Hmm, Captain Jack Sparrow.
Thursday, July 13th, 2006 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orange_crushedI have decided to put most (if not all) of my overflowing PotC: Dead Man's Chest thoughts into one place. It's not an essay, merely some thinking out loud about character development and conflict... and a great, heaping amount of spoilers. Please don't read if you haven't seen the movie.
And now I'm going to put forth an idea that may not be the most popular thought: Jack Sparrow is a good pirate, but a shit Captain. At least to start with.
When DMC opens we meet a crew that is disheartened and unpaid; just not to the point of mutiny, for Jack seems to inspire a certain unnatural loyalty. Jack is obviously pursuing some personal scheme. He's vague, charmingly so to the audience; but for the crew it looks to turn into another episode in a string of disappointments and very close scrapes. Following that, his desperation leads him to dry land, cannibal land, where a number of his crew are killed and eaten.
If he were my Captain, I'd probably shoot him (honesty must prevail: that would be shortly after I committed more pleasurable acts.) Davy Jones says something along those lines- that he must have been a poor captain to have lost his ship after two years, and the words seem to sting. Jack's spent the last decade scrabbling back, alone, to his former place- small wonder he's disregarded the notion of teamwork.
So where is Jack's turning point ? His arc leads to his abandonment, when the Pearl and her crew look to be devoured; and finally the compass points straight. There's speculation on this: is it the crew he's determined to save, or the Pearl ? Most likely a mix of both, but I believe it's something else as well. He has at last learned what it means to be called Captain, and to hold the responsibilities of the office. I feel he saves his crew because they're his (odd, jumbly) friends; but ultimately because they are his crew and that is his ship, goddamit.
So. He's always erred more on the side of the angels from what we've seen, but finally in concrete we have: Jack learns to give a damn, learns to lead, learns that there are things worth staying behind for.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth has been busy learning that authority figures and heroes fall far short of the mark. In the first film she's shocked when Norrington and her father refuse to return for Will. On the ship, and on the island, we see her first true manipulations- her body and brain and beauty are all she has, and she's learning to fight with them. In DMC she takes this one step further- I think it's telling when Jack muses that Will went nobly forward to earn the Letters of Marque, while she simply stole them outright. She believes that Jack will prove his worth someday, but until then she acts as if he's a liar and a cheat.
And then, worth proved, their opposing arcs crash right into one another. She betrays him with her body, and he lets her do it- because it's the right thing for both of them to do. Very interesting.
I think that Jack's correct when he points out their similarities. As a pirate, he's put outside of the law; and as a woman, she's put below it. They're both consistently underestimated. She's used as a tool of manipulation for Will by Lord Beckett at the outset, which he learns is a serious mistake. And Jack, until now, has always lived long enough to kick sand in somebody else's face.
More than that, too, as characters they communicate on a slightly different level. With most people (even with Will) Jack is aloof, smartassed, and cryptic. This stuck out to me, first his explanation to Will:
WT: This, is going to save Elizabeth?
JS: How much do you know about Davy Jones?
WT: Not much.
JS: Yeah. It’s gonna save Elizabeth.
And then that same exposition with Elizabeth (some editing, as there is quite a bit of back-and forth):
ES: Jack. I know Will came to find you. Where is he?
JS: Darling, I am truly unhappy to tell you this. But in an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable series of circumstances that have nothing what so ever to do with me, poor Will has been press-ganged into Davy Jones’ crew.
ES: Davy Jones?
JN: Oh, please. The Captain of the Flying Dutchman?
...
ES: Jack. All I want is to find Will.
JS: Are you certain? Is that what you really want most?
ES: Of course.
JS: Because I would think, you would want to find a way to save Will the most.
ES: And you would have a way of doing that?
JS: Well, there is a chest.... A chest of unknown size and origin.
P: What contains the still beating heart of Davy Jones.
JS: And whoever possesses that chest, possesses the leverage to command Jones to do whatever it is he or she wants. Including, saving brave William from his grim fate.
JN: You don’t actually believe him, do you?
ES: How do we find it?
JS: With this, my compass. It is unique.
JN: Unique here having the meaning of broken.
JS: True enough. This compass does not point North.
ES: Where does it point?
JS: It points to the thing you want most, in this world.
ES: Oh, Jack. Are you telling the truth?
It's an entirely different scene, and I think the interaction with Will was played more for a laugh; but still, Jack knows Elizabeth will believe him. And this scene:
JS: My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature tells me that you are troubled.
ES: I just thought I'd be married by now. I'm so ready to be married.
A strangely open dialogue exists between them, dating from the infamous night of rum and talks of freedom. They have more actual conversations than most of the other characters in the entire movie; and that's not to say that they're meant to be or any of that nonsense. What it means, I feel, is that they're becoming friends. And that despite the mitigating circumstances of her chaining him to await his doom, I can't see him harboring any ill will for her over it.
I think, most fitting, would be the thought that it is Elizabeth who finds him in the otherworld; not for love but for balance. They've made their sacrifices, his of old selfishness and hers of old pride, and now they're ready to move beyond it.
So. Agree ? Disagree ? Please comment on anything that strikes you: W/E forever, J/E forever, W/E/J/Kraken forever, Davy Jones's difficulty shaving, Norrington's extreme shabby hotness, or Gibbs's love of The Sauce.
Yes Indeed.
And now I'm going to put forth an idea that may not be the most popular thought: Jack Sparrow is a good pirate, but a shit Captain. At least to start with.
When DMC opens we meet a crew that is disheartened and unpaid; just not to the point of mutiny, for Jack seems to inspire a certain unnatural loyalty. Jack is obviously pursuing some personal scheme. He's vague, charmingly so to the audience; but for the crew it looks to turn into another episode in a string of disappointments and very close scrapes. Following that, his desperation leads him to dry land, cannibal land, where a number of his crew are killed and eaten.
If he were my Captain, I'd probably shoot him (honesty must prevail: that would be shortly after I committed more pleasurable acts.) Davy Jones says something along those lines- that he must have been a poor captain to have lost his ship after two years, and the words seem to sting. Jack's spent the last decade scrabbling back, alone, to his former place- small wonder he's disregarded the notion of teamwork.
So where is Jack's turning point ? His arc leads to his abandonment, when the Pearl and her crew look to be devoured; and finally the compass points straight. There's speculation on this: is it the crew he's determined to save, or the Pearl ? Most likely a mix of both, but I believe it's something else as well. He has at last learned what it means to be called Captain, and to hold the responsibilities of the office. I feel he saves his crew because they're his (odd, jumbly) friends; but ultimately because they are his crew and that is his ship, goddamit.
So. He's always erred more on the side of the angels from what we've seen, but finally in concrete we have: Jack learns to give a damn, learns to lead, learns that there are things worth staying behind for.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth has been busy learning that authority figures and heroes fall far short of the mark. In the first film she's shocked when Norrington and her father refuse to return for Will. On the ship, and on the island, we see her first true manipulations- her body and brain and beauty are all she has, and she's learning to fight with them. In DMC she takes this one step further- I think it's telling when Jack muses that Will went nobly forward to earn the Letters of Marque, while she simply stole them outright. She believes that Jack will prove his worth someday, but until then she acts as if he's a liar and a cheat.
And then, worth proved, their opposing arcs crash right into one another. She betrays him with her body, and he lets her do it- because it's the right thing for both of them to do. Very interesting.
I think that Jack's correct when he points out their similarities. As a pirate, he's put outside of the law; and as a woman, she's put below it. They're both consistently underestimated. She's used as a tool of manipulation for Will by Lord Beckett at the outset, which he learns is a serious mistake. And Jack, until now, has always lived long enough to kick sand in somebody else's face.
More than that, too, as characters they communicate on a slightly different level. With most people (even with Will) Jack is aloof, smartassed, and cryptic. This stuck out to me, first his explanation to Will:
WT: This, is going to save Elizabeth?
JS: How much do you know about Davy Jones?
WT: Not much.
JS: Yeah. It’s gonna save Elizabeth.
And then that same exposition with Elizabeth (some editing, as there is quite a bit of back-and forth):
ES: Jack. I know Will came to find you. Where is he?
JS: Darling, I am truly unhappy to tell you this. But in an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable series of circumstances that have nothing what so ever to do with me, poor Will has been press-ganged into Davy Jones’ crew.
ES: Davy Jones?
JN: Oh, please. The Captain of the Flying Dutchman?
...
ES: Jack. All I want is to find Will.
JS: Are you certain? Is that what you really want most?
ES: Of course.
JS: Because I would think, you would want to find a way to save Will the most.
ES: And you would have a way of doing that?
JS: Well, there is a chest.... A chest of unknown size and origin.
P: What contains the still beating heart of Davy Jones.
JS: And whoever possesses that chest, possesses the leverage to command Jones to do whatever it is he or she wants. Including, saving brave William from his grim fate.
JN: You don’t actually believe him, do you?
ES: How do we find it?
JS: With this, my compass. It is unique.
JN: Unique here having the meaning of broken.
JS: True enough. This compass does not point North.
ES: Where does it point?
JS: It points to the thing you want most, in this world.
ES: Oh, Jack. Are you telling the truth?
It's an entirely different scene, and I think the interaction with Will was played more for a laugh; but still, Jack knows Elizabeth will believe him. And this scene:
JS: My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature tells me that you are troubled.
ES: I just thought I'd be married by now. I'm so ready to be married.
A strangely open dialogue exists between them, dating from the infamous night of rum and talks of freedom. They have more actual conversations than most of the other characters in the entire movie; and that's not to say that they're meant to be or any of that nonsense. What it means, I feel, is that they're becoming friends. And that despite the mitigating circumstances of her chaining him to await his doom, I can't see him harboring any ill will for her over it.
I think, most fitting, would be the thought that it is Elizabeth who finds him in the otherworld; not for love but for balance. They've made their sacrifices, his of old selfishness and hers of old pride, and now they're ready to move beyond it.
So. Agree ? Disagree ? Please comment on anything that strikes you: W/E forever, J/E forever, W/E/J/Kraken forever, Davy Jones's difficulty shaving, Norrington's extreme shabby hotness, or Gibbs's love of The Sauce.
Yes Indeed.
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no subject
Date: Thursday, July 13th, 2006 11:58 pm (UTC)He has at last learned what it means to be called Captain, and to hold the responsibilities of the office. I feel he saves his crew because they're his (odd, jumbly) friends; but ultimately because they are his crew and that is his ship, goddamit.
This feels right to me. Certainly, when I first watched the film, my belief was that "Jack does not know what he wants" meant that Jack's subconscious was torn between wanting to save his own skin - getting the key and chest - and wanting to prove that he was "a good man", that he was a captain worth standing behind, that he was a good captain, full stop. He spends the film, and through the entire duration of his pursuit of the chest, without his captain's tricone - surely symbolic of something...
And I have 2 minutes to scurry to by MUN General Assembly so gotta run. :)
no subject
Date: Friday, July 14th, 2006 12:01 am (UTC)I will comment on Norrington's extreme shabby hotness: DAMN! Why didn't he lose the wig sooner?
And also, very good essay. I'm afraid I have nothing to add.
no subject
Date: Friday, July 14th, 2006 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 03:12 pm (UTC)Your observations about Jack's wobbly skill as captain also express something I was thinking about after seeing DMC. I think it's telling that even Davy Jones's hammerheaded crewman acknowledges that Jack did the right thing in the end, going down with his ship as a captain should (in nautical lore). Jack might have called himself captain for the last thirteen years, but it's apparent that the required shift in focus from self-reliance to consideration of the needs of his ship and its crew is something he's still learning.
I shall add this to our J/E recs page, too, if you don't mind.
no subject
Date: Monday, July 31st, 2006 02:01 pm (UTC)I really, really like Jack's arc through this. He never loses the rapscallion side or the mythic side; no, I think coming into his own as captain adds richness to the myth, rather than diminishing it with ideas of 'responsibility' and adulthood. We see Will as the classic hero of the piece, but Will's always been driven by his own private goals and nothing else. It's Jack who is learning to look further than himself; like Elizabeth
k might have called himself captain for the last thirteen years, but it's apparent that the required shift in focus from self-reliance to consideration of the needs of his ship and its crew is something he's still learning. Oh, yes. Perfect, exactly.
no subject
Date: Sunday, December 10th, 2006 08:04 pm (UTC)Annnd I'll be back with my own thoughts concerning the issue at hand later, when I'm not so pressed for time.