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Friday, September 12, 2003
Lee: Pirate of the Caribbean: A Filipino?
By Kelvin King Lee
FOR those of you who haven't seen Pirates of the Caribbean yet, you should go see it for a number of reasons. One, to make Thursday's column easier to understand and Two, to enjoy a rip roaring good movie that will keep you at the edge of your seat from start to finish. So if you haven't seen it yet, go. It's okay. This column will still be here when you are done.
So, done watching the movie are we? Good. Let's talk about Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, specifically the character that Johnny Depp plays, the former captain of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow.
From the movie you will find that one of the main characters, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) who is both "the worst pirate I've ever seen" and "the best pirate I've ever seen," seems achingly familiar, as though you have seen or met him before. From the moment you first see him grandly scanning the horizon from the masthead of his boat, and then realizing that his "boat" was actually a sinking tub that only stayed afloat long enough to get him to shore, you know he seems familiar.
Jack Sparrow seems even more familiar when he bribes the dock master to keep quiet about his name and whereabouts. When he starts to sweet talk his way out of every mess. When he swindles his freedom from certain capture. When he tricks his enemy pirates. When he somehow evokes loyalty from a feckless crew. When he snatches victory from certain, almost inescapable defeat. In all this, he is familiar.
I have a theory. And it is this: Jack Sparrow is Filipino.
Observe. His enemies are horrible, cursed pirate-creatures impossible to kill. Filipinos have horrible, cursed enemies like the Abu Sayaff, criminals and kidnappers that seem impossible to kill. Jack Sparrow can talk his way out of any mess. Filipinos can talk their way in and out of anything. Just look at our politicians.
More examples?
Jack Sparrow paid off the dock master. Filipinos have the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). Jack Sparrow drinks a lot. So do many Filipinos. Jack Sparrow, as a great leader, inspires loyalty from his crew. Filipino leaders, like Duterte, inspire loyalty from their crews. Jack Sparrow is a pirate. A number of Filipinos pirate things.
Even comments about the Filipinos are eerily similar. Many people say: "Filipinos are the hardest working people." Yet some also say that: "Filipinos are the worst and laziest people." Of course, in the end, Jack Sparrow would prove to be the "best pirate." Filipinos all over the world, particularly the
Overseas Contract Workers (OCWS) have proven to be "the best workers."
Jack Sparrow roams the seven seas and explores the world. Filipinos are all over the world and many Filipino sailors travel the oceans. And finally, Jack Sparrow always triumphs. Even in his darkest hour, surrounded by armed soldiers or when facing monstrous pirates or trapped in a desert isle, he always finds a way to triumph, to survive. Jack Sparrow is a natural survivor.
Look at the Filipino. No mater what you throw at him: revolutions, coups, mutinies, bombings, currency devaluations, rising oil and commodity prices, a brain drain of massive proportions, bickering politicians, etc. The Filipino will triumph. And survive. Filipinos are natural survivors.
Such similarities are too much to be considered a coincidence. Thus, my hypothesis: Jack Sparrow from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean is a Filipino.
And now I will move on to my next theory. How Erap Estrada is NOT a Filipino. That one might take a while to write though.
(This is a piece of satire, and should probably not be taken seriously. Email the writer at babbleon@atenista.net)
(September 12, 2003 issue) |
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