is inscribed with a Che quote that my ignorance of Spanish prohibited me from deciphering. But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an apology for committing acts of terror and helping to derail a country for nearly half a century."

Then later:

UPDATE: Apparently, the sculpture is not intended to depict Che Guevara, but rather a street performer dressed as Che Guevara. Which I’m sure makes all the difference in the world to the families of Che’s victims.

1 comment:

Dan Segelin, CSCS said...

i have been talking for years about how i can't stand people's lack of historical knowledge.

you see celebrities wearing Che t-shirts as a fashion accessory, completely oblivious to the fact that he was a communist monster who, if given the chance, would have pressed the button to destroy America - particularly, New York City.

he hated our country and hated everything we stood for (probably because he didn't succeed while he lived in San Francisco as a young man).

Screw Che. And screw the movie.