Jack Sparrow -- Modern Trickster

A modern trickster can be a difficult thing to define. Tricksters push the current accepted boundaries of our society. The idea of a trickster is to push society push it's current boundaries either for good or ill. Culturally, I think it's safe to say that our culture no longer values mythology as we once did. This figure no longer makes it into our conscious thought through our sacred beliefs, so the trickster is often found through those who emanate hip as well as fictional characters from pop culture. In Leland's discussion of tricksters in relation to hip he uses Richard Pryor, comedian through the '60s and '90s, as an example of the connection between the two. "Pryor was insider and outsider at the same time, passing knowledge from one realm to the other. He did so with both bravado and humility, and with the trickster wisdom that lay between the two."

In the first installment, The Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow seems to fit this one understanding of a trickster perfectly as he straddles this line well. He presents himself with the bravado of a captain of the world's most infamous pirate ship. However, he has been the victim of mutiny. As a wanted man without the support of a fast sea vessel or the loyal support of his crew he should be one of the most vulnerable characters in the story but continues to wiggle his way out of the dangers that come from being an infamous pirate without his ship, at least in the fictional world. His continued overconfidence happens to be a source of success for him as it also displays and image. As he projects an image of overconfidence, others around him believe in his displayed cocky attitude and underestimate him.

Throughout the movie, he continues to display other trickster qualities. In his introduction I linked to above. at the end of the clip he steals the small sack of coins from the dock watchmen after he went through the effort of bribing him, which may cause some questioning of the details in the movie by some viewers like that of youtube user Steve Harvey, "Was it deliberate that they made it so Jack paid him extra, regardless of the fact that he could've just given them a false name and paid the usual amount? Or was that something they overlooked?" What he happened to miss was that while he could have just gave him the correct amount and given him a fake name, it would have meant a missed opportunity for monetary gain. The most straight forward way would have been for Jack to give the watchmen a fake name. That isn't really the way of a trickster. In Leland's text he quotes Ishmael Reed as, "The trickster goes on anybody's side, As long as he can get sex and gain, that's where he'll go. But [he] gets away with it because he's very vulnerable." Throughout the different movies, Jack continues to remain vulnerable, despite some regained power, because ultimately that is how he continues to cross boundaries and remain a successfully sneaky character. If he always had power, different characters would have less of a reason to trust him as he wouldn't need their help in the first place.When he does manage to get the Black Pearl, his ship, back from the mutinous hands of his previous crew, it has several flaws. There are holes in the side of the ship, some made during the course of the movie. The black sails also have massive holes in them, which wouldn't be very effective at picking up the wind necessary to haul that bulk across the ocean. The Black Pearl acts as a further reflection of his character and helps to cement his projected identity as a vulnerable figure. Perhaps the idea behind these flaw is to project a ghost ship to go along with the curse his previous crew picked up when they "happened" upon some cursed gold. If were honest, that ship wouldn't be very effective, which takes away much of the power they would realistically have to frighten large amounts of people. The idea of a ghost ship is terrifying. A holey ship with unhygienic pirates just sounds like a sinking deathtrap. As Jack's beloved ship is presented as a deathtrap I supposed it could be taken two ways. It could either be underestimated as an old junk ship, or it could terrify sailors with it's reputation as the haunt of the seven seas. Either way, it sets an illusion that is meant to throw those who would fight against Jack off track. When he has hold of his ship, it helps him act just a wee bit sneaky.