A Tale of Two Captains

[Last Sunday I saw Pirates II… and the movie really deserves a response. However, it’s taken some time for me come up with what I think about it. This commentary is vague enough that you could read it before watching the movie, if you want.]

Jack Sparrow and Malcolm Reynolds (of Firefly/Serenity). The two characters are remarkably similar. Both are anti-heroes thrust into heroic situations. Both love their ships, which they consider their source of freedom, and their crews. Both hate the bad guys but neither gets on well with society at large, either. Both are practical realists, willing to do what is necessary to get the job done. And both happen to be among my favorite literary characters :).

All well and good, but what’s the point? Just this – that these two remarkably similar characters end up taking markedly different paths. Mal ends up the “hero” in the end and Jack… well… it’s hard to tell. So why the difference? In short, the abilities of their authors. Jack’s character was tweaked, ever so slightly, in Pirates II, but it was enough to set him down a different course. The writers took away – or greatly diminished – his ability to love.

The problem is, love is the saving grace of both Jack and Mal. For these self-preservational fellows, love imparts a wider sense of self. That is, the idea that “me without you is not worthwhile/bearable/good” enables them to sacrifice themselves without destroying their character. Neither has a highly developed sense of duty, so it’s love alone that lets them act heroically.

Mal is fortunate in that Whedon (his author) seems to have recognized this fact. He is deeply devoted to his ship and crew, and, to a much lesser extent, the rest of humanity. This is why he’s the good guy. Without that love, he would lose his moral footing and end up like Jayne (pure mercenary). Whedon understands his character, particularly his character’s motivations, and the way the world works. So we have a likeable, coherent character in a likeable, coherent story (minus some of the glitches between Firefly and Serenity).

Jack, on the other hand, has been less fortunate. The writers of Pirates seem to be a bit more confused about who they’re dealing with and where they’re going. (Of course, we haven’t reached the end yet, so it’s still anybody’s game.) In the first movie Jack had some sense of loyalty or attachment – to his ship, his crew, and his friends, Will and Elizabeth. The second movie denies this completely... while at the same time relying on it as a foundation. Throughout the movie, Jack is entirely self-centered, lacking any ties to anyone – we even see him beating a retreat from his beloved Pearl at one point. He has become merely mercenary. However, many of his schemes in this movie wouldn’t work if he hadn’t proved himself at least slightly trustworthy in the previous movie. Likewise, the end of this movie (and beginning of the next) could not happen unless he had a group of devoted friends – which is hard to come by if you’re so completely disloyal. So we’re left with a strange situation: either Jack is a good guy who’s been abused by his authors, or he’s a sociopath. I’m voting for the first.

So, by all means, see Pirates II. It’s fun – hilarious at points, it’s thought-provoking, and, if nothing else, it’s a bridge to the third movie, which may yet make a good end of things. However, bear in mind that the author(s) failed to understand at least one of the main characters and the story suffers for it – at least in comparison to the original.