“Che” star leaves in a snit after being reminded that Che was psycho
posted at 5:40 pm on January 27, 2009 by Allahpundit
Via the Standard, he’ll have you know that the Great Man didn’t just execute political prisoners willy nilly. He held trials, for god’s sake.
Well, sometimes.
“I’m getting uncomfortable,” Benicio del Toro said after fielding a question about his new movie’s portrayal of the Bolivian and Cuban revolutions. “I’m done. I’m done, I hope you write whatever you want. I don’t give a damn.”…
Mr. del Toro doesn’t deny that Guevara’s persona had some darker aspects. “We have to omit a lot of stuff about his life,” he said, “but we’re not omitting the fact that he’s for capital punishment, which is the essence of that.”…
“They didn’t do it blindly; they had trials,” Mr. del Toro said. “They found them guilty, and they executed them – that’s capital punishment.”…
Mr. del Toro grew agitated when these prisons were described as “concentration camps,” a phrase that [Cuban dissident Armando] Valladares freely employs…
“We can’t cover it all,” Mr. del Toro said. “You can make your own movie. You know? You can make your own movie. And let’s see. Do the research.”
The author, Sonny Bunch, already did the research; you’ll find it in the article, in the form of eyewitness testimony from Valladares and comments from Ron Radosh. My only criticism is that he lets Soderbergh off too easily: If it’s true that the director’s under no illusions about Guevara’s totalitarian impulses, why doesn’t that shine through in the film? Bunch makes it sound like a whitewash. Exit quotation: “Benicio del Toro is just one of the many accomplices of the Cuban tyranny.”
Blowback
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But, but, “Che” was so handsome and charismatic…
/
perroviejo on January 27, 2009 at 5:42 PM
“Psycho” was one thing. The dude was a real weasel. I love best the way he died, like a true leftie.
Entelechy on January 27, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Trials?
Che-You are guilty. How do you plead?
Prisoner-I did nothing. I have many witnesses who can testify to the truth.
Che-Enough! You are guilty!
BANG!
Trials my a$$.
What a tool Hollywood has become.
Badger40 on January 27, 2009 at 5:42 PM
so he’s guaranteed to win the oscar right?
lorien1973 on January 27, 2009 at 5:42 PM
I guess if you like the greasy revolutionary look.
Ugh.
Badger40 on January 27, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Why make a movie about that POS anyway?
Smooth Rooster on January 27, 2009 at 5:43 PM
He probably went straight to Wikipedia to look up who this Che guy was.
Chuck Schick on January 27, 2009 at 5:43 PM
For a minute I thought that was Brad Pitt with dark hair.
IrishEi on January 27, 2009 at 5:43 PM
How is this different from being a Holocaust denier???
Luckedout on January 27, 2009 at 5:45 PM
So, Che is a hero (he held trials!) but Bush is a fascist because of Gitmo (we’er holding trials too!). Che must have had a more robust legal system in place for his prisoners than Bush put in place of the terrorists at Gitmo…right?
gwelf on January 27, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Viva Mario Terán!
Rae on January 27, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Read this. I love Felix Rodriguez.
Entelechy on January 27, 2009 at 5:46 PM
I’ll bet Del Toro won’t be holding a press conference for his next film, The Wacky Adventures of Heinrich Himmler.
Cicero43 on January 27, 2009 at 5:46 PM
I am seeing a pattern of thin skin in socialists.
Cindy Munford on January 27, 2009 at 5:46 PM
How much you want to bet that Bennie’s currently opposed to capital punishment?
Wethal on January 27, 2009 at 5:47 PM
A quote that bears repeating.
pseudonominus on January 27, 2009 at 5:47 PM
“those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
the_nile on January 27, 2009 at 5:49 PM
Che trials good. Gitmo trials bad. Same liberal, different day.
Limerick on January 27, 2009 at 5:49 PM
Looks like Benicio stepped in a big pile of reductio ad absurdum.
I didn’t realize Mr. Del Toro was such a law and order kind of guy. just like the US….crimes and punishments.
“We can’t cover it all” ….indeed.
moxie_neanderthal on January 27, 2009 at 5:49 PM
Answer: To portray him accurately, kinda like the Ted Bundy movies. Not to portray him as some kind of hero.
perroviejo on January 27, 2009 at 5:50 PM
GITMO……..What would Che have done??????
BrianA on January 27, 2009 at 5:50 PM
You just gotta luv actors and “Hollywood”…always supporting the wrong cause, wrong guy…when you have money you can make a lot of mistakes.
right2bright on January 27, 2009 at 5:51 PM
“That’s not the Che I knew!”
Badger40 on January 27, 2009 at 5:52 PM
the scary thing about this movie is the fact its over 4hrs long. This is true, Hollywood Commie worshiping.
A movie that long is not about making a profit, like the Che T-Shirt biz.
Hollywood is the enemy, or one of them.
jp on January 27, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Was just telling my wife that CHE is what got BO elected.
No, not the incident of the Che poster in the BO campaign office…
The acronym CHE:
Charisma
Hype
Emotion
No rational thought… no logic… no intelligent discourse.
Just Charisma, Hype, and Emotion… that’s how BO won.
Mark_Tampa on January 27, 2009 at 5:54 PM
I own Traffic. Other than that, I will not be paying for a ticket for any movie with him in it, nor will I be buying DVDs of movies with him in them.
MadisonConservative on January 27, 2009 at 5:54 PM
del Toro personally opposed to capital punishment; compares Che to Jesus
Wethal on January 27, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Within a generation these guys will be saying that Stalin was evil simply because he was an ally of the US.
pedestrian on January 27, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Yeah, like anything that would have shown Che to be what he really was.
Hollywood sucks, which is why I feel no remorse watching most releases from my computer. F ‘em.
toliver on January 27, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Murderer, sure, but look at all the t-shirts the cool kids are wearing; all those addled yoots can’t possibly be wrong.
Bishop on January 27, 2009 at 5:56 PM
I read once that Madaleline Albright taught at Georgetown that Stalin wasn’t that bad and we should understand that all the people he killed was necessary cost of building the Soviets infrastructure…something along those lines.
jp on January 27, 2009 at 5:57 PM
“Benicio uncomfortable. Questions make Benicio’s brain hurt. Benicio not like brain to hurt. Benicio done.”
saint kansas on January 27, 2009 at 5:58 PM
Obama = the new Che
the creepy Obama logo or the creepy Obama face picture will be a big seller on T-Shirts down the road.
jp on January 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM
My assistant is a Che admirer. She said her respect for Che came due to his passion and ability to go full throtle with his revolution. I made a few references about his psychotic ways, but of course those details did not diminish her respect for him and only prooved to her how I did not understand how someone could respect a man like Che.
I told her that based on her logic, it’s ok to have respect for a mass rapist if he raped hundreds of women on such a scale that it eclipsed the average rapist/thug, in essence, a highly skilled and passionate rapist. Conversation ended real quick after that( hint, rape to her is one of the worst crimes anyone can commit). These people can’t handle the truth.
javamartini on January 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM
I read Valladares book, it was brutal. The part of prisoners being cut up in barbed wire and then being forced to jump into a pig sewage pit was a nice touch.
rob verdi on January 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM
Stalin had trials too. The mere existence of trials doesn’t make the trials legit.
Loki on January 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM
re: the Studio and everyone associated who signed on to a 4 and half Hour movie about Che…..where is Joseph McCarthy when you need him?
jp on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Che thought Black people were lazy and prone to drinking.
Which means Che might have liked one of those drunken negro head cookies that the Dope of Greenwich Village was selling.
Mr. Joe on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM
So Del Toro has two movies coming out this year where he portrays a hairy, bloodthirsty monster.
Jim Treacher on January 27, 2009 at 6:01 PM
The truth is so messy……….
…………. when you are making a propaganda film.
Seven Percent Solution on January 27, 2009 at 6:03 PM
……I thought Keyser Soze kill that prick!!
try again later on January 27, 2009 at 6:04 PM
Baseball bats to the head make a “bang” noise?
Jim708 on January 27, 2009 at 6:05 PM
Stalin held trials too.
MarkTheGreat on January 27, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Viva the rich dumb idiot liberals
Defector01 on January 27, 2009 at 6:07 PM
Cultists never let facts get in the way of idol worship. Look at Mr. President.
kingsjester on January 27, 2009 at 6:08 PM
I really think we should answer all the bleeding heart libs, code pinks, socialists, communists…etc…with the question….Well what would Che have done???
The sound of silence……
BrianA on January 27, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Exactly. Sean Penn meets with and sucks up to our enemies and Hollywood/MSM loves him.
perroviejo on January 27, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Understandably with only 4+ hours to tell your story some of the finer details will have to be dropped…like all the mass murders.
gwelf on January 27, 2009 at 6:09 PM
You mean they wanted the actor playing Che to act like the psycho-murder that he was in real life? Why?
tarpon on January 27, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Make sure you read and scroll all the way down.
Entelechy on January 27, 2009 at 6:14 PM
FIFY
Damiano on January 27, 2009 at 6:15 PM
What an insult to the Cubans who were tortured, imprisoned, ruined by Che and Castro. I am betting Andy Garcia would like 5 minutes with this dude. What a bunch of crappola.
Glynn on January 27, 2009 at 6:17 PM
Benicio Del Castro?
Mike D. on January 27, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Humberto’s book “Exposing the Real Che Guevara” was very good and very informative.
Mallard T. Drake on January 27, 2009 at 6:27 PM
“Che” star leaves in a snit after being reminded that Che was psycho
Sure But Che has sold a lot of T-Shirts.
Dr Evil on January 27, 2009 at 6:30 PM
What’s hilarious is that you know every stupid hippy college kid rockin’ a Che shirt would stupidly state their emphatic opposition to capital punishment if ever asked their view.
That said, I like Del Toro as an actor, but he’s jumping in to that group of actors who’s movies I’ll make an effort not to see, with this BS. BTW, he was on Conan promoting this a few weeks ago, and not a negative thing about Che was mentioned. Del Toro also noted that he had been working on the film for 4 or 5 years, I believe. Seems with that amount of time, they could have shown some negatives, even if you “can’t cover it all”.
RightWinged on January 27, 2009 at 6:31 PM
Actually, I liked him best as Fenster in The Usual Suspects. He was the first on killed.
Che (the subject and the film) is a piece of crap.
juanito on January 27, 2009 at 6:34 PM
Didn’t this movie have to be broken into three parts because it’s six hours long? And they couldn’t find a spot in those six hours to mention Che’s penchant for murdering those who disagreed with him? Riiiiight……
clearbluesky on January 27, 2009 at 6:36 PM
What a baby.
Topsecretk9 on January 27, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Oh, it’s only four and a half hours long. Well, no wonder they couldn’t find time to cover it all.
clearbluesky on January 27, 2009 at 6:38 PM
If you have time and are so inclined…
Entelechy on January 27, 2009 at 6:43 PM
I cant wait for the George Clooney interview after his amazing performance as ole’ “Uncle Joe” Stalin. He undoubtedly will receive heaps of praise for his “courage” in playing such a role. What a bunch of self loving dorks.
grif99 on January 27, 2009 at 6:43 PM
I’m sick of these damn communist libs.
CP on January 27, 2009 at 6:43 PM
by you mass murder supporting liberal
jcila on January 27, 2009 at 6:43 PM
Hey Del Toro, get the stilts back on and tape that ceiling.
LtE126 on January 27, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Where’s our cuban friend jencab to go totally nuclear on this tools rear?
Btw, “Can’t include it all”? Isn’t the movie 4 hours? Why not add another 10 minutes, Benicio?
Pasalubong on January 27, 2009 at 6:48 PM
Amazing how libs who excuse and ignore the worst commie tyrannies are the first to complain about phantom republican ‘crimes’ and ‘concentration camps’, along with their media accomplices? Why is that.
eaglewingz08 on January 27, 2009 at 6:51 PM
Or, to put it differently, if Fidel Castro had been in charge of GITMO and had done exactly the same to the prisoners there as the US gov’t is supposed to have done, would a single libtard have complained about the treatment of the detainees?
eaglewingz08 on January 27, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Che was the greatest man to ever walk the earth and you should, wait no that’s not right. BO is the greatest.
Che was the second greatest man to ever walk the earth because he like rode a motorcycle and had a cool hat. Not as cool as the greatest man to walk the earth because he like plays basket ball or something like that. Anyway I’m sure you couldn’t even understand how great he is err was but if he were here he could show you. Che is the hero of Hollywood and they are the only ture ameracans left so they know stuff.
jmarcure on January 27, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Che merchandise on every kid’s chest, posters, stickers and all that shit. Of course Hollywood is going to make a movie because, in the words of Che himself… hasta el dinero siempre!
Greek Fire on January 27, 2009 at 6:55 PM
More importantly now that BO is lord on high are any libtards going to complain about Gitmo?
jmarcure on January 27, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Lindsey? Is that YOU?
surrounded on January 27, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Doesn’t Kaiser Permanente kill del Toro?
Oh wait that is Obama’s health care plan.
Mr. Joe on January 27, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Lindsey not here man…..
jmarcure on January 27, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Should we issue a new Smug Alert? Looks like del Toro’s been sniffing it.
Meanwhile, today’s snark:
The shame of it, gwelf, is that libs will fellate Che’s sham trials, thuggery, and mass murder, all while demonizing Bush for attempting to deal as humanely as possible with non-uniformed combatants and related personnel who were picked up in war zones.
In a truly just world, IMHO, non-uniformed combatants in GWOT war zones would be captured, bled for information in the most efficient means possible (whether that means immediate or long-term) and then summarily executed. People know where war zones are, so if NGOs and other peaceniks willingly place themselves in harm’s way, or otherwise interfere with Coalition forces, they deserve what they get.
Wanderlust on January 27, 2009 at 7:01 PM
She would not work for me [unless she was super smok'n hot].
toliver on January 27, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Guilty until proven innocent.
That is your normal status in most countries in the world with the exception of the US, Canada, Austraila, NZ, and northern Europe.
The government is never wrong in a dictatorship.
If they arrested you, you are guilty.
The trial was just to determine what you are guilty of…
DJ Elliott on January 27, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Col Jack Jacobs, advice for new President, and his plans on speaking to Iran “Shut up About It”
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/01/julie-kafner-i-fav-col-jack-jacob-this.html
Dr Evil on January 27, 2009 at 7:12 PM
A large portion of this country aches for communism and Che is a hero to them. A couple of years ago I was talking to a communist or someone that thought they were and he said the when the revolution happen we would all be as rich as Bill Gates and sitting on the beach sipping margaritas. I can’t help but think communism attracts really, really stupid people. Your assistant admires his passion for revolution? Sorry but she sounds a tad dim witted to me. But what do I know? I’m just an average Joe that the Che was a murdering psychopathic, cowardly a-hole that was put down way to nicely. I would have at least put panties on his head and had a woman laugh at his manhood before shooting him to death with a pellet gun.
jmarcure on January 27, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Hey, the guy’s right on that one point: conservatives can make their own movie about the atrocities of Castro and Guevara but apparently choose not to do so. That’s a shame.
I guarantee the Che movie will make money. It will have a limited run in the largest US cities in the smallest of theaters. These theaters will be packed for a few weekends and earn relatively high “per screen” box office receipts. After a month it will then quietly be shoveled into the North American video on demand (VOD) and DVD/Blu-ray Disc channels. Every film school student and PolySci major in America won’t be caught without a copy of it. This is the spin the studio will use to qualify the horrible domestic box office.
The overseas market will love this movie. It will be the #1 movie throughout Latin America, Africa, and most of Europe for weeks. Asian markets will see big business from selling the pirated version on DVD and VCD in every night market from Jakarta to Beijing. This movie will be extremely popular around the world…
What’s the conservative answer to this?
Seriously.
ScottMcC on January 27, 2009 at 7:19 PM
When Che was cornered and executed in Bolivia he was down to less then 10 supporters. He was physically beaten and broken. His men were exhausted and shot to Hell.
He was so broken there was no value to place him in cuffs and use him as a prop. He double tapped and then the secret began. The knowledge of his death was kept as a great secret.
From the time he was executed till the truth was finally spoken it has been estimated that is name was used over 12,000 times on The Hill to appropriate more money for defense and intelligence.
The DOD and the CIA can lobby with the best of them.
Jdripper on January 27, 2009 at 7:38 PM
Soft on communism.
Dangerous yesterday as it is today.
HarneyPeak on January 27, 2009 at 7:43 PM
Incoming flop of a movie!
scrubbiedude on January 27, 2009 at 7:48 PM
Ask Andy Garcia. To listen to the critics and those in Hollywood, Andy’s movie, “The Lost City” was nearly unaminmously panned. It took him over 15 years to make this movie, mostly with his own money. If you haven’t seen it, you should. He actually used historical facts and did not portray Castro, Che and their henchmen as rescuing heroes. It’s about Havana’s last days. He directed it, he started in it, he bankrolled a great portion of it. It was a labor of love for him. Because he insisted on it being historically correct, he made what was an unforgivable blunder in his industry. Garcia’s movie had limited review, because film festivals would not show it and many of the Latin countries would not show it. Maybe most egregious was that he showed that Che was a cold blooded killer. Maybe Garcia’s greatest fault, according to the critics, was his failure to portray the stereotypical Latino. Historically correct movies rarely do well. But let Oliver Stone make JFK and people take it for gospel.
Glynn on January 27, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Sorry, he “starred” in it.
Glynn on January 27, 2009 at 8:01 PM
He said “I am Che and am worth more to you alive then dead”.
Hilts on January 27, 2009 at 8:49 PM
I know they won’t attribute this to Che in that movie but he is extremely influential with terrorists, during the 1977 hijacking indecent on Lufthansa Flight 181, four Arab terrorists demanding the release of Red Army Faction members were shot and killed by operators from Germany’s GSG 9 and the British SAS. After the operators stormed the aircraft on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia and freed all 86 hostages the found that the Arabs were waring Che shirts.
That’s Che’s legacy, terrorism.
Cr4sh Dummy on January 27, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Wasn’t he also the first to die as Frankie Four Fingers in Snatch? Maybe this can be a trend item and Che can be killed off in the first 15 minutes of this 4 hour waste of time.
cobrakai99 on January 27, 2009 at 9:43 PM
Yep, I told my husband tonight, I’m banning all hollyweird movies indefinitely. Unless they are pro-America, and I don’t mean pro-America like all the recently patriotic bunch who’ve just discovered how cool it is to be “patriotic”.
4shoes on January 27, 2009 at 9:58 PM
but but but…you cant do that. Thats violating the free speech rights of those wise sages known as actors. Us common people should not be doing that. Only they are heroic enough to make those kinds of decisions.
/Natalie Maines mode off
firepilot on January 27, 2009 at 10:19 PM
If a conservative filmmaker has the guts to convert Armando Valladares’ book into a killer screenplay and then a killer film, then I will be happy.
I read the book, in Spanish, when I was fourteen. It made an anti-Communist out of me.
newton on January 27, 2009 at 10:22 PM
It’s called projection. If they had power, they would do those terrible things.
funky chicken on January 27, 2009 at 11:00 PM
My favorite Che Tee Shirt…
Che Guevara…Fooling Middle Class White Kids Since 1967
Deanna on January 27, 2009 at 11:49 PM
But Che cared about the poor people when he murdered all of those political prisoners; and he could of been a doctor, but he wanted to help the poor by murdering all of those political prisoners; and he could have killed poor people, but he didn’t because he was too busy killing rich people who were against the poor…What is the problem…
The left’s logic is simple: you can do whatever you want so long as you have the right “motive” of saving the poor…
RedSoxNation on January 28, 2009 at 12:02 AM
Too bad. I generally have like Benicio’s movies but they’ll be less enjoyable in the future.
An interesting counter point to Benicio’s hagiology of a totalitarian seriel killer is Eric Blair’s (george orwell)Homage to Catalonia. Two revolutions seperated by 20 some years, but an example in contrast.
Homage to Catalonia was honest and one of Orwell’s really great books which helped lay the foundation for his more well known and certainly more widely read books.
Benicio could have benefitted by less Ernest Hemingway and more Orwell.
moxie_neanderthal on January 28, 2009 at 12:06 AM
So far, I’ve managed not to tar the snot out of every spoiled brat I’ve seen in a Che shirt.
Every one of the crack-heads is idolizing a mass-murderer. They might as well have Pol Pot shirts or Mao shirts or Hitler shirts. You want moral equivalence? I’ll show you some damned moral equivalence.
Loving murder isn’t okay, it isn’t safe, it isn’t stable. And the bloody irony is that the kind of idiot who wears a Che t-shirt would be among the first up against the wall – how well are dissidents tolerated in Cuba?
Merovign on January 28, 2009 at 12:14 AM
Apparently, Miss Del Toro can’t handle the truth…or perhaps that truth is too…inconvenient?
Suck it up, Benny. Ya lionized a freakin murderous scumbag.
How’d ya think Cuban exiles would react? The man helped destroy their country and more than likely personally murder more than a few of their family members.
Put yourself in THEIR place. C’mon, you’re supposedly this great acting talent, I’m sure you can do it:
This monstrosity, that some Hollywood types attempted to lionize in a film, personally put a bullet in one of your loved one’s head for no reason other than your loved one’s opposition to said monster’s distopian world view.
How would YOU feel?
Liberals…always talk about how much they feel, how they feel so strongly about this, and feel so strongly for that person, or that cause. Apparently, they also believe they are the only people on Earth that are allowed or capable of feeling.
SuperCool on January 28, 2009 at 6:12 AM
But that’s wrong, according to the liberal wing of the Supreme Court.
Che is a terrorist, nothing more.
rbj on January 28, 2009 at 8:31 AM
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