Pirate Historian Rates 8 Pirate Battles In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

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Published 2024-03-12
Rebecca Simon, a piracy historian, rates pirate battles in movies and TV shows, such as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, for realism.

Simon breaks down the accuracy of pirate battle tactics used during the golden age of piracy, such as the use of the flintlock pistol and the rope-swinging skills to capture a ship in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), with Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley; the realism of the Jolly Roger flag and the depiction of the real-life pirates Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, John "Calico Jack" Rackham, and Anne Bonny in "Black Sails" S1E1 and S3E10 (2014 and 2016); and the battle tactics used by pirate captains in "House of the Dragon" E2 and E3 (2022). She debunks common pirate tropes, such as buried treasure, treasure maps, and the stereotypical accent used by Long John Silver in "Treasure Island" (1950); the punishment of walking the plank in "Peter Pan" (1953); and swordsmanship and the use of the cutlass, as well as the relationship between the pirates Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard, in "Our Flag Means Death" S2E4 and S2E5 (2023), starring Taika Waititi. Simon also looks at the realism of Jack Sparrow and his compass in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" (2017) and the plausibility of pirate bounties and privateers in "One Piece" S1E5 (2023).

Simon is a historian who focuses on the golden age of piracy within the Caribbean and along the coast of North America. She has written several books on pirates, including her latest book, "The Pirates' Code: Laws and Life Aboard Ship." She is also a professor of history at Santa Monica College.

You can follow Rebecca here:
rebecca-simon.com/

"The Pirates' Code: Laws and Life Aboard Ship":
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo…

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Pirate Historian Rates 8 Pirate Battles In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

All Comments (21)
  • @maxhamilton19
    Felt cute, might put some sparklers in my beard later
  • @mrquirky3626
    If the 8 year old me knew that 'pirate historian' was actually a thing, I would have taken a completely different career path. :(
  • @ChefAndyLunique
    5:11 "no Pirate in their right mind" - Aye but this is Captain Jack Sparrow we're talking about.
  • “In a world without gold, we could’ve been heroes!” -Blackbeard, AC black flag
  • black pearl may have 2 gun decks.. but she has has only 32 guns in total... probably not heavier than 12 pounders! a well defended east india man, but not a man of war AT ALL!
  • @stepper997
    $2.75 - Apple in Dominica $3.15 - Cherry in Haiti $2.55 - Pecan in St. Kitts These are the pie rates of the Caribbean.
  • @Gokersky
    It doesn't seem like a great idea to show the House of the Dragon to a historian of the golden age of piracy. There is clearly not much overlap there.
  • @JBrotsis1
    Glad Black Sails got mentioned several times. Great show! I was hoping “the black spot” would’ve gotten mentioned from several pirate movies.
  • @rhysblaney3121
    "They'd have a more-Cockney-ish accents" Yeah, if they are from East London
  • @thetruerift
    For the pirates of the Caribbean - the Interceptor was the small docked ship, the big one you pointed an arrow at was the Dauntless, which I think was meant as a ship of the line.
  • Loading a flintlock is backwards in her directions. Im aware its a bit specific but. Always gunpowder 1st. Then wad and den .......
  • @sboyd8312
    I think the ratings for Black Sails need some context. I would have liked to hear her talk about the diversity in the crew like she did with Disney, and about the politics of running a crew that Black Sails does amazingly well. It’s a prequel to Treasure Island that uses real historical elements, so I think it’s good to clarify it wasn’t going for complete historical accuracy. It’s a 10/10 show with amazing acting, writing, and music. It’s on Netflix, anyone who likes pirates or shows like Vikings, Game of Thrones, The Last Kingdom, etc should check it out.
  • @jackson857
    4:38 That arrow is pointing to the HMS Dauntless. The Interceptor is the ship that is docked.
  • @poopa_stinka
    I love these types of videos because you not only get to learn about such niche things, but hear abt it from someone who is an expert on such things, and realize that no matter how niche there’s always someone out there with expertise
  • @raithnarok7318
    0:56 'Sparklers and candles' in Blackbeards beard? Really? I've always read that it was slow burning cannon fuses.
  • @QuixoticCowboy
    Nassau definitely had a fleet of priate ships protecting it. Black Sails has a fictional battle where Nassau gets assulted, which is shown here. But Nassau 100% would have been protected as shown here by a fleet of every ship in the bay with Hornigold as the admiral. Yes Teach, Rackham and Bonny never assulted the pirate capitol but if they had this should be fairly accurate.
  • @danfawks7164
    -" Pirates didn't use swords, they use this " -Pulls out a sword
  • Fun fact: Jack Rackham aka Calico Jack made the Jolley Roger/iconic black flag, well at least the first iteration of it.
  • @vsznry
    Assassins Creed: Black Flag , prob the most fun I've had in a game after Halo series.