The Golden Age of Piracy
Dean
Every culture creates a mythology or mythology unique unto itself. Some are a little more unique and/or derivative than others, but it always happens. With Americans, I would argue that we have created, via Hollywood, at least two instantly recognizable mythologies:
1) The "old west" 2) Pirates of the Caribbean
One might also add the tales of the American Revolution, many of which are apocryphal or probably false (like George Washington and the cherry tree), and also the entire concept of the super-hero (Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc.).
Anyway, without getting too in-depth on any of that I note that yesterday was "Talk Like A Pirate Day," a humorous "holiday" we've "observed" here on Dean's World for years now. Now the truth of the matter is that real pirates, modern or historical, is a wicked, disgusting career somewhere between street gang hood and mafioso or terrorist. It's not particularly funny either--murdering, raping, robbing, and pillaging people for fun and profit on the high seas is no more funny or admirable than murdering, raping, robbing, and pillaging people for fun and profit in other contexts.
Still, most mythology is based on something. For example, the "old west" in the United States is based on a very brief period of American history, lasting no more than 20-30 years, in the late 1800s in the Western states. Not unlike the legends of, say, Robin Hood or King Arthur, figures who probably didn't exist in reality but even if they did exist far greater in human imagination than in actual history.
A similar Hollywood/historical fiction is the idea of the "pirate." Having little resemblance to real pirates (who are, by definition, murdering, raping, stealing thugs), the "pirate" is a Hollywood movie/mythology that endures. Like "the old West" (which also existed, but for a very brief period), there was a "Golden Age of Piracy" in the Caribbean, wherein various governments basically gave a blind eye or even actively encouraged piracy on the high seas. For example, there actually was a dread Pirate Roberts, although his reality was somewhat at odds with the beloved "The Princess Bride" movie.
Mythology is almost always bullcrap, but that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of it. No, there was no Man of Steel. No, there was no Treasure Island. No, the Old West was nothing more than a brief period of perhaps 20, 30 years], mostly of ruffianshp and barbarism. If there was a real King Arthur (doubtful) he likely wore animal skins and ruled in a manner reminiscent of modern street gang rules. Such is the nature of history and legend.
Still, the legend of the romantic and perversely admirable pirate endures in the American lexicon. I can recognize and enjoy this even while recognizing that it's as full of crap as the average John Wayne movie. Still, there was a reality that underlay much of the mythology. See the history of The Golden Age of Piracy" for a bit more info." My own take is that modern-day terrorism should be viewed and treated much like piracy in the days of yore: pirates and terrorists are the acknowledged and proud enemies of civilization and cutthroats and murderers by definition, people who are at war with civilization by definition, and should be treated accordingly.
Then add some Hollywood glitz, and well...
But I've been places like the OK Corral and Whiskey Row in Prescott, and everything is always so much smaller than expected! ;>)
That's generally taken out of context and treated superficially. Stevenson deliberately made Long John Silver attractive and Captain Smollett bland. It's consistent with a theme he returned to throughout his works i.e. that evil may be more attractive than good, more clearly epitomized in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Hyde is a moral monster, not a physical one) and The Master of Ballantrae (the evil brother is in many ways more appealing than the good one).
Stevenson's work was followed by that of “Rafael Sabatini” on whose pulp fiction historical romances a number of Errol Flynn's movies were based.
This stuff persists to this day. There's a sub-genre of romance fiction, for example, known in the trade as “Rape me, pirates”.
So you didn’t take Dean’s last paragraph as political?
Good for you if you didn’t.
But I expect many folks would feel otherwise.
Impossible today. President Jefferson and his admirals and captains operated in a time before FISA courts and other modern civil rights structures.
You might say the same for the Davey Crockett and Daniel Boone phenomena.
The anniversary of the War of 1812 is quickly approaching. Get your stuff together now and you can ride the wave in five years' time!
But I do think that mythology every bit as fanciful as our piratey fun and the Round Table of King Arthur infects our contemporary thinking and even policymaking as well, and that's why I decided to leave it.
People tend to romanticize the past in any case, so if it can be done in such a way as to reinforce basic values it becomes an important part of the foundation of a culture.
Pirates are and were some of the worst elements of the world, but by telling stories of people who do the right thing in the end we reinforce the concept of redemption and doing good for no other reason that it's the right thing to do. Those of us hearing the story have the opportunity to not make the same mistakes that our intrepid anti-hero makes.
When I was younger, John F. Kennedy was a hero of mine. Later, some of his indiscretions became the focus of some of my classes, as if to prove that he was no better than anyone else. It took me years to realize that invalidating that part of the man did not invalidate the good things that he'd done, and so now I choose my heroes for what they've accomplished, and view their mistakes as warnings.
Is that shallow, or is it a way to set goals and ideals?
Shallow? I'd say noble.
Yours,
Wince
For anyone to accuse an American of being a cowboy is like telling an Englishman that he is Richard the Lion-Heart, or a Frenchman that he is Roland.
The reply, which seems to confuse, is "Thanks!"
And the accusation underlines that they really do not understand Americans, no matter how many McDonald's open.
For the medieval stuff, see Stevenson's The Black Arrow and Conan Doyle's The White Company.
Again with the Wyeth prints; again - Gee, that's neat!
Mike,
Have you read Don Quixote? Now, I like a good medieval romance like Parzival or the Nibelungenlied now and then, but there is an element of the ridiculous in the tales of knights-errant fighting giant knights of which Europeans ever since (at least) the time of Cervantes have been aware. Of course the Victorians, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the Celtic Twilighters all did their best to reverse this "ironic distancing" from European mythology, the damage has been done. I don't think many people who conciously see themselves as cowboys or knights-errant come off as anything less than humorous these days.
The James gang, the Youngers, and the Daltons are remembered not because they were typical but because they were atypical (and most of them didn't die of old age).
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.