While Blackbeard has historically been the most nameable pirate to have ever lived, Pirates of the Caribbean’s Captain Jack Sparrow is modern pop culture’s most equivalent. Yes, Johnny Depp’s Disney character is beloved, between him being consistently the subject of Halloween costumes to impressions. But how accurate is the movie character to the art of piracy itself? One pirate expert recently weighed in.
Iszi Lawrence is a writer, comedian, podcaster and history presenter who notably worked on the Netflix documentary The Lost Pirate Kingdom and wrote the book Blackbeard's Treasure. When Lawrence recently watched 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with a close eye on how accurate it is, she had some thoughts about Captain Jack Sparrow. For one, she commented on the fact that the pirate is introduced as being branded during his adventurous introduction. In Lawrence’s words:
Nobody was branded a pirate, but you know whatever, people were branded if you're clergy, and you got you know arrested for something you could be branded but then you couldn't plead clergy again.
Sounds like the Disney movie could have used her to fact check some things. Obviously, Captain Jack Sparrow is not based on a real pirate and the production took some creative liberties, but it’s interesting to see what she thinks about all the pirate details. Lawrence did applaud the character for one particularly memorable line. As she said:
This line here ‘But, you have heard of me’ is wonderful. That's what you wanted as a pirate, you wanted your name to proceed you, so people would give up before fighting you.
Lawrence commented on the famed line that really establishes Captain Jack Sparrow early in The Curse of the Black Pearl by sharing that it really is characteristic of what a pirate would have said. She also commented that the life of a pirate at the time wasn’t expected to be very long but one full of intrigue and adventure. You can check out the pirate expert’s full thoughts on the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie in the History Hit video below:
Johnny Depp, of course, helped make the Pirates of the Caribbean movies as beloved as they are, especially with the character’s bumbling attitude. Ahead of the 2003 movie becoming a hit film, Depp has previously alleged that Disney “hated” his take on the character and didn’t get what he was doing with the performance. Per Depp, they were thinking of “every way they could to get rid” of him during production. Apparently the actor held strong to his instincts regarding the character and well, the rest is history.
Disney has made five Pirates movies total, with the last installment coming out in 2017. To this day, fans are still hoping for the actor to return to the role, with one petition online touting close to 900,000 digital signatures urging the franchise to continue.
We imagine someday Disney will finally get the right ships in a row to reboot the beloved franchise. Barbie’s Margot Robbie was once attached to a Pirates spinoff, but per the actress and producer, Disney lost interest in the project. While we don’t know if the future of the Pirates movie would include Depp, fans of the actor can get excited for his next film, French-language film Jeanne du Barry, coming to U.S. audiences in the near future. And for those looking for a Disney ride adaptation fix, Haunted Mansion arrives in theaters this weekend.
