Big Gay Pirates

[moonlettuce]

A friend of mine is doing his MA in Film Studies, and his thesis is on reading homoerotic subtext in Jerry Bruckheimer movies. The thing is, he can see it in Top Gun, and he can see it in Pearl Harbour, but he's having difficulty with Pirates of the Caribbean.

He asked me what I see that he can't, and it got me thinking. I watch Pirates and I see Johnny Depp playing Jack Sparrow as someone who flirts with everyone, male or female. I see sexual tension between the two male leads, as well as between them and Keira Knightley. Maybe it's because the thought of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom together is a really rather hot one. Maybe I see more than is actually there because I'm already tilted towards the slash world view.

So, I'm asking you guys. Why do you think Pirates of the Caribbean is a slashy movie?

Give me your thoughts, your meta, your big gay pirates...

Comments

[gloss]

PotC is very homoerotic - you've got the naval setting right off, yes? And Jack Davenport is one pissy-but-hot motherfucker. And Sparrow *oozes* sex. Also, possibly, VD, but who cares.

*g*

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

And Sparrow *oozes* sex. Also, possibly, VD, but who cares.

lol! Best description of Jack Sparrow ever!

[zortified.livejournal.com]

I think Jack Sparrow is only really in love with the Pearl. You could argue that he loved Bootstrap Bill, because of the way he talks about him, but that may be more subtexty than actual subtext.

But Will, I think, falls in love with Jack. It's especially clear at the end when he saves (tries to save) Jack's life, knowing that he's likely to fail and get caught, himself. But for him, standing up for what he thinks is right -- saying "you shouldn't be doing this" is more important.

You don't do that unless you feel passionately about something. Before he met Jack, the only things Will felt passionately about were sword-making and Elizabeth, and it isn't clear how either of those passions would lead him to save/try to save Jack's life. (You could argue he does it for Elizabeth, but she's completely capable of doing that, herself - in fact she does.) But would he risk his life to stand up for her principles? If he was -- the movie doesn't give us any hint that he's doing it for her. The movie only shows us that he is doing it for Jack.

That's my big slashy moment from PotC.

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

*glomps you*

I think that moment is what defined it for me, as well. The entire "My place is between you and Jack." Oh hell, yes.

[davechicken.livejournal.com]

Eunuchs! Big damn swords! Hats! Hand-waving! Jack in Norrington's face! Jack standing above people waving swords from amusing places! Jack and the eyeliner and the hand-swishing! The walk!

...how could anyone ever think Sparrow wasn't the biggest whore to sail the seas?!

[davechicken.livejournal.com]

...also, yes, in the extras Ragetti or Pintel says they fell in love with a eunuch at some point, I am sure. And they cross-dress.

...

.....

Anyway.

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

*g*

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

...how could anyone ever think Sparrow wasn't the biggest whore to sail the seas?!

Absolutely! *g*

[xandutch.livejournal.com]

I think you pretty much summed it up there, far better than I could have. It's funny actually: to me, Pirates is so far more blatantly slashy than Pearl Harbour (even though I can see it there too). That sort of takes the wind out of any explanation I could have made, because I have difficulty switching that perspective around.

Great subject for a thesis by the way!

And hell yeah, yay for all that sexual tension between the male leads...

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

I know. He actually got me thinking as to whther I see the slash in some things because I don't see life from a straight perspective. But no, Pirates is just full of the big gay love ;-)

[rhade-rad.livejournal.com]

OK. We're talking about all male environments here and traditionally sailors have been associated with male/male sex - there's a book I found called Sodomy and the Perception of Evil by BR Burg which looks at English Sea Rovers in the 17thC Caribbean. [Basically no women around so men have sex with each other, plus part of the gang-joining ritual and society where poor people tended to share beds.]

While the main pairing in this fandom is obviously Jack/Will and people have already explained why Jack is slashy. IMHO he's like Ares - fuck anything that moves but true love is his ship - and himself. There is also Jack/Norrington, Will/Norrington and Ragn???/Pintel [Lee Mckensie and the other pirate] as they seem to behave like an old married couple. And some rare Barbossa/Jack. There is a list at yahoo.

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

I think I see Jack much like I see Lex in Smallville. They are so damn omnisexual, I can't see them confining themselves to only one sex. Lex flirts with everyone - including his own father and the occassional inanimate object (but enough about Lana...), and so does Jack.

:-D

[concernedlily.livejournal.com]

There's the pirates' role in society - they're outsiders, it could be coded as queer (like superheroes), with Jack leading Will to 'come out' to his true piratical identity, as well as the historical basis mentioned above. There's also a homoerotic triangle, Jack and Will sublimating their desire for Elizabeth with each other.

That said, I must admit that essentially it's the sheer hotness of it all, yeah *g*.

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

That said, I must admit that essentially it's the sheer hotness of it all, yeah *g*.

It's hot like a hot thing that is very hot :-D

[laurissa.livejournal.com]

Hmm, must admit, I'm not the best person to ask, because I can't see it very much in PoTC either. The best I can argue is the swordfight in the forge and Will saving Jack at the end shows *some* slashy potential. But the whole point of me answering is to get your mate to watch Blackhawk Down, another Bruckheimer movie. And to watch Eric Bana and Orli together in that. That is one of the most easily slashable movies ever. It's an extremely good movie too, though very hard to watch at times, considering it's based on a true story. But the Hoot/Todd fandom is brilliant. Some of the fics in it are my all time favourites across all fandoms. :)

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

It's been decided that JB is all about the big gay hotness :-D

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

I see just as much Sparrow/Norrington UST as I do Jack/Will.

But yes, PotC is way slashier than Pearl Harbor.

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I mean, Pearl Harbour is totally missing the big gay pirates *g*