iCon - for the new Millenium

Alright, I'm going to have to do this early on in order to get if off my chest, so here goes ....guess the icon, guess the icon;

Though communism may have lost its fire, he
remains the potent symbol of rebellion and the alluring zeal of
revolution

Now you pick, I know it's going to be a little bit tricky. One of them is from the barrios of East Los Angeles, the other from the Paris of Latin America. One of them has a degree of comedic timing, the other made a comedy of Western governments. It's tough....don't let time pass you by...


Well, for all that's credible and hip in the world of modern day revolutionists and poets check out this site CHE LIVES , more pertinently, have a look at the number of great t-shirts you can wear with Che's face emblazoned across the front. Now that's what it's all about, pay your $50 and be a revolutionary, tell the world that you will not be silenced and you'll show them what you stand for because like a good little capitalist, you earned your $18.00 an hour working Saturdays at your local 'hipster' clothing store and now, its STATEMENT time....or that's what your credit card provider says when it hits you with the $50.00 bill at the end of the month.
This leads to several questions and some revealing commentary to be mad on Cheech, or perhaps, should we shorten his name, even to perhaps...Che ? Why you ask ? Again, a great question, thanks for playing. Stay with me now, this line of thought could get a little convoluted.

Che, our Argentinian who sailed across the Caribbean in a leaky boat, (slighly Split Enzish isn't it), was definitely 'The Man' in his day, no doubt, but the question to be asked in 2006 is what's the deal with these young groovsters carrying around his imagine on their shirts, supporting the capitalist way of life ? I've read some commentary stating that Che-G is a beacon of idealism, of rebellion and representation to a youth that are directionless, that have no real identity. Yeah, that's maybe the case but that doesn't mean a hell of a lot. It directly undermines Che-G and what he stood for, thus destroying whatever the groovsters think that their shirts are saying. So now the real question is, these days, is Cheech, or rather the nouveau Che, more of a revolutionary and a hard ass than Che-G. With that I think that the answer is a resounding yes. Cheech is a representative of a still oppressed Latino minority kicking it in the burbs of LA. His pot smoking, foul mouthed take on society is restrained rebellion but still resonates with all people and rings truer than the corporatised Che-G image hitting the streets with groovsters these days. His support of his partner in crime (almost literally), Tommy Chong for the selling of bongs is just another idealistic and rebellious like stance of the new Che. Stickin' it to the establishment. Whilst the noveau Che isn't a Marxist he definitely marks his territory and for that, in the words of David Stratton, " I give Cheech...ahem Che, one star".

The New Revolutionary Icon for the Noughties

I've got my shirt - you should get yours !