Life as Pirates of the Caribbean (on Stranger Tides)

It was Sunday night that my house-mates and I agreed to watch Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides. I was so excited to see the fourth installation to find out how the story goes without Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) in the picture. Anyway, I got to see the exotic Spanish wonder, Penelope Cruz. The story was into search for the Fountain of Youth, shallow as it sounded, but the movie did not disappoint me. And as cartoony as it was, I have realizations relating to the unravelling of my life.

The aesthetics of the old world was beautifully rendered in the screen. The 3D glasses helped it. Mesmerizing. Galleons, old London, Spanish Palace, English Army uniform, pirates’ wet costumes, and just about everything in the movie. The beautiful people to complete the cast were plus points. You have to watch it so to disprove my judgment.

The Writer at the Caribbean Tableaux

Then here comes Jack Sparrow, the notorious good-bad-intelligent-playing-stupid bubbly character who insisted to be addressed as 'Captain' by the English Monarchy. Once again, Johnny Depp nailed it. With this character, my favourite scene was when the sailors went on mutiny because of his brainwashing only to be hanged like sails after losing the fight, thanks to Black Beard’s sword with some kind of a magic wand tricks.  As devious as he was, to save his ass, he attempted to act as a star witness to point his finger to those who’ve started the uprising, but was unsuccessful. Well, I have met few who played this role or game to advance their positions. I must admit, it helped. But as tempting and amusing as it is to do it, for good  reason, better play fair and it is much appreciated.

Sparrow's Costume

The touching moment for me was the star-crossed (or starfish-crossed?) love-at-first-sight between Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), the mermaid, and Phillip (Sam Claflin), the young cleric. It broke my heart the time when the mermaid was tangled and forced to cry for a single tear to be saved in a vial. Okay I got it, it took this tear and fountain’s water together to be young again. Good thing the mermaid managed her tears not to fall despite anger and sadness upon seeing the stunt killing of Phillip. Eventually, Syrena cried when Philip was about to untangle him after regaining consciousness. Well, I know the feeling when you almost believe  that beautiful feelings of trust and love are about to happen. Only to find out that was a set up, then the pirates successfully extracted a tear. Then the mermaid hated Philip. So then I asked myself, how fulfilling would that be to have gained what you want at the expense of other people’s feelings? How gratifying would that be when people hated each other because they are being manipulated? I can’t answer these questions straight, instead, I will feel guilty.

Starfish-crossed Love?

Penelope’s character, Angelica, was forgettable for me (sorry!) though she had benefited the youthfulness after Jack gave her the tear-water blend in the middle of chaotic scene. But to be fair, she totally popped up the screen every scene she was into.

Thinking of having one like this...joke!

Barbosa's Costume

Barbosa's Crime Pistol

Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie, nevertheless of the boring parts. I liked the sense of humour and the characters’ improvisations just to escape from situations they’ve been into (remember the 'Aqua de Vida' spell?). In reality, life is an adventure filled with drama and a little comedy every now and then will help lighten it up.

Devil's Skeletal System. Anatomy students, anyone?

Finally, this film made me fully accept the fact that life indeed is an adventure. I was so in denial then and even asked God (forgive me) why I was born just to suffer from life’s torments and tumults. I understood that the map is already in place towards our destinations, but sometimes the road has to be built yet. And yes, I will take the Spanish Conquestador’s advice about faith and not waste time to "seek what only faith can provide.”

Everyone has goal, everybody plays roles, and each has motive different from the other. Like Barbosa and Gibbs, they were not in the journey to seek for the fountain or be young again. For me, I know my goal, but for now I don’t know the way, but definitely I will get there. So for me to reach there, better start sailing the ship traversing the stranger tides. And I should not complain for the difficulties I will encounter along the way, instead I will learn from them. After all, mostly in life, “it’s not the destination, much as the journey”, said Jack Sparrow.