Thread: Pirates of the.....

Tweet

OK I gotta ask and no offense to anyone what is the big deal with pirates not necessarily of the carribean but in general. In my opinion and just my opinion they arent scary and have nothing to do with Halloween. (Johnny Depp) I have always found pirates to be more comedic than scary except in one film which was the fog with jaime lee curtis. This is just a curiosity post and all im wondering is what the big obsession is (Johnny Depp)

Well, I'm no expert, but the real life of pirates and the Hollywood version of pirates are two different things. The Hollywood version is that of swashbuckling, drinking and buried treasure. It is a very romanticized image. It's just high adventure, and people like that.
Real pirate life was not so glamorous. Disease constantly threatened the pirate, and treasure consisted of more than gold: silk, spice and other less glamorous goods were just as coveted by the pirate as gold was. If Hollywood made accurate pirate movies, I think the infatuation with the pirate life would be much, much less.
But, like I said, I'm no expert. Just a theory to your question.

I noticed how you snuck in Johnny Depp's name a few times, so my question is are you wondering also what the obsession with him is as well?

I think a big obsession with pirates is also the rebellion part, they don't follow rules made by society.

They have cool flags.

People have been fascinated by pirates LONG BEFORE (Johnny Depp) for a lot of reasons, many of which have already been mentioned in this thread. Rebellion, riches, romance, freedom, the mystique of the 'good bad guy' (similar to the fascination with the Mafia), and so on. Beyond that, you may as well ask the question for any interest: What's the obsession with Cowboys? Plumbing? Tractors?
As for pirates and Halloween, well... Pirates have as much to do with Halloween as cops, mafia goons, fairy princesses, burglars, cowboys, indians and superheroes. That is, nothing and everything, because each of those costumes and many others are seen every year on my front porch alone, not to mention around the country.
How many pictures can you find over the long history of Halloween trick or treating in America where at least ONE of the kids pictured is NOT dressed like a pirate? The imagery has been a part of the Halloween landscape in this country for generations.
For the record, there are a number of haunts which have been using a pirate theme for decades, again, LONG BEFORE the current Disney-driven cool movie trend.
Also, so much of pirate iconography involves skulls and skeletons; those are SURELY Halloween-appropriate. Whether it's dressed as a cowboy, a Roman centurion or a pirate, a ToT-threatening skeleton on your porch or behind your bushes is perfectly Halloween.
It's about fantasy.
Certainly the current crush of pirate themed haunts has everything to do with the hugely popular Pirates films; no surprise there.
But that's been a fairly traditional aspect of Halloween for decades.
I recall a number of chest-bursting, Alien-blasting haunts in SoCal after the release of Aliens. I recall the same phenomenon occuring after Jaws, and what in hell do sharks have to do with Halloween?
Nothing and everything, because it's all about the celebration of personal fantasy.
I don't feel a need to defend Pirates or any particular theme, just defending
the idea of themes in general. Because if you think about it...
If one really stripped things down, one could argue that unless we observe the exact rituals and traditions of Samhain, NOTHING we do/decorate/celebrate has anything to do with Halloween.
But that would be absurd because really, on Halloween, we are rebelling against the notion of our own deaths, enjoying ourselves and each other while remembering life is short but wonderful, and scouring for treats and treasures.
Sounds Piratey enough for me.

Yaarrgh!


Mike C.

Awesome MikeC!

I have been doing my backyard haunt for 6 years now and the hubby has wanted Pirate Skeletons since the first. So last year we went with a Pirate them for part of the lawn and party.

The reason the movie had anything to do with it was there was a plethora of piratey goods available! Plain and simple. Might as well take advantage, and it is much easier to plan for something when you have lots of items at hand.

I am doing the theme again this year mainly because I still had many ideas that I didn't get to do. The fact that there is another movie only helps the cause!

I'm already planning a Vampire theme for '08 and will more than likely revisit my previous Witch theme in '09. Plus having a theme helps add to that particular section of my yard.
^S^
Yo Ho Yo Ho a Halloween Life For Me!

Well said Mike. When you think about it, monsters, witches, skeletons, most likely were not originally part of Halloween either, but were added to the holiday as it evolved into less of a religious holiday and into more of a secular holiday.

My haunts used to be about ghosts and ghouls, but with the popularity of pirates, mine display just sort of gravitated in that direction. Not sure why, but I just had an idea to make a pirate ship one year.

Now I'm hooked.

My current haunt does have a lot of POTC reference in it, and that is partly because that is what's "hip" right now, and also because I'm a big Disney fan. But I'm guessing as the movie's popularity dies down, my POTC reference will probably change also.

Also I believe that many of us, in the back of our heads, our aiming to recapture some of the fun of the great Disneyland/World twosome- the original POTC ride and The Haunted Mansion.

In my mind at least the two go hand-in-hand and having spooks and pirates together seem perfectly natural.

See, personally, I don't get the apparant fascination some have with blood and gore either. This isn't scary, just the aftermath of what was scary.

Thing is, though, the beauty of Halloween is I, you, anyone does not HAVE to understand it. The reason Halloween is the only holiday worthwhile is that it has one underlying theme, and one only. Fun.

That's it, that's all.

What do you ask your kids (if you have them)? "What do you want to be?" Not "what among these Halloween approved themes would you like to be"? The Sky's the limit, for one night, you can be anything. It's the same with us haunters, for a season, we can make our yards anything we choose.

It's the popular thing now. Consider - if the recent movies had been stupid (like Cutthroat Island), pirates wouldn't be on everyone's mind (and in everyone's front yard).

Remember when Jurassic Park came out? You couldn't get away from dinosaurs - they were everywhere - and still are to a fair degree.

I figure it's mostly a phase. As has been said, pirates translate very well into Halloweendom. The Depp movies made pirates a little bit scary and attainable to haunters. I feel like more of a traditionalist, so things like Michael Myers and skeletons (even pirate skeletons) and witches have more of a Halloween draw than movie pirates.

Just my $0.02.