Ive Had This Written On Google Docs For Years And Never Posted It Anywhere - Tumblr Posts
*inhales*
THIS THIS THIS
When we think of Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow is the character who immediately comes to mind. Endearing, ridiculous, brazen, memorable - he is the character who captured the attention of many. He is the one that most people consider to be the main character of the PotC franchise.
But he's not the protagonist. As OP rightly says, he is a supporting character. And it bothers me to no end that both the fans and the franchise itself forgot this!
On the surface level, PotC (and i’m talking about the original trilogy) is a lively pirate action movie, thick with lore and mythology and awesome fight scenes. That is what it's remembered as, and Jack Sparrow embodies these elements of it. But peel back the layers, and what you really have is Elizabeth Swann’s coming-of-age story and her love story with one William Turner.
The films are Elizabeth’s journey from spirited young bourgeoise girl wishing for something more, to formidable Pirate King of the Brethren Court. They are an ode to learning how to mould and survive a world that insists on wants to take.
She and Will (and the lengths they are willing to go for each other) are the core of the movies. They allow PotC to be more than just a swashbuckling action, which is arguably what the last two instalments are without them.
Think about it. Who is the first character we meet? Elizabeth! Who is the character with the most defined arc? Elizabeth! The actions that she carries out (eg stealing Will’s medallion) and those that happen to her (eg being kidnapped by Barbossa) almost always directly impact the entire narrative essence of the storyline!
If we look at her kidnapping as an example, this becomes evident. Elizabeth is kidnapped by Barbossa's crew in movie 1, but because she isn't the archetypal damsel in distress (nothing wrong with that ofc), Elizabeth learns. She learns a form of piracy from Barbossa that is unforgiving and ruthless ( with this being paralleled by Will who is meanwhile learning Jack’s more spontaneous approach to piracy). Elizabeth becomes cutthroat and pragmatic and these are the qualities which eventually lead her to become a character well-rounded and strong enough for the Brethren Court to choose her as their leader.
What I'm trying to say here is that the events that happened to her in movie 1 were already setting up her are for movie 3. Why? BECAUSE SHE IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. THE STORY REVOLVES AROUND HER ACTIONS, HER DECISIONS, HER JOURNEY.
Sure, Jack is memorable. but it's Elizabeth who has the biggest arc, it's Elizabeth who by the end personifies the idea of piracy, it's Elizabeth who craved nothing more but sea and adventure and love and who got it in the end in the form of Will who is all those things in one person. Moreover, it's Will who discovers more about himself as the saga progresses, who makes constant sacrifices, who starts off as a nameless orphan and ends having uncovered the truth of his past and having arguably made the biggest sacrifice for the greater good (becoming the new Captain of the Flying Dutchman). Elizabeth and Will have obligations to the plot that Jack doesn't have. They are there to deepen the story, to bring forward questions of morality and humanity and love. Jack is there for comedy, and his personality doesn't really allow for him to be a romantic lead in the same way that Will is which is why the last two movies dont really work,
Arguably, On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales arent as iconic as the first three movies. Why? Because Will and Elizabeth aren't in them. The focal human element of the story and the romance plot that they brought is gone and replaced by Jack being ridiculous and failing to be a good romantic lead because he is chronically afraid of commitment. All the lore that was so well thought out is just never really mentioned again in favour of expanding Jack's backstory, and Will and Liz's characters are reduced to nothingness. There is no other mention of the fact that Elizabeth is literally the Pirate King, there is no further exploration into the Brethern Court. All we get is a small scene at the end of Dead Men Tell No Tales in which we see an Elizabeth who has ??? reverted back to wearing 18th century dresses and mooning after Will who she can only see every ten years. It is heavily implied that that Elizabeth is no longer pirate king by this point.
And this enrages me because Elizabeth Swann contains multitudes. She always has.
She is an unparalleled heroine. She is a King, a wife, a mother, a fighter, a negotiator, and so many aspects of her character are explored.The movies depict all of the sides of Elizabeth Swann without apologizing - giving us a rounded and nuanced character who becomes cutthroat and calculating by the end whilst still reserving her softer side (e.g when she says to Jack"I am so ready to be married" in Dead Man's Chest). They give us a main character and aren’t afraid to delve into multiple aspects of her life - her sexuality, her emotions, her motivations.
Throughout the course of PotC, Elizabeth learns more about herself and comes to terms with her flaws. She becomes a force to be reckoned with; someone who can inspire hundreds of pirates to fight alongside her, someone who successfully tricks people into thinking she is the literal goddess of the sea. Elizabeth Swann grows, matures, and develops in a way that Jack never really does.
AND PEOPLE JUST LIKE TO FORGET ABOUT HER! IN FAVOUR OF JACK SPARROW????? This might be controversial of me to say, but the original PotC trilogy doesn't exist without Elizabeth Swann. Its core messages and its themes cease to be if we forget the pivotal role that Elizabeth has.
Without Elizabeth and Will, you just have a scrappy action movie, spearheaded by a character whose personality doesn't allow for much emotional depth (not because I don't think Jack Sparrow has the potential for emotional depth, but because I don't think the writers will allow for it). Without Elizabeth and Will, PoTC could not be what it is. They are the center. Their pasts, their journeys, their love.
In conclusion, Elizabeth Swann is the MC of the PotC movies, and Jack Sparrow is a side character who became far too important because, spurred on by fan reactions, the writers decided to give him a bigger part than what was initially intended. This in turn lead to Elizabeth and Will being forgotten, despite the fact that they are the beating heart of the movies
Elizabeth Swann was the protagonist of the Pirates films Will was her love interest and Jack was a supporting character and I think it’s time everyone starts admitting it