Romanticized mercenary and psychopathic killer, Che Guevara
Source: Le Blogue du LFG – Guadalajara

If a thug has a pretty face, does that justify his mass murder? That’s an issue the Academic Elephant explored after a firsthand look at images of Che after Che after Che after Che after Che after Che at a fancy London Museum, which was putting on a Che Display for the radical-chic set.

Elephant explores the images of Che and how their use is designed to manipulate viewers. All of that has culminated in the hideous situation we have today, where Che (a two-bit tramp who stiffed the help and ran out on his tab) is viewed almost as a rock-star icon, an exalted image he wholly does not deserve, given his crimes. It’s an extremely good essay and provides a very thoughtful and articulate perspective on a thug who too often is confused for a hero.

Elephant writes:

Curator Tricia Ziff thinks very highly of both portrait and subject–while she pays some very brief lip service to those who might not consider Che a hero, the premise of the show is that the popularity of Korda’s revolutionary icon validates its subject’s “activities.”

Read the whole thing here.