Like Johnny Depp, I am a big fan of beatific scoundrels. From the beat revelations of Jack Kerouac to Arthur Rimbaud’s visionary verse — these guys had something figured out. Oh yeah, and they were drunks, deadbeats and all-around a-holes.
But when I read Big Sur, I began to understand how (in very special circumstances) a man can be at once both depraved and utterly, utterly pure. Yeah, man…I can dig it.
Unlike Depp, however, I can not “dig” Che Guevara. And I have no kind words for Roman Polanski either. (Mad props for me?)
Kerouac and Rimbaud were morally repugnant in many ways, to be sure, but they stopped short of mass murder and child rape.
Depp, apparently, doesn’t discriminate.
On the cover of this month’s GQ magazine, Depp (evidently one of the “25 Most Stylish Men in the World” this year) can be seen — shirtless — proudly sporting his trademark Che pendant.
Never mind that even as Johnny flaunts his rebellious lifestyle on the pages of an American magazine, Venezuelan youth — many of whom must also view On The Road as their bible — are being bludgeoned into submission by Chavez’ police squads. All in the name of “Misión Che Guevara.”
Over at Big Journalism, Humberto Fontova explains that what might appear ironic — especially to all the counter-culture Hollywood douches who frequently sport Che’s likeness on their tees and pendants — is actually quite fitting:
In a famous speech in 1961, Che Guevara denounced the very “spirit of rebellion” as “reprehensible.” “Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates” commanded Guevara. “Instead they must dedicate themselves to study, work and military service.”
[...]
In the mid 60’s tens of thousands of Cuban youths learned (as in 2010 thousands of Venezuelan youths are learning from one of his most dutiful disciples) that Che Guevara’s admonitions were more than idle bombast….By the mid 60’s the crime of a “rocker” lifestyle or effeminate behavior got thousands of youths yanked off Cuba’s streets and parks by secret police and dumped in prison camps with “Work Will Make Men Out of You” in bold letters above the gate (the one at Auschwitz’ gate read: “Work Will Set You Free) and with machine gunners posted on the watchtowers. The initials for these camps were UMAP, not GULAG, but the conditions were much the same.
Today the world’s largest Che Guevara image adorns Cuba’s headquarters and torture chambers for its KGB-trained secret police. And Johnny Depp seems delighted to flaunt this emblem from his pendants, shirts and kerchiefs.
Honestly, that’s not even the half of it. I’m writing about Depp, but the kind of (willful) ignorance that allows anyone, whether celeb or average Joe, to indulge in this sort of speciousness is truly reprehensible. Depp — hell, everyone — ought to know better.
Doesn’t he claim to be “addicted to books”? I have to wonder if he’s read the history of Cuba’s revolution.
And what about all those “Chav’ Pack” folks (Penn, Sarandon, Stone…you know who you are)? Are they using some sort of Google filter to block out news reports of Chavez’ brutality?
Oh, and this wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the icing on the cake, i.e. Depp’s defense of Polanski. Here ya go.
In an recent interview with The Independent conducted while he was in Serbia for a film festival and the unveiling of his life-size statue, Johnny Depp “wasn’t shy about voicing his dismay about the arrest of film-maker Roman Polanski on a 30-year-old statutory rape charge”:
“Why now?” Depp asked rhetorically. “Obviously, there is something going on somewhere. Somebody has made a deal with someone. Maybe there was a little money involved, but why now?” Polanski, Depp continued, “is not a predator. He’s 75 or 76 years old. He has got two beautiful kids, he has got a wife that he has been with for a long, long time. He is not out on the street.”
No, Johnny, he’s not. And if Che or Chavez had their way, my friend, you wouldn’t be out on the street either.
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Man, I don’t even know where to start here. Soooo many people I despise in this article. Ugh. Never mind…I don’t have the time!
It’s sort of ironic this was posted today, when I’m sitting here anxiously awaiting my tax return so I can order this shirt:
http://www.thoseshirts.com/commies.html
Maybe I’ll get several of them.
Nothing hypocritical that I can see, just typical Hollywood head-ass-ery. I didn’t know Depp was so ‘deeply’ engaged in it, however, so thanks for pointing it out.
I’m with you here, SJS. I can’t think or write about it at length though, so much does it inspire outrageous apoplectic response in me. But yeah. Mad props to you.
I always wondered myself if johnny’s refusal for his children being publically known had anything to do with what he learned from shuffeling through Mr. Gonzo skeletal closet. (just google h.s.Thompson/Lawrence King) You know, his kids are precious, but your’s, mine……not so much.
Thanks Johnny for showing your Deppth.
There’s a great story of a Cuban mother who was headed to prison to see her 16 year old son who was scheduled to be executed in a few days. She sees Che’ outside and begs him for help, he says basically “I’ll see what I can do”. Che goes back into the prison and has the kid executed immediately.
This man personally executed hundreds of people. Castro sent him to South America partially because he was too violent. Depp and his Hollywood ilk insult the memories of everyone in the world that suffered under this kind of oppression.
Oh. and the whole child rape thing is kinda bad too. Mad Props SJS.
OMG! Heard of Photoshop? If ANYONE ever NEEDED to Photoshop something, it should be his tiny girly arms! OMG can he lift anything more than a cigarette? These are the most puny arms I have ever seen, they really needed to Photoshop him some muscles. How this is stylish or Sexy is beyond me.
Thank You Deceiver, You are my Hero.
ps. Everything you see on TV is a LIE, period.
I’d like to know whether Depp (theoretically, of course) would have trusted Guevara OR Polanski with his kid. I don’t mean RAISING; I mean, would Officer Hansen up there feel all cool about letting Che or Roman babysit, for oh, say, five or six hours, unsupervised? Because I’m pretty f**king sure he wouldn’t. The more of these stories I see, the more convinced I am that Hollywood truly does feel nothing but hatred and contempt for the rest of us.
Dear Johnny: We hate you right back, you greasy asshole.
In other news: I too am thrilled that SJS feels no love for Polanski, Chavez, Depp or Guevara.
Whoo hoo, I finally agree with something SJS wrote!
I want to get one of those t-shirts that say “Communism killed ten million people, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” I’ll wear it around all my libtard friends, maybe book a trip to San Fran… And the kicker is that his little Che pendant — which looks like it would be right at home on the shelves of your local Hot Topic — probably cost an ungodly amount of money. Depp can afford to waste a ton of money of crap, so why the hell not, right? The only good thing about Johnny Depp is that he left the country… unlike so many other stupid celebrities who constantly voice their displeasure with the USA but continue to live here and reap the benefits of living in the greatest country on earth. At least Depp left — to go to France, no less!!
Commies. Aren’t. Cool. And neither are child molesters. Jeez Louise, it’s screwed up that any of us even have to say that!
Holy crap, he looks like my boyfriend on a very, very bad hair (including facial) day. Since on a good day, he looks like RDJ, drug-free in his mid-twenties.
Oh, I have Depp stories…who wants to hear my Depp stories?
Wow, Pearce. Do tell.
Amen to this post. The more I find out about Che, the more I loathe anyone who sports his image on anything. One of the people who captured him the last time said he was a coward and acted like one when caught. All big and bad when he had power, but the minute the tables turned he showed his true character, or lack thereof. I find it ironic (sad?) that the Bolivian president is such a Che fan when a friend of mine from Bolivia told me everyone in her area hates Che for the atrocities he committed in the name of “revolution”. Sick, sick sick.
Anyone who thinks a child rapist should be left alone because they are “old” should be locked up for felony inhumanity.
It’s always a shame when good actors feel the need to voice their opinions. Especially when those opinions are really, REALLY stupid.
Oh well. Like I was going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 6 anyway.
I knew something was off about Johnny Depp. Owitzia put my thoughts into words perfectly. Nothing more I can say.
To be a good actor one must be devoid of personality, all the better to immerse oneself in a roll. Lack of intelligence also it seems. What do you want to bet this asshat has not read any of those books he is so addicted to. Thinks it sounds good in an interview when it really comes across as pretentious.
This post is full of win. Very good post. I would love to show this to any young punk who wears Che T-shirts, and then upon being asked who he is respond with “I don’t know, but it looked cool.”
According to his contemporaries, Che Guevara was also brutally violent to women. As in, domestic violence. Maybe Mary J. Blige could beat the everloving hell out of Depp, to teach him how wrong that is.
Violence is wrong Beige but that said I would pay good money to see MJB slap Depp.
Depp lives in France, on pourpose, enough said.
It is amazing that the same people who revere these icons of communist and socialist movements would be the first ones to be lined up and shot if they were in those countries at that time. Che dispised student revolts and helped put down many of them with bullets. When his time to die came he went out like most of the brave icons, he ran and pleaded for his life.
“Che’s life is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom. We will always honor his memory.” —- Nelson Mandela
The reality is that millions around the world idolize Che Guevara, and thus statistically (because of this) that is bound to include a number of “celebrities” like Depp.
As for “IRONY”, I’m not sure it is any more ironic than rappers wearing gold crucifixes of a man who expelled the temples money changers, or so called “pro-life” Christians protesting outside of abortion clinics, and then cheering on the military as they “shock and awe” thousands of Iraqi children with killer drones.
PS. Humberto Fontova is a hack with as much credibility as a Myspace blogger.
PSS. You gotta love when right-wing kids – who were born on 3rd base and think they hit a triple – bash the actions of Che, without any knowledge of the oppressive dictatorships he battled and gave his life against.
I sense a second semester college freshman…
Che was a man who left a bourgeoisie comfortable life of the upper class, a potential well compensated career as a medical doctor, and a high regarded governmental position — each time to slog through the jungle and fight guerrilla wars against impenetrable odds = for a better and more equitable society.
Thus many endorse Jean Paul Sartre’s declaration that Guevara was the “most complete man of our time” … and find his life not only fascinating but deeply inspiring.
Guevara despite his crippling and acute asthma which would debilitate him almost daily to inches from death, directed “suicide squads” in the battle against the U.S. armed and backed Dictator Batista where with less than 300 men; he literally took on 10,000 Batista soldiers armed with tanks, jets, and U.S. weaponry, and came out victorious at and leading up to the victory at Santa Clara.
In Bolivia, Guevara spent almost over 1 hellish year in the festering jungle battling a disease which left his hands as mounds of swollen flesh, the fact that his allergic reaction to mosquito bites would leave walnut sized welts all over his body, kept fighting even when he was without food for nearly a month, went shoeless, without blankets, and STILL with less than 30 men took on a force of 1,800 Bolivian U.S. armed rangers with an air force, green beret advisors, and CIA technology. Despite these odds Guevara’s men killed 30 Bolivian troops before they even lost their first Guerrilla. Moreover, displaying his character, despite all these hardships, when Guevara could have simply taken the food of Bolivian campesinos to eat, he insisted on paying for everything.
Throughout his life Che tended to thousands of sick campesinos, helped construct dozens of schools throughout Cuba, worked in a Leper colony to helped those afflicted, and even when he was literally tied up in a small mud school house awaiting his own execution ! , still complained to the local teacher that in a nation where the leaders drove Mercedes … it was a travesty that the peasants were taught in a dilapidated place like he was in.
Was he perfect? Of course not. No human is. But in mind he was awfully close considering the circumstances and cards he was dealt. I also find it telling that the best “canard” his detractors and those propagandists of monopoly capitalism can come up with – was his short stint at La Cabana prison. Where Che simply reviewed the cases and convictions of war criminals convicted by revolutionary tribunal (modeled after Nuremburg). The same secret police and Batista backed torturers that killed 20,000 people and tortured tens of thousands more. At a time when Fidel and Che would release military captives in the Sierra after tending to them medically, Batista would gouge the eyes out of captives until they gave away rebel positions. The fact that Che saw to it that justice was delivered cold to the Cuban people to me only makes him more heroic. He knew that a “pedagogy of the wall” was the only thing that could cleanse a society from the thousands of goons who raped and terrorized it with impunity.
If the world had 100 Che’s … or hell even 10 … we would be in much better shape.
…With Wikipedia .
You could be the first of the 10 Marcos. We’ll meet at the firing squad.
“Christians protesting outside of abortion clinics, and then cheering on the military as they “shock and awe” thousands of Iraqi children with killer drones.”
I’ve been to Iraq twice, guy. That’s not how it works. True, civilians are part of the (unintentional)casualties, but when you are fighting an insurgency, who try to blend in with the crowd by nature, this will happen. That’s the nature of warfare, and I’m pretty sure that more civilians have died in carbombs from Al-Quaeda in Iraq(50-100 at a time), than civilians caught in the crossfire. I bet that you probably realize this, but don’t raise nearly the fuss. But when you try to justify your outrage with so much hyperbole, than I guess that your point of view will be a little skewed.
“You gotta love when right-wing kids – who were born on 3rd base and think they hit a triple – bash the actions of Che, without any knowledge of the oppressive dictatorships he battled and gave his life against.”
That’s funny. Just because you use a phrase like it’s yours doesn’t mean you made it. Liberals do love their snarky rhetoric towards conservatives don’t they? You plan on appearing on the Daily Show? Also, you do realize that there are plenty of liberals(most of Hollywood), who have never experienced hardship, but claim to know plenty about it? Not to mention that most conservatives are not rich, but people whose families worked their way out of poverty, and tend to be middle-class. That’s why we are opposed to goverment handouts that benefit people who have no interest in hard work whatsoever. Hence the military being mostly conservative, even with people of many different races being involved. We understand hard work and accountability.
By the way, love the essay that you wrote in the second post. Did you get an A for that class?
By the way Marcos, you totally owned Ctrl+C
Oh, Johnny Depp…Why are the (mostly) pretty ones so dumb?
dooflotchie~ I love your taste in T-shirt websites! That’s where I got my favorite one! http://www.thoseshirts.com/diversity.html
“I’ve been to Iraq twice, guy. That’s not how it works. True, civilians are part of the (unintentional)casualties, but when you are fighting an insurgency, who try to blend in with the crowd by nature, this will happen.
That’s the nature of warfare, and I’m pretty sure that more civilians have died in carbombs from Al-Quaeda in Iraq(50-100 at a time), than civilians caught in the crossfire.
I bet that you probably realize this, but don’t raise nearly the fuss.”
considing that this war was started on the premise of preventing terror and us liberating the people, you really can’t say your shocked when people are angry that civilians have been killed by people who are meant to be “the good guys”, meant to be the ones preventing the killing even if that is the nature of war. people don’t make a fuss when al-quaeda do this because we know their bastards, their “the bad guys” thats what they do. doesn’t make it any less shocking that so many people have died, so many in fact that the news won’t tell us how many civilians have died in this war.
Jenny, then how does Rosie O’Donnell know how many civillians have died in this war? She seemed pretty sure of herself.
Sorry for thread-jacking. In my defense, I do tend to get rather p*ssy about comments like Jenny’s. I blame it on my patriotism.
Tell the truth about Che and the useful idiots/Hugo Chavez houseboys come right out of the woodwork.
Speaking of which, Che would have no use for Johnny Depp’s unmanly career choice, his degenerate tattoos, or his bourgeois capitalist ways. Johnny Depp would have been target practice in Che’s dungeons.
And I doubt Depp calls up Roman Polanski to babysit his kids. I guess rape is forgiveable if you’re old, you’ve been married a while, and you only rape nobodies.
Like a lot of actors who try to seem serious or thoughtful, he pats himself on the back for all of the books he has read but apparently he doesn’t really THINK about what he’s read. He’s in a world where everyone will ooh and ahh and believe you’re deep if you read Marxist tracts. It’s easy to be a rebel by embracing what the rest of us reject.
Besides, according to Vincent Gallo, Johnny Depp is in France more for the cheap pills than anything else.
Oh wait, he had acute asthma? This changes everything.
Castro–to say nothing of Stalin and Mao–make Batista look like a Sunday-school teacher. And Guevara himself would probably shoot you, Marcos. He’d wait until you finished licking his ass, though; from what you copied and posted, he was SUCH a classy guy that way.
@Jenny: It’s “considering”, “you’re”, and “they’re”. If you want people to take your shrill little Mother Sheehan diatribes seriously, you might want to pick up a copy of Garner’s or something. I’m just saying.
Anyone want to place any bets on how long Marcos would live were we to put a Che shirt on him and drop him off in a randomly chosen Havana neighborhood? How many blocks would he walk- I mean RUN through before he got beaten to a pulp by an angry mob? I’m thinking less than 15 minutes and 5 blocks.
And Roman Polanski…I wanna puke whenever I hear some of celebritard’s whiny protest of his arrest. Do these idiots think it’s OK to be a fugitive and a sexual predator as long as you make artsy movies? Oh, wait. Yeah, they do.
I guess they all forgot in 1977 he PLEADED GUILTY to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
I don’t know anyone who cheers when innocent civilians are killed by anyone, especially when it is done by “our guys”, but I do know that our people don’t kill them on purpose and feel terrible when it happens. I also know Cubans who lost everything in the Revolution, even though they weren’t THAT well off and weren’t abusive of the proletariat. There are regimes that the US has supported that weren’t worthy of the support, but I believe that in general, the people in charge thought that the best option was to support said regimes. In some cases, the people who were overthrowing (or trying to overthrow) those regimes proved to be just as bad or worse. At any rate, the issue at hand is not whether the US government is perfect or has made mistakes, it is the support of Che, Chavez and other questionable people (not governments) by Depp in particular and (other famous) people in general.
No one is infallible, but there are people sin inadvertently and there are people who sin gleefully. Men who delight in violence generally belong in the second category. I would bet money that if Che had simply dedicated his life to providing medical care to the poor in Argentina and other Latin American countries, he would have done more good (in part because he would have actually done something good) than he “did” as a revolutionary.
If you really believe that violence is not the answer, you can’t support Che. His whole premise was that violently overthrowing governments was the best way to solve inequality. If you believe in looking out for the little guy, you can’t support a man who you credit as directing “suicide squads”. Encouraging people to get themselves killed (not just risk their lives) is not looking out for their best interest, especially when many of the men likely had families who needed their support. That is not only sentencing the men to death, it is almost certainly dooming their families to greater poverty and shorter lives. If you believe that every country has the right to determine its own government and leaders, you cannot support Che. He was an Argentinean who sought to overthrow other nations’ governments, whether the majority of people supported revolution or not, whether the majority supported his chosen side or not.
Che and Polanski probably would have loved each other. They both believe(d) in forcing themselves on others.
I think Polanski should rot in jail and I’m no fan of Che. But for the record, the pic of Johnny is from 6-7 years ago (you can tell by the absence of certain tattoos). I haven’t seen him wear that Che necklace for a long time – perhaps he discovered the true nature of the beast.
Beautifully stated, AllyKat, and on the money.
Marcos,
Nice quote with the “born on third base” quote. Too bad I ran it through Google. Plagiarize much?
You talk about oppressive regimes he fought, funny how Cuba is one of the most oppressive and you you don’t seemed bothered by that.
I am pretty sure you were born on third base. College & car paid for by your parents & no grasp of the real world. You should try to see it and not just by going to Europe on a class trip. Good luck with finals.
“To be a good actor one must be devoid of personality, all the better to immerse oneself in a roll. Lack of intelligence also it seems.”
I’ve always gotten that impression from every Robert DiNiro interview I’ve seen – there just doesn’t seem to be much going on there.
I wonder if our second semester college student has ever actually BEEN to South America. I’m going to guess not.
Hey don’t insult college students ya’ll!! Not everyone in a university is automatically a numbskull liberal zombie
Biographer Jon Lee Anderson, (who spent 5 years studying the topic) has addressed this matter in a PBS forum stating …
“I have yet to find a single credible source pointing to a case where Che executed an innocent. Those persons executed by Guevara or on his orders were condemned for the usual crimes punishable by death at times of war or in its aftermath: desertion, treason or crimes such as rape, torture or murder.”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/november97/che1.html
As for whether the death penalty was justified, remember that 20,000 Cubans had been killed with many more tortured during the former U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship, and Che was in charge of exacting “revolutionary justice” for the victorious side in a revolution.
Thus, about 200 war criminals and henchmen were shot, with the tribunals modeled after the Nuremburg ones for Nazi war criminals.
http://www.therealcuba.com/MurderedbyChe.htm
So…
This quote by Guevera from the article Beige linked to sums it up… “I have no house, wife, children, parents, or brothers; my friends are friends as long as they think like me, politically.”
Man…where’s AAW when you need her?
Listen guys this world is a very imperfect place. There are many reasons other than the obvious reasons that he could admire these people. I personally would like to know people that you admire. Because in the end it doesn’t matter, who ever you pick has flaws. I’m sure as soon as you post then someone else is going to post a comment about something stupid that person did. Besides I’m sure these aren’t the only people he admires.