Preaching Pirates

[Warning: Spoilers]

I love Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. I cheered when Johnny Depp was nominated for an Oscar. His creation, Capt. Jack Sparrow, was the most original and entertaining movie character I had seen in a long, long time. The movie was just pure, escapist fun. I eagerly awaited the second installment in the trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

It was worth the wait. It had comedy. It had poignant moments. It had adventure. It had Capt. Jack Sparrow! But what it also had that the first one lacked was shadows. There was a shadow over Capt. Sparrow - is he really a pirate "and a good man" after sending Will to Davy Jones? Was Will Elizabeth's true love, or did the shadow of a certain Captain put that in doubt?

The second movie was much darker than the first, but then, maybe we should come to expect that with the second movie of a trilogy. Look at the original Star Wars trilogy: The Empire Strikes Back was the dark episode. How about Raiders? Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was icky and dark. Even the second movie of the current Bourne series kept the pattern alive as Jason lost Marie.

All storytellers, whether Christian or not, cannot help but repeat elements of The Story. We are made in God's image and so, even in our fallen state, we image our Creator. Scripture tells the story of Creation, Fall and Redemption. This is the pattern we see in so many movie trilogies. The second installment, the Fall, is dark while the concluding chapter is the redemptive one when the happy ending arrives.

For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Rom 1:20

Even as Hollyweird so often brazenly rebels against God, they can't help but borrow from His book.

[For a great read on the movies from a Christian perspective, try Brian Godawa's Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment. Read about it here.]