What can Pirates of the Caribbean teach us about movies?

     All of my family (except my mom) enjoy watching the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. They are funny, action-packed stories full of amusing characters and exciting battle scenes. (My dad does edit them, so be aware of that before you think I’m “highly” recommending them.) But something struck me the last time I watched these movies, and it ended up being something that I had a hard time forgetting about. 

    The roles of good and evil are almost completely reversed. The pirates are the main characters, as is evident by the title, while the English soldiers are portrayed as the wicked, oppressive antagonists. Of course, there are gray lines in those statements. The movies imply that the pirates have done a bad thing or two, and the English soldiers have done some good, but in general, the way the movies are written, you find yourself rooting for the pirates instead of the Englishmen.

    Much of this began to stand out to me in “At World’s End,” the third movie in the series. In this movie, a short interchange between Elizabeth Swann, the female lead, and her past friend, Commodore Norrington, reveals more about how the movie portrays the two "sides." Commodore Norrington, had of course, chosen the British side, but was appalled when he realized that the British were killing many citizens who had been involved with the pirates in some way. “I swear. I did not know,” he says, aghast. “Know what?” Elizabeth asks. “Which side you chose? Well, now you do.” She is disgusted with her old friend for choosing to remain loyal to the British Empire who, supposedly, is the antagonist. There are, in fact, a great many scenes involving the English doing wicked things, like killing hundreds of people for seemingly no reason at all. I don’t deny that the English did kill people, and I’m sure they executed many people unjustly, but my question is, why didn’t they make a big deal about the pirates doing that?

      During the whole of the three-movie plot, the pirates are fighting for freedom and the Englishmen who are supposedly restricting this freedom, are presented as wicked for doing so. In response to this plot, I can’t help wondering, what kind of freedom are the pirates really fighting? Freedom to keep looting and killing? How is what they are doing better than what the English are? During the movies, the pirates drink, fight, shoot each other, harass women and kill people. But it’s all done with the swashbuckling air that is designed to make movie-watchers forget what’s going on. 

    In fact, the two main characters, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner—good way to get the audience on the side of the pirates...stick in a pair of lovers—get caught up with the pirates. But several times in the first movie, Will Turner makes sure that Jack Sparrow (the main pirate) knows that he, Will, is not a pirate. I believe this insistence even carries into the second movie. But, by the third movie, both Will and his love interest are fighting tooth and nail to protect the pirates from the English. And there really wasn’t that big of a moment when both of them decided that the pirates were on the "good" side. The only thing that happened was that Elizabeth’s father was killed by one of the British officers…but the pirates were trying to kill that same man earlier! No one seemed to care about that. I don’t see any difference. 

    The point is, the movie twists the “sides” that Elizabeth Swann talks about. While I’m sure there have been some pirates that have done good, and many English officers who have done evil, the majority of both of these groups did the opposite compared to what the movie portrayed. In reality, pirates raped and pillaged and slaughtered. The British tried to keep that at bay, besides leading a much more moral lifestyle and grounding many of their decisions in a Biblical Worldview. 

    I’m not here to put down the movies. I enjoy them a lot, but I am here to remind you that movies must be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes, a lot of salt. So many movies today glorify evil and put down good. Pirates of the Caribbean is a prime example of this. And while a good deal of people will realize that a pirate’s life wasn’t really as portrayed, many others may not care to look further than what the movies have said. In a world where movies are some of our chief sources of information, it’s important to pay attention. 

    Of course, not every movie has some twisted view of good and evil, but it can be concerning to realize that one of the most popular movie trilogies in the 21st century puts down the God-fearing British officers and raises up wicked men. Again, I realize that it sounds like I’m putting down the movies, but I am not. I enjoy them and they are a source of amusement and enjoyment for my family and me, but this last viewing really opened my eyes to what the story writers were saying.

    So next time you watch a movie, pay attention. Are the “sides” reversed? Is good evil and evil good? Movie directors know that their films can have a lot of weight on how people live their lives. Don’t let a movie dictate what you think. Instead, base your worldview on the Bible, written not by a sinful screenwriter, but by God himself.