July 09, 2007

Perhaps Cuba Needs a Cultural Revolution

While searching for some Cuba-related videos on YouTube this weekend, I stumbled upon a trailer for a 2005 film titled “Che,” starring Eduardo Noriega as El Carnicero de La Cabaña (The Butcher of La Cabana). While I already knew what to expect before ever hitting the “play” button on my computer screen, I was never-the-less shocked to the core – not so much by the mistruths and outright lies presented in the film but rather, by some of the reactions posted in relation to the the 2 1/2 minute segment.

“Che is the messiah ,the messiah of freedom.”

“The movie looks amazing.”

The piece opens with Guevara standing heroically atop the prow of the yacht, Granma for several seconds before a variety of words - apparently meant to describe him - appear on the screen: TEACHER, DOCTOR, PHILOSOPHER, WARRIOR, REVOLUTIONARY. The man depicted in the trailer seems to be a rather honorable fellow, fighting for justice and egalitarianism. Too bad the only single-word description appearing in the trailer that reflects any truth is the phrase “KILLER.” I would refer anyone reading this humble review to have a look at Humberto Fontova’s book, “Exposing the Real Che Guevara” for a more accurate and historical portrayal. What I see here is nothing less than sophistry on a grand scale.

Chairman Mao was once as popular and iconic a figure as Ernesto “Che” Guevara. So then, why is Mao condemned by the academic elite and Che revered? I would argue that the answer to that question goes all the way back to China’s cultural revolution. The voices that once trumpeted Mao’s supposed “championing of the impoverished masses” from high atop their ivory towers saw no reason to bring to light the late chairman’s delight in using sadistic methods of torture on his innocent victims. The academic elite never saw fit to dispel the outright fabrications and tall tales used by Mao to present himself as a valiant fighter. No, Mao had overthrown the status-quo and nothing else really mattered to those halfwits who would present him as a benevolent leader. That all changed in May of 1966. Suddenly, Mao and his henchmen had declared war on all things Western. Anything created outside Mao’s virulently nationalistic/Stalinist sphere of influence was deemed anti-revolutionary – from Mozart to Van Gogh, it was all rubbish. Suddenly, the culture of the world’s so-called “academic elite” was coming under fire. It was only then that the masses of pretentious scholars condemned Mao as the sadist that he was. For those interested in reading a thoroughly engrossing and detailed biography on Communist China’s first leader, I strongly recommend Jung Chang and Jon Halliday’s ”Mao: The Unknown Story.”

This is what we’re fighting, people – the creation of a myth meant to erase the crimes of an entire government. This film is exactly why projects like Maria Werlau’s Cuba Archive are so important. Submit your comments on the Che trailers appearing on YouTube – there are several. I ask you not to comment with anger or indignation (my first inclination), but with thought and reason.

-Anatasio Blanco

Posted by at July 9, 2007 04:36 PM



Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/5595

Comments

I guess that Che movie flopped? Never heard of it.

Posted by: mandingo [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 9, 2007 05:06 PM

I can't figure it out, Mandingo - the comments range from only two days ago, to only five months ago and they're still talking about being in production. The remarks on youtube about Benicio del Toro are incorrect - he's working on a film depicting Che's visit to the UN. When I look up the film on IMDB however, it's got a 2005 production date. Can't figure out what's going on here. One would certainly hope that it flopped however.

Posted by: CubaWatch [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 9, 2007 05:47 PM

Thanks for the post Anastasio!
Speaking of "che" ... I was watching the DVD of a newly released movie called "The Shooter" in which Michael Pena (Mexican-American) starts as an FBI agent ... in one of the scenes ... he's wearing a black, long sleeve t-shirt with a huge portrait of the murderous "che guevara", with "che" printed in large letters on the bottom corner . . . I saw him in another movie about "Latino" students walking out of LA schools a while back in which he also wore a "che" t-shirt ... I guess like many others artists ... he takes advantage of the "venue" and captive audience to push their socialist and communist ideologies...

I wish you well :) Melek

"Socialist ideology, like so many others, has two main dangers. One stems from confused and incomplete readings of foreign texts, and the other from the arrogance and hidden rage of those who, in order to climb up in the world, pretend to be frantic defenders of the helpless so as to have shoulders on which to stand." ~ Jose Marti

Posted by: Melek [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 9, 2007 06:28 PM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?