Psychology of an Anti-Hero: JACK SPARROW

👒🔍 Download June’s Journey for free now using my link: woo.ga/vp8s9q

I love rewatching the first movie and just being reminded of how Jack always seems like he's just steps ahead and (even as quoted in the movie) it's so hard to tell if he actually plans it all out in advance, or literally just wings it and is just THAT good at judging spontaneous situations and making equally as spontaneous decisions. It's so fascinating and entertaining and it never gets old.

One quote from Jack that I think sheds a lot of light on his moral compass and where he draws a line is "People aren't cargo". He was initially branded as a pirate for his refusal to be involved in slave trade.

Jack actually has a kind of tragic backstory that unfortunately was left on the cutting room floor. We see that his father was a pirate, one of the best in fact. But in the deleted scenes of At World's End we learn that Jack tried going straight and joined the EITC. Until Beckett wanted him to deliver a ship full of slaves. Presumably the ones standing outside of Tia Dalma's hut and mourning him in Dead Man's Chest. After doing the right thing and leaving the life of piracy, he does the right thing again and returns to the life of piracy. And his reward was Beckett hunting him down, branding him, and sinking him along with his own ship. So he made a deal with the devil and got his ship back. He embraced the life of piracy. And when he tried to do the right thing one more time and be honest with his new crew about the treasure they were hunting, they mutinied him and left him to die a horrible death by marooning. So yes he developed a personality disorder. Yes he became selfish. Yes he stopped caring about what happens to others so long as it doesn't cost him much. "...and a hard earned lesson it was."

I can never get tired of Jack's introduction. Watching him lose everything but the clothes on his back in front of the whole pier then waltz in like he owns the place just destroys me every time.

I think Jack's arc was realizing that Will and Elizabeth are the best thing to ever happen to him and deep down he can't bear to lose them.

What’s sad is most people don’t catch his origin story or his full story of what happened to Jack and it makes his entire character sad. Born a pirate, he tried to leave the cruelty of it and joined a trading company since he still loved seaward adventure, but when the trading company ordered him to transfer 100 slaves to slave owners (and be rewarded with the ship) he instead set the slaves free and ran with the ship. The company hunted him down, and they tied him to his burning and sinking ship. Davy Jones interrupted his drowning death, offering him his life and the ship for a steep price. He accepted, but when he went looking for legendary gold, his own crew betrayed him. No wonder he doesn’t care about doing good for others anymore, look at what it cost him.

jack sparrow is the absolutely perfect definition of chaotic neutral.

One detail that often goes unnoticed about Jack's introduction is the fact that he knew exactly how much water to scoop out of the boat in order to make it to the dock. It's a detail that's easily overshadowed by the humor of the situation, which in an of itself is really good foreshadowing for Jack's character as a whole: very smart, and an exceptionally good pirate, who is often underestimated because of how silly he portrays himself.

I feel like the climax of At World's End is the most compelling showcase fo Jack's psychology- not just in him giving up his immortality to save Will, but the range of emotions he shows in the aftermath of that, going from frustrated and curt to quietly happy once he sees that it actually worked.

A group of girls in my high school psychology gave a presentation on anti-social personality disorder. You guys described it as a lack of a moral compass, they described it as the thing that makes you a serial killer. I needed the wake-up call that, while many serial killers do have aspd, not everyone with aspd is a serial killer. Thank you. Also, fun note, there’s a video online of a woman who ran around Disneyland like Jack Sparrow. She found the Jack Sparrow character, and they ran together. Pure dopamine.

I believe the reason that people love Jack so much is because he ALWAYS does the right thing in the end. How he gets there is usually questionable, but if you are a part of his crew he is going to do right by you in the end. At least post movies, before the movies he seemed to be a different person.

I’d say Jack is a man who plays the role of being a heartless pirate, but he tends to save the day because in his heart of hearts he can’t help himself. He does care and he wants Swan and Turner to be okay.

The reason Captain Jack Sparrow is a pirate is because "People aren't cargo", so I don't think that his actions and behaviors are entirely self serving but with a measured amount of clinical detachment

My best friend was diagnosed with APD. Watching this video made me realize I was his “Elizabeth”. It was tough. He always had these glimpses of humanity but generally used his charm and intelligence to manipulate people and situations around him. I cut him off for two years. Everyone around him had enough and broke away. I think that was a huge turning point for him to realize he needed people more than he thought. We reconnected with an ultimatum: If you ever lie to me again, even once, I will never speak to you again. The two year break made it clear I was serious. And now we’re good. I’m his kids’ godmother. We spend four hours on the phone at a time. I can’t speak to his experience but it’s interesting to think about our relationship from this perspective.

Jack values freedom above everything and what was disappointing was that they decided to delete the scene that describes what turned him to piracy in the second movie (now has been retconned) where he used to work for the ETC as a captain but released people who were gonna be sold into slavery. “People aren’t cargo mate”. It just rounds out his character so much better.

3:45 talking about Jack's character building in his intro scene, the shot left out that really speaks volumes about this man is the way he stops bailing out his boat to pay his respects to the dead bodies left hanging as a warning to other pirates. He recognizes and respects his fellow pirate.

Okay, I can't not say it: you guys mischaracterized Jack in the first film. The Jack we meet isn't the Jack he was ten years earlier and that's the point. He trusted Barbossa and did the right thing by his crew, and was mutinied on, even by his friend Bootstrap. He did the (relatively) right thing and was punished for it. From that point on, Jack developed a more selfish and cynical philosophy. The writers point to it a few times, especially near the end of the film, when (after Jack risks his chance at freedom to help Will and Elizabeth and help save the crew of the Dauntless) the new crew of the Pearl steal Jack's ship and abandon him to be executed. And he says this: "They done what's right by them. You can't expect more than that." Jack does have an arc in that film but it's about relearning to trust other people to have his back, not about wanting something that isn't a ship. For all his selfishness and cowardice, Jack frequently does the right thing (like saving Elizabeth from drowning instead of just stealing a ship) but is always immediately punished for it. That's like, *his thing*.

Everyone praises the comedy and the effects of the pirates movies. But truly, the best part of the movies IS THE MUSIC. Just Han Zimmer, man. Every note just hits just right.

For me, from a plot perspective, these films are about the relationship between Will, Jack, and Elizabeth. Three VERY different upbringings and backgrounds where Jack comes from poverty and piracy, Elizabeth comes from wealth and power, and Will has a little bit of both (he comes from poverty but is like general respected in society and plays a role). There's that, and there is of course their personality differences. I would LOVE a hero's journey episode for will and also for Elizabeth because their characters change massively as well. Anyway, my point is that for this reason, the only film that felt truly "money-grabby" to be was the 4th one, because Will and Elizabeth are barely even mentioned and we don't continue their story at all. the 5th one felt ever so slightly money-grabby because W&E are barely in it, but it still continues their storyline and I really appreciate that.