Time to Chelebrate

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Time to Chelebrate

(Tuesday 23 December 2008)

MARK PERRYMAN
As Cubans celebrate the 50th anniversary of the revolution, MARK PERRYMAN takes a look at how the enduring icon of Che Guevara still touches people's lives.

The image of Che Guevara, with his beret, long hair, handsome face fixing you with his stare, is reckoned to be among the most reproduced images in the world.

Whereas corporate symbols, the McDonald's golden arches, the Nike swoosh and Coca Cola's red and white can or bottle, have come to represent one version of neoliberal globalisation, a Che T-shirt represents the internationalism of the rebellion and resistance that it also inspires.
Che has become an icon, a means of identifying with the anti-establishment, a unique mix of the revolutionary ideals and pop star celebrity.
Like all such icons, it is vulnerable to the cult of the personality, but the unique facet of Che's image is that it has become so integral to popular culture that it is often in danger of being commodified out of meaningful existence.
Che, therefore, poses a problem for parts of the left that are incapable of coping with such an unfamiliar contradiction.
So does it matter when, on January 2, Steven Soderbergh's eagerly awaited Hollywood biopic of Che is released?
The film is no art house movie - it will be shown in every major cinema across Britain.
After 12 years of new Labourites doing their worst to disconnect political practice from the ideals that once framed the left, a moment like this offers an opportunity to reflect on how far Labour's politics have become divorced from idealism.
Nobody is going to leave the Odeon ready to sign on the dotted line for revolutionary change, yet, if the left cannot readily engage with the audiences the film attracts and inspires, then it will reveal itself to be remarkably ill-equipped for such an unique opportunity.
Slapping a Che picture on a leaflet in the same way that his image gets printed on almost any available product won't do.
In fact, it apes capital's commodification. We need to find a way to transform our own political and cultural mix instead.
The film's release coincides, of course, with the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution.
Cuba is the ultimate survivor. This alone makes Cuba very special.
But it is the global inspiration that Cuba provides which makes it irresistible for so many.
Che, of course, is the key to this, linking the appeal to its political origins.
But the breadth of the cultural connections that Cuba offers should not be underestimated either.
The music of the Buena Vista Social Club has touched tens of millions, the overwhelming majority of whom would never have been engaged in any kind of solidarity campaigning.
You can add to this sport, boxing in particular, dance and ballet, Cuban rum and cocktails and holidaymaking on this most attractive of Caribbean islands.
Those immersed in the political intricacies of debating the pros and cons of the Cuban "model" - and, of course, human rights issues are invariably part of any such discussion - should not lightly discount the appeal of these multiple connections that so many make with Cuba.
In fact, they are central to the making of a popular internationalism.
"The true revolutionary is motivated by feelings of great love," Che wrote.
He gave his life for the cause in Bolivia, helped to build Cuba's economy and welfare system, travelled to Africa to contribute to the liberation struggle there and did all this having rejected a privileged upbringing and good career prospects in his native Argentina.
Can all this be adequately summed up on a T-shirt? Of course not, but Che's idealism and Cuba's survival are ever present however they are worn or depicted.
It is the task of politics to make the connections, to turn that faraway ideal of sunny socialismo into something that burns bright among the grey, drab managerialism of party politics that we have to endure when we come out of that cinema.

CHElebration New Year Party for the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution is on January 2 2009 at Offside, 271 City Road, London EC1 with Radio Revolucion, Hank Wangford, Luke Wright and Movimientos Sound System. To book tickets call (020) 8802 3499 or visit www.philosophyfootball.com. The Revolucion Cubana T-shirt range is also available from the website.

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