The · Sparrow · in · Flight · Column · Page

Remember the summer of 2003? I do. After seeing the trailer of Pirates of the Caribbean once, I was determined to see the movie. A few days after the premier, I dragged a friend along to the theatre. We bought our tickets, found our seats, and armed with a big box of popcorn we were ready to be swept away by the world of pirates, heroes and damsels in distress.

I knew nothing of pirates. I thought Johnny was ‘pretty hot’, but couldn’t name three movies he starred in. I was certain Orlando was actually a blonde elf. And Keira Knightley? I never even heard of *her* at all. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Yet the place was packed with people, most of them attracted to the movie by a single glimpse of the trailer. We were oblivious of what to expect, and therefore twice as obviously blown away by the magic on the screen.

What a hit! The clashing swords, the cocky pirates, curses and treasure caves. Moonlight and freedom. Sea battles and a drop of rum. Mystery, humour and true love and devotion. Pirates had it all. It came out of nowhere to plunder the hearts of many.

Pirates #1, the Curse of the Black Pearl, didn’t *need* board games or toothbrushes for promotion. The power of the movie lay within the movie itself. But now that the release date of Pirates 2 is coming closer, the merchandise items are popping up like daisies. Video games, pirate monopoly, dolls and T-shirts… wherever you look you see Pirates. Our heroes are printed on mugs and mouse pads. A bobblehead-Jack flashes its plastic grin from the dashboards of our cars.

Has Disney gone too far? I’d say so. Of course they’re doing the logical thing to do: if it’s a hit, milk the cow for what it’s worth. But aren’t they taking away the magic of Pirates? What happened to the movie itself? Tables are turning. Instead of allowing the real captain Jack to the rudder of the POTC-ship, hundreds of plastic bobbleheads are deciding the course, leaving our stars to swab the deck.

Over-commercializing is one of the few vices I truly despise. And I fear the day Captain Jack Sparrow will promote his eyeliner with a toothpastey smile and the sing-song message: “Because you’re worth it.”

//Jacky

As a result of a night of cinema:
‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ illustrates Picture This. Johnny Depp revels in the spotlights of Stars. Even the cover is quite obviously influenced! But I suppose the most essential result is the fact that my mind once again starts to wander in the most unreasonable directions…

Those were the days! I’m talking about the days of piracy. The days in which you could still experience some excitement. The days in which you could be heroic! Or on the contrary, you could be a scoundrel. Back in the time when you could surprise the world with minor rebellions. Shock people. The era of commandeering vessels, singing pirate shanties and gulping down rum like water seems to have been one big adventure.

Oh yeah, adventures. In the year 2003, what sort of an adventure can one still undertake? The most exciting part of the day is opening your mailbox to see whether you have received mostly junk or mostly newsletters. Excitement equals choosing between two pairs of shoes. Daring to take a rollercoaster ride. Dammit, what *I* want is to sail the seven seas with a bloody three-master! Be a rogue of the ocean! To live under the Jolly Roger! I want to have a nickname that would turn the blood to ice. Jacky, citizen of the state of the Netherlands, is no more! Name-variant on ‘Jack Sparrow’, living where the wind will take her, always looking for the end of the horizon, here I come! I wanna swordfight, load the cannons, read a compass, plunder and maraud! I want to live in the time in which I would not get arrested after some politician has read this column and decides I have an urge towards criminal activities. I wanna be infamous. Discover the wisdom of the waves. Search for treasures. I want mothers to send their children inside at the sight of me. I want fathers to try and protect them with sword of dagger, but of course they wouldn’t stand a chance against a piractical swordmaster such as myself. I want to look as if Hell has spat me back out. I want to use codes like ´parlay´ like I have done nothing else from the moment I was born. I want a crew to sail under my command, all of them tough like hell. I want to use words like ´mates´ and cries like ´aye´. I want that people, years after my existence, will crack open a history book and think, “Jesus, those were the days! I wish I lived in that era…” I want, that due to my actions and life, people would write columns like this one.

//Jacky
Written for: a selfmade magazine