teehee That quote from "All the Way" always cracks me up. Anyway I'm using it because I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last night.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

I'm finding it tricky to determine my exact reaction to the movie. I love fluffy, fun and silly (bonus if has absurd moments which POTC 2 has) summer blockbusters, and that's what the movie is. I love them because I can just sit back, munch on popcorn, giggle and have a relaxing couple of hours. I can turn off my brain (which is good because it helps me ignore problems with plot, bad writing, etc.) and just have a good time. Over the years I've accepted that Hollywood generally is not the place to look for wonderful representations of anyone regardless of sex, race, sexuality, background etc.

However I'm really distressed by the representation of the aboriginal Caribbean residents, the Calinago or Caribs. I recall enough from history class to know that the Calinago were not cannibals. Now I totally get that POTC 2 is a silly movie that isn't in any way claiming to accurately portray anyone. And certainly it's not like the British and the East India Trading company are portrayed in a good light.

But I was sort of flailing around about my reaction because I still feel really uncomfortable about the movie (despite having fun during all the non-cannibal scenes), so I did some research to see what other reactions are. I was particularly interested to see how the descendants of the Caliango responded to the movie. It turns out that the President of the National Garifuna Council of Belize sent a letter in 2005 to The Walt Disney Company calling them to task for the erroneous representations and noting how damaging they are. I found a link to that letter here. I find this part to be of particular note:

Our Calinago ancestors were a warrior race who migrated to the lesser islands of the Caribbean from the Amazon region of South America and, as with any warrior race, they engaged in ritualistic practices to encourage fearlessness among warriors. They fought to the death to defend their islands against invaders in the colonial era which followed the arrival of Columbus to our shores, an unfortunate event that changed for the worst the natural evolution and development of indigenous societies of the world in the period that followed.

The myth about cannibalism was started because the Calinago were not intimidated by the European invaders and waged war in the defense of their territory and way of life.

I understand that the movie is a very over-the-top silly experience (and I love that sort of thing!), but I do think there's a way the filmmakers could have represented the Calinago without resorting to - and perpetuating - very harmful myths. For example, the pirates could have thought the Calinago were cannibals, but we - the audience - could have known differently and laughed with the Calinago at the stupidity of the pirates. Subtitles would could have accomplished this (and I noted that there were no subtitles when the Calinago spoke, making them essentially voiceless in the movie).

This issue really dampened what is otherwise an enjoyable movie. Johnny Depp is the highlight of the movie as usual. Orlando Bloom was fun to watch and has a great back (see I'm capable of appreciating the surface stuff!). I like women dressed up as men, so even enjoyed Keira Knightley (it's interesting that the filmmakers definitely tried to make her more appealing to modern women, yet did not take the same care with the Calinago). Norrington also rocked. And I loved the three-way fight!!! I also had fun with all the slashy subtext.

I guess I can't fully turn off my brain during a fun movie. And I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

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On a different subject, I'm very very very very excited because a week tomorrow is when I arrive at savoytruffle's for a pre-Writercon visit. And then it's Writercon!!!!!!!! *dances*


ETA: The celebrations for Italy winning the World Cup are still going strong here. I imagine that it must be insane in Italy!