Pirates, right or wrong?

[sbkline]

Plus, the pirates that kids pretend to be are usually along the lines of Jack Sparrow or Captain Blood (more of a Robin Hood character (great book by Raphael Sabatini, you should read it)).

A little off subject here, but I don't think Robin Hood is a heroic character that needs to be looked up to, either. Robin Hood was a common thief, simple as that. I don't care if he was giving to the poor, he was stealing what rightfully belonged to someone else to do it and that's wrong no matter how you look at it.

But having said that, I wouldn't see much wrong with a child wanting to play Robin Hood either, just as I see nothing wrong with a child playing Pirates.

 

[Skipper Dan]

let me preface this by saying that i loved both the pirates movie and the ride is still, despite the lame refurb, one of my favorites.

i was thinking on this and ind it somewhat strange this obsession with pirates, especially with what is going on in the world thses days. i mean the way people and disney are romanticizing how the pirates were. lets face it, pirates were theives, murderers, rapists and worse. they were the terrorists of their day.

now, i am by no mean a politically correct person, and i do enjoy the pirates stuff. i just find it um...odd that this is what parents are letting their children emulate. while ive no kids of my own, i wouldnt keep them from enjoying the movies and the rides, but i wouldnt glamourize pirates either.

im really interested to hear what parents have to say.

How can anyone respond to that...? :lookaroun

*Cough* John Wayne *Cough* Roy Rogers *Cough* :hammer: :brick:

 

[Astronaut Jones]

A little off subject here, but I don't think Robin Hood is a heroic character that needs to be looked up to, either. Robin Hood was a common thief, simple as that. I don't care if he was giving to the poor, he was stealing what rightfully belonged to someone else to do it and that's wrong no matter how you look at it.

But having said that, I wouldn't see much wrong with a child wanting to play Robin Hood either, just as I see nothing wrong with a child playing Pirates.

It doesn't really matter, but Robin Hood isn't excactly a common thief. The real story is he's stealing money that was unlawfully taxed from the people and giving it back to them because it's rightfully theirs. The lower class was starving to death because the sheriff was exercising rights that weren't his in attempt to build an army and take over the throne. I'd agree with you if all Robin Hood was trying to do was economically equalize the rich and the poor, but Robin Hood wasn't like a rebel communist.

 

[Astronaut Jones]

Hooray for the hairy leg!!! I just had to respond...this is the part of the ride where I always scooch down in the boat...that thing creeps me out and I love it.

I love that leg. I like your name by the way, are you referring to the original Australian song or the Irish one?

 

[MomofKatie]

I love that leg.

The hair doesn't bother me, but the dirty, crusty foot does. Eeeeww- dirty pirate foot!!

 

[Lucky]

Maybe the Pittsburgh Pirates should change their name to the Pittsburgh Princesses.

 

[erasure fan1]

I too see no problem with kids playing pirates. Its all about what you teach your kids, whats right and whats wrong. Video games are looked at the same way. People say video games make kids violent or racing games make teens drive dangerous. I let my daughter play video games because I think it helps her, just like pretending to be a pirate helps kids imagination.

 

[PKD]

Hooray for the hairy leg!!! I just had to respond...this is the part of the ride where I always scooch down in the boat...that thing creeps me out and I love it. Nevertheless, it didn't stop me from describing it to the little ones well in advance of our trip...and they all scooched down with me when we rode. So glad someone else can relate!

My friends and I do the same thing.. that leg is scarier then Alien Encounter!!

 

[hokielutz]

I too see no problem with kids playing pirates. ...... I let my daughter play video games because I think it helps her, just like pretending to be a pirate helps kids imagination.

Three cheers for imagination! Now where did Eisner put the Dreamfinder?

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Maybe its me but I think the original poster based their pirates off of hollywood movies... "theives, murders rapist and worse"....

Yes they were theives but by the same token you could argue they were not much different from Robin Hood, stealing from the Spanish that stole from the Indians in Central and South America isn't such a bad thing is it? And I'm not sure who they were raping since most all people on those ships were male (feminism wasn't around just yet)..... and I'm also curious as to what could have been worse than a murdering raping theif?

 

[sabian]

Romantisizing pirates?
Just think, one day we may celebrate and romantisize about a mouse!!!!!...those dirty, disgusting, disease infested rodents..........

 

[Vernonpush]

If there are any lessons to be learned from the pirates, it's that some people need to walk the plank or be thrown into the bilge with the rest of the rats until they rot....ie., the despicable pedophile. That's the REAL & PRESENT danger to the mental and physical welfare of our kids these days. :wave:


:lookaroun

Yes, and don't forget Anna Nicole Smith and Brittaney Spears as being good role models for children.

 

[sbkline]

Maybe its me but I think the original poster based their pirates off of hollywood movies... "theives, murders rapist and worse"....

Yes they were theives but by the same token you could argue they were not much different from Robin Hood, stealing from the Spanish that stole from the Indians in Central and South America isn't such a bad thing is it?

Well, as they say, intentions are what counts. And, while I don't justify Robin Hood, at least you could say his heart was in the right place if he did what he did in order to right a perceived wrong. But let's be realistic here. Do you REALLY think that the pirates were motivated by a sense of social justice and pity for the poor, oppressed native Americans by stealing money from Spain? I hardly think so. It may very well be that Spain plundered this money from the Indians and then got their comeupance by the pirates plundering their ships, but I personally don't think the pirates gave a hoot about avenging the Indians. Their intentions surely had nothing to do with taking this money back and redistributing it to the people it came from. Or put it another way. Let's say that some guy has three kids chained up in his basement. I don't know about this, but the guy honks me off by cutting me off in traffic. I follow him back to his house and kill him, thereby freeing the children from his tyranny. Is what I did somehow right just because some good or some justice came out of it? Hardly. Same with your example of the pirates plundering money which had been stolen from someone else.

And I'm not sure who they were raping since most all people on those ships were male (feminism wasn't around just yet)..... and I'm also curious as to what could have been worse than a murdering raping theif?

Pirates WERE known to plunder villages and ransack towns, ya know. :animwink:

 

[WaltzingMatilda]

I love that leg. I like your name by the way, are you referring to the original Australian song or the Irish one?

The leg is the best....

Thanks for the compliment! The name actually refers to a Tom Waits song, called Tom Traubert's Blues...the main refrain is "to go waltzing Matilda". A bittersweet little tune...my favorite non-Disney song.

I use a version of this name for everything (e-mail, VMK, etc) and I occassionally get asked if I'm from Australia, which I think is pretty cool that people recognize the origins of the name.

Thanks again! Sorry y'all to go OT!:wave:

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Well, as they say, intentions are what counts. And, while I don't justify Robin Hood, at least you could say his heart was in the right place if he did what he did in order to right a perceived wrong. But let's be realistic here. Do you REALLY think that the pirates were motivated by a sense of social justice and pity for the poor, oppressed native Americans by stealing money from Spain? I hardly think so. It may very well be that Spain plundered this money from the Indians and then got their comeupance by the pirates plundering their ships, but I personally don't think the pirates gave a hoot about avenging the Indians. Their intentions surely had nothing to do with taking this money back and redistributing it to the people it came from. Or put it another way. Let's say that some guy has three kids chained up in his basement. I don't know about this, but the guy honks me off by cutting me off in traffic. I follow him back to his house and kill him, thereby freeing the children from his tyranny. Is what I did somehow right just because some good or some justice came out of it? Hardly. Same with your example of the pirates plundering money which had been stolen from someone else.



Pirates WERE known to plunder villages and ransack towns, ya know. :animwink:

I'm not sure but I think you could argue that they were only pirates when they were at sea. Once on land they were just crooks.

And sure they didn't try to avenge the Indians, in most instances the pirates themselves had been oppressed by the various European governments. So you could say they were the starving kids in the basement that were just blasting away at all the other bad daddies.

How bad could pirates have actually been when they were hired by the powers that be at the time. I believe the British hired them at various times.

The simple point is pirates are probably made out to be much worse than they were by Hollywood. Much like Hollywood made the American Indians out to be evil in the old westerns. Since, no one actually wanders about with swords anymore whats the harm in romaticizing pirates now. Did you also have a complaints about Disney's Dinosaur for how it portrayed dinosaurs?

 

[sbkline]

The simple point is pirates are probably made out to be much worse than they were by Hollywood. Much like Hollywood made the American Indians out to be evil in the old westerns. Since, no one actually wanders about with swords anymore whats the harm in romaticizing pirates now. Did you also have a complaints about Disney's Dinosaur for how it portrayed dinosaurs?

I never said that there was any harm in romanticizing pirates, and I never said I have complaints about how Disney portrays them. If you read my posts again, you should notice that I said that I see nothing wrong with kids playing pirates, and I also see nothing wrong with POTC. I love that ride. I was simply saying that, fantasy and fun aside (and again, I see nothing wrong with those things), Pirates WERE indeed evil, murderous thieves. But again, I don't think that this means that we can't "romanticize" pirates as you say. Nothing wrong with some harmless fun and imagination.

And as far as the way Hollywood portrayed the Indians, I think they were pretty well accurate. Now whether they were motivated by an evil heart, or simply a sense of self defense of their land and their way of life, is debatable. But I see nothing inaccurate about portraying the Indians as people who would come out of nowhere and massacre the settlers. That's just history, whether they were in the right or in the wrong.

 

[Since1976]

I think think it's pretty much understood that the Pirates in POTC are nothing like what real pirates were like (the portrayals owe more to Hollywood's depiction of them in the 20th century). And even so, the lifestyle portrayed in both the movies and the ride is far from glamorous.

I see nothing wrong with kids play-acting the fake-pirate lifestyle. It's no different than kids dressing up as vampires and skeletons for Halloween.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I hope those questioning pirates and the like dont download music and film from share sites, and certainly dont sell event tickets above face value on E-bay.

As for Robin Hood being a crook, where would that put accountants working for firms on tax avoidance schemes? At least the commom theif gave most of his spoils to the poor, the bean counters get paid big for keeping the cash to the few. I know who I have more in common with. Comrade

 

[Deadmanwalking]

And as far as the way Hollywood portrayed the Indians, I think they were pretty well accurate. Now whether they were motivated by an evil heart, or simply a sense of self defense of their land and their way of life, is debatable. But I see nothing inaccurate about portraying the Indians as people who would come out of nowhere and massacre the settlers. That's just history, whether they were in the right or in the wrong.

Gee, if you think Hollywood portrayed the Indians in an accurate manner I can't wait for you to explain how slavery was good and the Nazis were the Jews' best friend. You obviously have no clue as to how history and Hollywood differ in regards to the American Indian. I feel sorry for you.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Patronising and obnoxious a winning combo.:sohappy: :sohappy: