Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

[tvordlj]

There was an article in today's paper that got me thinking about pirates, coming so soon after seeing the movie yesterday. There was a British historian, an expert on pirates, who commented that due to battles and fights, many pirates actually did replace missing legs with wooden pegs, have eye patches, fly the Jolly Roger flag and keep parrots. Walking the plank was unlikely (but keel hauling was probable i think)

There's a tradition in romanticizing villains for the sake of a tall tale - opirates, highwaymen, organized crim (have you *seen* the U.S. soap General Hospital over the last 10 years??) and international spies. These groups of people, mainly men, were in reality, dangerous criminals. This tradition goes back centuries, poets and authors have been glossing over their very real nasty habits and deeds since piracy began. Then there were Privateers, legalized piracy so that governments could get a share of the booty. Sir Francis Drake was very good at it and was elevated to a national hero after helping to defeat the Spanish Armada.

Pirates (and other villains, but i'll focus on the high seas for brevity) are made over as misguided and in sore need of redemption, even better if that redemption comes with the heart of a good woman or a child. It doesn't happn that way in real life. Johnny Depp has replaced Errol Flynn who replaced Blackbeard. I'm just as much a sucker for a handsome "bad" man as the next, dont' get me wrong, but it makes you think.

People want to be entertained and nothing keeps their attention like adventure. Everyone wants to see good triumph over Evil and Evil mending it's ways. At the very least, Evil that isn't really that bad after all, even if it's not going to turn away from the dark side because it still has a vulnerable spot or has enough roguish charm that we just overlook the murder, lying, cheating, rape and pillaging. Even Darth Vader loved his son!

Good vs. Evil in a yarn of high adventure and romance has been making the gold roll in for centuries. Lord Byron's epic poems, Stevenson's Treasure Island, E.M. Barrie's pirates and lost boys in Peter Pan, countless movies since the 20th century with handsome swashbuckling heros. The list goes on and it will go on as long as ordinary people want to live vicariously through their imaginations.

Aye there's the rub. I buy into it as much as the next person and thoroughly enjoy it when i do. Should we glorify criminals? Of course not. But this isn't reality, it's fiction and people just need to be able to differentiate between the two.

Now..... when does the DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean come out?

Comments

[browncoweyes.livejournal.com]

Good gosh ...if historical romance fiction doesn't have a handsome rugged pirate or two it just ain't worth readin......

lol!

[tvor.livejournal.com]

Indeed :))