Fan Art Friday: Depp as Che

Oh my. Someone went there.

Here's the iconic photo of Che himself:

And of course, we all know about Johnny's Che necklace:

Well, I suppose if someone were to do an American remake of The Motorcycle Diaries, Johnny could play Che. Even though he's going to be 50 this coming June, he's fortunate enough to have maintained his youthful looks, so he could pass for the 39 years old that Che was when he was executed in 1967. I wonder if anyone has ever approached Johnny about this.

Now, as a way of maintaining balance, have a look at this article which does describe some of the darker aspects of Che's ways and the Cuban world he lived in, including this excerpt:

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.”

And woe to those youths “who stayed up late at might and thus reported to work (government forced-labor) tardily.” Youth, wrote Guevara, ” should learn to think and act as a mass.” “Those who chose their own path” (as in growing long hair and listening to Yankee-Imperialist Rock & Roll) were denounced as worthless “lumpen” and “delinquents.” In his famous speech Che Guevara even vowed, “to make individualism disappear from Cuba! It is criminal to think of individuals!”

Tens of thousands of Cuban youths learned that Che Guevara’s admonitions were more than idle bombast. In Che Guevara the hundreds of Soviet KGB and East German secret police STASI “consultants” who flooded Cuba in the early 60′s, found an extremely eager acolyte. 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.

Hmmmm. Had JD taken this into consideration when he bought his Che necklace? Considering that Johnny himself is a high school dropout - he never served in the military - he likes to wear his hair long - he plays rock music - he's rather an individualist - he has chosen his own path in life and his acting career - it seems Johnny himself is exactly what would have given Che serious heartburn; if Che could see Johnny right now, Che would be reaching for the Tums. I wonder if Johnny is aware of this?

Johnny's Gonzo Pendant & His Faith

In this photo, viewers can see a silver pendant gleaming brightly against Johnny's black shirt.

Some people have assumed this is a cross, and they take it he is a Christian.

But this jewel isn't a cross. It's something he wears in honor of his late friend, Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist. Here's a larger photo of that pendant:

It's a dagger, topped with a double-thumbed fist that is clutching a red jewel; the red jewel represents a peyote button. The word "gonzo," situated just below the fist, makes it look like a cross. I think Johnny also has this image tattooed somewhere on his body but I'm not too sure.

If Johnny was a devout Christian, he'd wear a cross, and he'd wear it where it could clearly be seen. He'd also speak of God or Jesus Christ every so often, but he doesn't. I have my doubts that any evangelical, believing Christian would have played on that Babybird song, "Jesus Stag Night Club," which Johnny did, and which is one of his choices that I myself didn't really care for, but it's not up to me to run his career for him!

In 2011, Larry King asked him directly if he had faith, and Depp replied:

I have faith in my kids. Yeah, I have faith in my kids. And I have, I have faith, you know, as long as you keep moving forward, just keep walking forward things will be alright, I suppose, you know. Faith in terms of religion, I don’t; religion is not my specialty.

If he was a devout, believing Christian he would not have responded to Larry King in this way; Christians (particularly evangelical ones) are more than happy to share the Word of God with anyone who 'has ears to hear.' Johnny has never done this.

He has made some other, very interesting statements about God, such as:

Question: "Do you believe in God?"
JD: "I believe in something. If it's called God, I don't know."

Question: "Do you believe in God, in destiny?"
JD: "Yes, I believe in destiny. There has to be to a reason for all this, a driving force, even if we can't fully understand it. That I'm here, that I've been blessed with the work I've done, with the girl I have, the children I have. I don't know if I would call it God. My image of God has evolved, by the way: from the wise old man with a white beard on a fluffy cloud from my childhood years he has changed into a cosmic omnipresence, from the air to the trees, and all possible human and animal creatures. I surely don't go to church. Organized religion doesn't appeal to me. Probably because of my childhood: my uncle was a preacher and he was constantly talking about hell and damnation. Not my scene."

Question: "It would seem that Americans strongly believe in God. Co-actress Christina Ricci believes in God. Well, do you believe in God?"
JD: "I want to believe in God. I mean I think I am a believer."

So he has questions. A lot of people do. Given Johnny's native American heritage, I would not be surprised if he felt a certain affinity towards native animist spirituality, but it remains to be seen if he does or not. So far as I know, outside of his adoption into the Comanche tribe/family (I'm not quite sure of the details of this), he's never participated in native ceremonies like sweat lodges or dances or pow-wows or whatever.

So I just thought I'd put that out there. Wherever he is in his spiritual walk, it is where he needs to be right now.