A Case for Jack Sparrow, Esq. and Capt.
I don't quite know what it is that is forcing me to write this (boredom? inspiration? desperation?), all I know is that its threatening to overwhelm me if it doesn't burst out now.
Jack Sparrow. We know him; we love him (most of the time). I fell in love with the character (platonically, mind) the first time I got a glimpe of that cocky hat riding on the horizon. That was the start, one could say, of my true introduction to fandom and fanfiction. One of those defining moments.
Since then, in various pieces of written both here and on fanfiction.net under the alias Cheorl or Cheorl d'Arion, I've received comments on my "Jack!voice", on how well I seem to write him. I won't make any presumptions myself on my own writing - it's a little egotistic, really. And this isn't truly about my writing. It's about the rather misjudged, often misloved man.
Note that I said man, not pirate. Because, whatever he may be (and I've read some very fascinating fictional exposition on that) Jack is a man before he's a pirate. This ism quite possibly, one reason that I fnd a failing with how he is written and/or portrayed in a good bit of fanfiction.
Before LJ I didn't have the same fandom community sense, so I only read what I found. And goodness knows I spent a lot of time searching for good fic. By myself I hunted down a good number of classics that star Jack. Before DMC it wasn't so bad, but after that... portrayel and writing of Jack seemed to go downhill. Nowadays, if I may be so bold as to assume, he is written lacklustrely, a bumbling drunken fool who has some serious mental problems. Yes, that is how The Establishment displayed him in DMC and AWE. But look at CotBP close enough, and probably at the sequels, and you find something more.
Jack is written without dignity. He is written without any sense of honour. He is written as a materialist, as a fool, as a shallow knave. Jack Sparrow, I believe, is not these. As I just recently spotted in someone's comments, he is a man who knows himself too well. The "Big Secret" to writing Jack Sparrow, is, I think, to realize that he is very introspective. He knows himself, when I write him (if I may use myself as an example, shabby thought it may be). He knows a story. Jack is, in my mind, a story-teller. He recognizes the elements of a legend, and enacts them. He is sensitive to others, he knows his own faults and failings. And like any good actor, he knows what face he presents to the world.
Of all the sub-fandoms within PotC fandom, I like to think that the Sparrington community (in the group sense, not the LJ sense) of fanwriters got him the best. They know, in their wonderful writing of him and his commodore, that he is more than a pirate. He is a man, as real and wonderful as any of our delightful Navy Boys; as much a man as gentle (or not so much) Will is. For someone to display themselves in such a way, and act so to public, requires them to be amazingly honest with themselves, and realistic. Jack is not an angel, untouched and uncaring by the cruel, cynical realities of the world he inhabits. But he isn't just a common, lowborn criminal.
Perhaps he is lowborn. We know he's a criminal by English law. But his background matters not, that's up to the author.
Jack Sparrow is not a materialist. He is not petty. These are both traits that could be assigned to him, through observatin or deduction, from the sequels. I believe he does enjoy the pleasure's of life. I believe that he likes the shiny, unique, fascinating and foreign. But not for the sake of having riches. Biggest factor in that: the Black Pearl. Jack Sparrow loves his ship. He has a knowledge of poetry, a poet's soul, or perhaps a writer's. Does not longing for a ship, spending 10 years chasing it down, seem romantic to you? It's the stuff of legends, and I think Jack Sparrow knows that.
He loves little things and details, I believe, but he is not petty. In DMC, but most especially AWE, we see him competing, pettily so, with Barbossa. From CotBP, we can easily gather, as I and many other's did, that Jack is intelligent. And no intelligent man, unless driven by pure need, would continually be so petty as they had Jack. The "True Jack", that I think of, that I love to read of, was an intelligent, charming, silver-tongued serpent you wanted to charm you. Would such a serpent have given in to contest with his enemy? I think not.
So this is not quite an exposition on Jack Sparrow. This isn't quite me saying what I want to say about a character version that I write. Mostly, but still not quite fully, it is a case for Jack Sparrow, man and sailor. Give him dignity, fellows, give him a personal code of honour. Give him a sense of self, an actor's talent for displaying an image to the world, but be sure to give him a heart. Give him these, my dear fellows, and you will get Jack Sparrow.
Do not glorify his dirty side. He has it there, but if you raise it up - and goodness knows I love the dastardly rogue - be sure to imbue it with intelligence and wit and charm. Do not make him a simple scapegoat.
As he himself said: "There is only what a man can do, and what a man can't do."
Fellows, this man who sails on the wrong side of the law can do so much more than we think. Do not be fooled by his rogue-ness if you prefer the clean, honourable Navy Boys. Do not be fooled by his personal integrity and honest cunning if you prefer the criminal and drunkard.
So I rest my case. Jack Sparrow is a man; I know him as much as any may, and I love him.
And so does Jamie. *coughs*
And there you have it. Any con-crit on the exposition itself would be welcome, it was written straight into the post box.
Jack Sparrow. We know him; we love him (most of the time). I fell in love with the character (platonically, mind) the first time I got a glimpe of that cocky hat riding on the horizon. That was the start, one could say, of my true introduction to fandom and fanfiction. One of those defining moments.
Since then, in various pieces of written both here and on fanfiction.net under the alias Cheorl or Cheorl d'Arion, I've received comments on my "Jack!voice", on how well I seem to write him. I won't make any presumptions myself on my own writing - it's a little egotistic, really. And this isn't truly about my writing. It's about the rather misjudged, often misloved man.
Note that I said man, not pirate. Because, whatever he may be (and I've read some very fascinating fictional exposition on that) Jack is a man before he's a pirate. This ism quite possibly, one reason that I fnd a failing with how he is written and/or portrayed in a good bit of fanfiction.
Before LJ I didn't have the same fandom community sense, so I only read what I found. And goodness knows I spent a lot of time searching for good fic. By myself I hunted down a good number of classics that star Jack. Before DMC it wasn't so bad, but after that... portrayel and writing of Jack seemed to go downhill. Nowadays, if I may be so bold as to assume, he is written lacklustrely, a bumbling drunken fool who has some serious mental problems. Yes, that is how The Establishment displayed him in DMC and AWE. But look at CotBP close enough, and probably at the sequels, and you find something more.
Jack is written without dignity. He is written without any sense of honour. He is written as a materialist, as a fool, as a shallow knave. Jack Sparrow, I believe, is not these. As I just recently spotted in someone's comments, he is a man who knows himself too well. The "Big Secret" to writing Jack Sparrow, is, I think, to realize that he is very introspective. He knows himself, when I write him (if I may use myself as an example, shabby thought it may be). He knows a story. Jack is, in my mind, a story-teller. He recognizes the elements of a legend, and enacts them. He is sensitive to others, he knows his own faults and failings. And like any good actor, he knows what face he presents to the world.
Of all the sub-fandoms within PotC fandom, I like to think that the Sparrington community (in the group sense, not the LJ sense) of fanwriters got him the best. They know, in their wonderful writing of him and his commodore, that he is more than a pirate. He is a man, as real and wonderful as any of our delightful Navy Boys; as much a man as gentle (or not so much) Will is. For someone to display themselves in such a way, and act so to public, requires them to be amazingly honest with themselves, and realistic. Jack is not an angel, untouched and uncaring by the cruel, cynical realities of the world he inhabits. But he isn't just a common, lowborn criminal.
Perhaps he is lowborn. We know he's a criminal by English law. But his background matters not, that's up to the author.
Jack Sparrow is not a materialist. He is not petty. These are both traits that could be assigned to him, through observatin or deduction, from the sequels. I believe he does enjoy the pleasure's of life. I believe that he likes the shiny, unique, fascinating and foreign. But not for the sake of having riches. Biggest factor in that: the Black Pearl. Jack Sparrow loves his ship. He has a knowledge of poetry, a poet's soul, or perhaps a writer's. Does not longing for a ship, spending 10 years chasing it down, seem romantic to you? It's the stuff of legends, and I think Jack Sparrow knows that.
He loves little things and details, I believe, but he is not petty. In DMC, but most especially AWE, we see him competing, pettily so, with Barbossa. From CotBP, we can easily gather, as I and many other's did, that Jack is intelligent. And no intelligent man, unless driven by pure need, would continually be so petty as they had Jack. The "True Jack", that I think of, that I love to read of, was an intelligent, charming, silver-tongued serpent you wanted to charm you. Would such a serpent have given in to contest with his enemy? I think not.
So this is not quite an exposition on Jack Sparrow. This isn't quite me saying what I want to say about a character version that I write. Mostly, but still not quite fully, it is a case for Jack Sparrow, man and sailor. Give him dignity, fellows, give him a personal code of honour. Give him a sense of self, an actor's talent for displaying an image to the world, but be sure to give him a heart. Give him these, my dear fellows, and you will get Jack Sparrow.
Do not glorify his dirty side. He has it there, but if you raise it up - and goodness knows I love the dastardly rogue - be sure to imbue it with intelligence and wit and charm. Do not make him a simple scapegoat.
As he himself said: "There is only what a man can do, and what a man can't do."
Fellows, this man who sails on the wrong side of the law can do so much more than we think. Do not be fooled by his rogue-ness if you prefer the clean, honourable Navy Boys. Do not be fooled by his personal integrity and honest cunning if you prefer the criminal and drunkard.
So I rest my case. Jack Sparrow is a man; I know him as much as any may, and I love him.
And so does Jamie. *coughs*
And there you have it. Any con-crit on the exposition itself would be welcome, it was written straight into the post box.