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This is a mixed review. I loved PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl and had high hopes, but no expectations, for PotC: Dead Man's Chest as a sequel, knowing how sequels can go. So I really did enjoy how they picked up the story, much of the story arc, and the detailed special effects, but, good gods, this is the twenty first century--how could they get away with this sickening amount of racism? I really could have completely enjoyed the rest of the film if it weren't for this racism--those parts were difficult to take--and make it clear that identifying with the white characters is at the expense of people of color--no love for providing us with that yuckiness, Disney! And I hate that they ruined an otherwise good movie this way. So the first half of this post will be a rant on the disappointing amount of racism in this film, as opposed to the first film. The second part will look at parts of the film that worked well still, provided you accept that only white people get to be important characters in this film. Damn Disney for fucking this up so badly!
So, after the introductory section, which was well done, we come to the part of the movie that, despite the fun of the wild rolling gerbil balls and Jack's Bugs Bunny-esque escapes, I really could do totally without--the old tired racist trope of dark skinned indigenous people as mindless cannibals--oh, not good, not good! So fucking alienating!
And you know--it's not just the deep social wrongness, which is so very deeply wrong--it's just an old tired cliched trope, people, which is what racial stereotypes are a form of. And that is just lazy writing in the form of racism.
And the thing is, when you have an old, tired cliche, there are so many opportunities to put a new spin on it, one which could have broken out of racist stereotyping and been so rousing by having the people act in an unexpected manner, like actual human beings! It would have been easy--there are so many possibilities anyone with an ounce of creativity could have come up with, but no.
And laughing at how alien another language sounds to an English-speaking audience--so many opportunities for turning that old racist comedic trope around and putting the joke on Jack and the crew--but no, they went with the same old tired xenophobic cliche. Because Americans aren't hated enough abroad for not bothering to learn languages other than English. Hey, world, enjoy this movie--it's everything you've come to expect from Disney's America! We don't just present fluffy period pieces of colonialist imperialism. We relive that period's values for you--in fact, we've never left!
And if we haven't had enough of treating indigenous POC as savage and silly by the end of the first part of the movie, we get to laugh at how silly they are in the very last scene after the credits. Oh those silly darkies making a dog their sacrificial leader! What fun. /-:
So here we see that racism is also really, really bad writing--this could be a much better movie if the whole cannibal section stayed on the cutting room floor.
OK. So. The cannibals weren't the only representations of POC in this film. I mean, there's the crew, right? So it's not just a simple us/them split between white protagonists and dark skinned outsiders, right? No. But we've got more racist tropes to pull out of the old grab bag. If you were a character who was a crew member in this film, wouldn't you notice that all the white characters are in one gerbil ball hanging over the cliff, while in your gerbil ball . . . are all the other people of color in the crew--not good! Not good! You already know where your gerbil ball is going to wind up in a minute or two. Yup.
But you know, we can't have too much pathos for the inevitable quick death of people of color--let's make one of the guys comically afraid of the snake in his hand that sends all the POC down the chasm--after all, he has an accent, and that's funneh. Fun for the whole, white family, according to Disney.
Back to the crew. A number of minor characters were brought back. All played by white people--why--why couldn't some of these roles been given to people of color? And my favorite minor character of the first movie who I adored, Anna Maria? Where was she? Oh right, I forgot. This movie added a new character, Tia, and we can't have 2 black women in the cast--we just can't--it's in the code! OK. I know. There could be other reasons Anna Maria wasn't included--her actor was busy, or maybe she will show up in the third movie, but with the other instances of overt racism, I'm feeling pretty cagey about this.
Now at least we have Tia. She is cool. But, so far, she is only a character to serve as a plot device for the heroes--and fills another racist cliche--the "magical negro" --a black character with powers that are used in the service of more central white characters, rather than in her own character development and plot arc. Maybe they'll do more with her next movie, but I'm not holding my breath.
So I'll talk about what worked for me in this movie now, but it doesn't lessen how the racism causally presented here really takes away the fun gloss over it all.
I really like that the overall theme in this film preys on what was so delightful in the ending of the first film. Everyone did the right and generous thing in the end of the first film--it worked and was very satisfying. In this film, however, all those good deeds now have their consequences. They require sacrifices that most of the characters aren't quite up to making and are trying to find ways to get out from under, and its not simple or pretty. Bootstrap went down to Davey Jones locker for Jack's sake, and then (if I'm understanding this plot point correctly) finds this life unbearable and is now willing to carry Jones curse to Jack. Jack in turn betrays Bootstrap's son, fleeing this curse (and maybe for other reasons we don't know yet.) Will was at first out there trying to persuade Jack to give up his compass or the freedom Will helped grant him until it resulted in a death sentence for him and Elizabeth. Elizabeth betrays Jack to save herself, Will, and the crew (and maybe for other reasons we don't know yet). James betrays all three he had set at liberty to get back what his initial generosity cost him. Thus far, Will is the only one who hasn't made an outright betrayal, but will his promise to his father conflict with his probably now-strained loyalty to Elizabeth? This is all great plotting and interesting character developments with a film devoting so little time to character in favor of action. I'd rather have had more character moments and some more good lines than all the action, but it all worked still, as long as you accept that this sequel stops mid-plot, to be resolved in the next, and I'm good with that.
I also enjoyed seeing Elizabeth come into her own in this film and in a natural outgrowth from how far she traveled in the first. Where the first movie was definitely Jack's film, this one was more Elizabeth's, and Kiera Knightly's scene kicking up the sand when the other three are fighting really gave her great comedic moments. I like that they played up the likeness they established between Elizabeth and Jack in the first movie and played it here for both attraction and deadly rivalry as well as the blurred territory in between.
I'm nervous about how they're going to play out Elizabeth's betrayal since it plays into the cliche of Woman as Betrayer, one that they may be set to do more with since that is the story set up they gave behind Davey Jones locking up his heart. Jack's response to Elizabeth's betrayal, though, dubbing her, "Pirate" did a wonderful job of desexualizing her betrayal, making it the kind of trickery pirates do, not something that can be ascribed misogynisticly to women alone. But I'll be surprised if they don't re-sexualize it into the trope of the untrustworthy female in the third movie. Disney's lack of awareness of how racist they are being in their portrayals here doesn't give me high hopes they will be any more careful about dismantling sexist stereotypes with any real deliberation.
I missed more of Jack in this film and that he didn't get more good lines to work with. But he did get a fabulous entrance in the coffin and a terrific exit jumping into the cracken's jaws.
Norrington's fall was one spoiler I was aware of and I was looking forward to it. I was disappointed they didn't do more with him. I have a soft spot for characters who love well enough to let go their lovers and wish them well, so I'm hoping they'll give him some of his moral compass back in the third.
Will's promise to not abandon his father was a touching and powerful moment. Still, Will is a boring character. But if they do anything right in the third movie, he should be stuck with choices that will make him more interesting. I think this was a terrible film for the Will/Jack fans and I offer you all my condolences. They seemed to have developed a strong bond with the back to back fighting at the end of the first film, all of which was pretty much decimated in this film, unless the third gives us more reasons for Jack's leaving Will behind on the Flying Dutchman.
Yay for Barbossa's return! Yay on the return of the once-undead comic pirates, who still did get a few good lines in there! Boo on no Anna Maria!
Lastly, the Barnacle Borg special effects were horribly grotesque, and even beautiful, in places. Wonderfully done and right out of surreal fantasy art. And all those independent curlings of Jones's tentacles. But with this creativity, surely they could have replaced the racist cannibal cliche with zombies or some other cgi creation, since they gave no individual humanity to the people they portrayed as foes there.
So I am really interested still in seeing where these characters go, but seeing the racist narrowness of vision in this film, my enthusiasm for the third is really dampened. If they bring back Anna Maria that would help my enthusiasm some. I am curious to see how Keith Richard's plays as Jack's father. And will they manage to add some people of color to the crew who they manage not to kill off. Next movie will present all three father's of the three leads. But, one wonders, will they manage to break that favorite ole Disney cliche of absent mothers? Don't count on it. Unless they really are playing off of the Star Wars Trilogy, because, really, for all we know, Elizabeth, Jack, and Will could all have the same mother. Aaaaaaand I'll leave it there for now.
So, after the introductory section, which was well done, we come to the part of the movie that, despite the fun of the wild rolling gerbil balls and Jack's Bugs Bunny-esque escapes, I really could do totally without--the old tired racist trope of dark skinned indigenous people as mindless cannibals--oh, not good, not good! So fucking alienating!
And you know--it's not just the deep social wrongness, which is so very deeply wrong--it's just an old tired cliched trope, people, which is what racial stereotypes are a form of. And that is just lazy writing in the form of racism.
And the thing is, when you have an old, tired cliche, there are so many opportunities to put a new spin on it, one which could have broken out of racist stereotyping and been so rousing by having the people act in an unexpected manner, like actual human beings! It would have been easy--there are so many possibilities anyone with an ounce of creativity could have come up with, but no.
And laughing at how alien another language sounds to an English-speaking audience--so many opportunities for turning that old racist comedic trope around and putting the joke on Jack and the crew--but no, they went with the same old tired xenophobic cliche. Because Americans aren't hated enough abroad for not bothering to learn languages other than English. Hey, world, enjoy this movie--it's everything you've come to expect from Disney's America! We don't just present fluffy period pieces of colonialist imperialism. We relive that period's values for you--in fact, we've never left!
And if we haven't had enough of treating indigenous POC as savage and silly by the end of the first part of the movie, we get to laugh at how silly they are in the very last scene after the credits. Oh those silly darkies making a dog their sacrificial leader! What fun. /-:
So here we see that racism is also really, really bad writing--this could be a much better movie if the whole cannibal section stayed on the cutting room floor.
OK. So. The cannibals weren't the only representations of POC in this film. I mean, there's the crew, right? So it's not just a simple us/them split between white protagonists and dark skinned outsiders, right? No. But we've got more racist tropes to pull out of the old grab bag. If you were a character who was a crew member in this film, wouldn't you notice that all the white characters are in one gerbil ball hanging over the cliff, while in your gerbil ball . . . are all the other people of color in the crew--not good! Not good! You already know where your gerbil ball is going to wind up in a minute or two. Yup.
But you know, we can't have too much pathos for the inevitable quick death of people of color--let's make one of the guys comically afraid of the snake in his hand that sends all the POC down the chasm--after all, he has an accent, and that's funneh. Fun for the whole, white family, according to Disney.
Back to the crew. A number of minor characters were brought back. All played by white people--why--why couldn't some of these roles been given to people of color? And my favorite minor character of the first movie who I adored, Anna Maria? Where was she? Oh right, I forgot. This movie added a new character, Tia, and we can't have 2 black women in the cast--we just can't--it's in the code! OK. I know. There could be other reasons Anna Maria wasn't included--her actor was busy, or maybe she will show up in the third movie, but with the other instances of overt racism, I'm feeling pretty cagey about this.
Now at least we have Tia. She is cool. But, so far, she is only a character to serve as a plot device for the heroes--and fills another racist cliche--the "magical negro" --a black character with powers that are used in the service of more central white characters, rather than in her own character development and plot arc. Maybe they'll do more with her next movie, but I'm not holding my breath.
So I'll talk about what worked for me in this movie now, but it doesn't lessen how the racism causally presented here really takes away the fun gloss over it all.
I really like that the overall theme in this film preys on what was so delightful in the ending of the first film. Everyone did the right and generous thing in the end of the first film--it worked and was very satisfying. In this film, however, all those good deeds now have their consequences. They require sacrifices that most of the characters aren't quite up to making and are trying to find ways to get out from under, and its not simple or pretty. Bootstrap went down to Davey Jones locker for Jack's sake, and then (if I'm understanding this plot point correctly) finds this life unbearable and is now willing to carry Jones curse to Jack. Jack in turn betrays Bootstrap's son, fleeing this curse (and maybe for other reasons we don't know yet.) Will was at first out there trying to persuade Jack to give up his compass or the freedom Will helped grant him until it resulted in a death sentence for him and Elizabeth. Elizabeth betrays Jack to save herself, Will, and the crew (and maybe for other reasons we don't know yet). James betrays all three he had set at liberty to get back what his initial generosity cost him. Thus far, Will is the only one who hasn't made an outright betrayal, but will his promise to his father conflict with his probably now-strained loyalty to Elizabeth? This is all great plotting and interesting character developments with a film devoting so little time to character in favor of action. I'd rather have had more character moments and some more good lines than all the action, but it all worked still, as long as you accept that this sequel stops mid-plot, to be resolved in the next, and I'm good with that.
I also enjoyed seeing Elizabeth come into her own in this film and in a natural outgrowth from how far she traveled in the first. Where the first movie was definitely Jack's film, this one was more Elizabeth's, and Kiera Knightly's scene kicking up the sand when the other three are fighting really gave her great comedic moments. I like that they played up the likeness they established between Elizabeth and Jack in the first movie and played it here for both attraction and deadly rivalry as well as the blurred territory in between.
I'm nervous about how they're going to play out Elizabeth's betrayal since it plays into the cliche of Woman as Betrayer, one that they may be set to do more with since that is the story set up they gave behind Davey Jones locking up his heart. Jack's response to Elizabeth's betrayal, though, dubbing her, "Pirate" did a wonderful job of desexualizing her betrayal, making it the kind of trickery pirates do, not something that can be ascribed misogynisticly to women alone. But I'll be surprised if they don't re-sexualize it into the trope of the untrustworthy female in the third movie. Disney's lack of awareness of how racist they are being in their portrayals here doesn't give me high hopes they will be any more careful about dismantling sexist stereotypes with any real deliberation.
I missed more of Jack in this film and that he didn't get more good lines to work with. But he did get a fabulous entrance in the coffin and a terrific exit jumping into the cracken's jaws.
Norrington's fall was one spoiler I was aware of and I was looking forward to it. I was disappointed they didn't do more with him. I have a soft spot for characters who love well enough to let go their lovers and wish them well, so I'm hoping they'll give him some of his moral compass back in the third.
Will's promise to not abandon his father was a touching and powerful moment. Still, Will is a boring character. But if they do anything right in the third movie, he should be stuck with choices that will make him more interesting. I think this was a terrible film for the Will/Jack fans and I offer you all my condolences. They seemed to have developed a strong bond with the back to back fighting at the end of the first film, all of which was pretty much decimated in this film, unless the third gives us more reasons for Jack's leaving Will behind on the Flying Dutchman.
Yay for Barbossa's return! Yay on the return of the once-undead comic pirates, who still did get a few good lines in there! Boo on no Anna Maria!
Lastly, the Barnacle Borg special effects were horribly grotesque, and even beautiful, in places. Wonderfully done and right out of surreal fantasy art. And all those independent curlings of Jones's tentacles. But with this creativity, surely they could have replaced the racist cannibal cliche with zombies or some other cgi creation, since they gave no individual humanity to the people they portrayed as foes there.
So I am really interested still in seeing where these characters go, but seeing the racist narrowness of vision in this film, my enthusiasm for the third is really dampened. If they bring back Anna Maria that would help my enthusiasm some. I am curious to see how Keith Richard's plays as Jack's father. And will they manage to add some people of color to the crew who they manage not to kill off. Next movie will present all three father's of the three leads. But, one wonders, will they manage to break that favorite ole Disney cliche of absent mothers? Don't count on it. Unless they really are playing off of the Star Wars Trilogy, because, really, for all we know, Elizabeth, Jack, and Will could all have the same mother. Aaaaaaand I'll leave it there for now.
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And I'm learning now that Disney had plenty of warning:
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410746
And there's this:
http://cacreview.blogspot.com/2006/06/boycott-disney-pirates-of-caribbean.html (though I'm not thrilled with the comparing of isms in order to minimize antisemitism going on at the end here--hello!--being antisemitic in assuming it's those fucking Jews responsible for Hollywood and Disney behind all this, hmm? Oy. )
Other folks on LJ are posting about this too, so we're not alone in how we reacted to the film.
I'm really wondering now why news of the boycott hadn't made it around LJ fandom such that I knew nothing about it. I'm not in any PotC communities, but this should have been discussed in those communities and had wider circulation. So I'm now really interested to see what has been going on in the PotC communities on LJ and how this news got stifled.
Ty. I want to hear what you come up with!
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