Oooh...Jack Sparrow Meta...
Sep. 16th, 2004 07:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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torn_eledhwen won't be upset with me for quoting from her journal, but she made a comment that kind of went along with something I was thinking yesterday.
She did the "What Movie Hero Are You?" Quiz and answered cannily enough to be Captain Jack Sparrow, which provoked the following comment from her...
Is Jack Sparrow a hero, though? I wouldn't say so. Ultimately the guy's out for himself, rather than helping others. He's neither a hero nor a villain. He's just Jack.
So yesterday I was thinking about how everyone says Jack won't take action unless there's something in it for him, a prime example of this being his initial refusal to help Will go to Elizabeth's rescue, and then changing his mind when he realizes who Will must be and that there is profit to be had from the venture. But it seems to me that first refusal might have been because he just possibly was more than a little (if you will excuse the expression) pissed off at Will for preventing his escape and for being one of the many in Port Royal who assume that because he's a pirate he's a bad man. Seems logical to me, anyway.
Jack is, of course, a thief and a trickster by inclination, is not trusting of others from sad experience, and uses people to further his agenda when he can. But he's not a villain in the way that Barbossa is, for example. They are, as the writers say, the same thing only different; light vs. dark; two sides of the same coin. Hero and villain.
You can't deny Jack cut a heroic figure when he rescued Elizabeth. There was no way he could have known that she was the beautiful Governor's daughter; on the other hand he obviously realized he would be drawing considerable notice to himself by going to her rescue. But, though there were distinct disadvantages and no known “profit”, he did it anyway. Sounds pretty heroic to me. It's true that he subsequently threatens Elizabeth in order to escape, but considering Swann's immediate order to shoot him (after Jack's saved her life!) and Norrie's snarky sarcasm and intent to imprison and hang him, his actions seem justified: it's the "good guys" who are in the wrong, in this case.
Jack manipulates people and events to his own ends during the denouement, but he’s not just in it for himself, he’s trying to end the curse without Will being killed, if possible. He’s expecting to get his ship back, but he’s also aware that the evil pirates’ demise will be a desirable thing for everyone else in the Caribbean.
Maybetorn_eledhwen’s last bit should be altered to hero and villain, but her final words are certainly right: he’s just Jack.
torn_eledhwen won't be upset with me for quoting from her journal, but she made a comment that kind of went along with something I was thinking yesterday.She did the "What Movie Hero Are You?" Quiz and answered cannily enough to be Captain Jack Sparrow, which provoked the following comment from her...
Is Jack Sparrow a hero, though? I wouldn't say so. Ultimately the guy's out for himself, rather than helping others. He's neither a hero nor a villain. He's just Jack.
So yesterday I was thinking about how everyone says Jack won't take action unless there's something in it for him, a prime example of this being his initial refusal to help Will go to Elizabeth's rescue, and then changing his mind when he realizes who Will must be and that there is profit to be had from the venture. But it seems to me that first refusal might have been because he just possibly was more than a little (if you will excuse the expression) pissed off at Will for preventing his escape and for being one of the many in Port Royal who assume that because he's a pirate he's a bad man. Seems logical to me, anyway.
Jack is, of course, a thief and a trickster by inclination, is not trusting of others from sad experience, and uses people to further his agenda when he can. But he's not a villain in the way that Barbossa is, for example. They are, as the writers say, the same thing only different; light vs. dark; two sides of the same coin. Hero and villain.
You can't deny Jack cut a heroic figure when he rescued Elizabeth. There was no way he could have known that she was the beautiful Governor's daughter; on the other hand he obviously realized he would be drawing considerable notice to himself by going to her rescue. But, though there were distinct disadvantages and no known “profit”, he did it anyway. Sounds pretty heroic to me. It's true that he subsequently threatens Elizabeth in order to escape, but considering Swann's immediate order to shoot him (after Jack's saved her life!) and Norrie's snarky sarcasm and intent to imprison and hang him, his actions seem justified: it's the "good guys" who are in the wrong, in this case.
Jack manipulates people and events to his own ends during the denouement, but he’s not just in it for himself, he’s trying to end the curse without Will being killed, if possible. He’s expecting to get his ship back, but he’s also aware that the evil pirates’ demise will be a desirable thing for everyone else in the Caribbean.
Maybe
torn_eledhwen’s last bit should be altered to hero and villain, but her final words are certainly right: he’s just Jack.