Pirates in popular culture

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A LEGO Pirate
A LEGO Pirate

In popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its tradition mostly to depictions of Captain Hook and his crew in theatrical and film versions of Peter Pan, as well as Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the film Treasure Island.

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[edit] Historic and Modern Portrayal of Pirates

In 1879 the comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance, was an instant hit in New York, and the London premiere in 1880 ran for 363 performances. The piece, depicting an incompetent band of "tenderhearted" British pirates, is still performed widely today. Although early depictions of Captain Hook in the play Peter Pan may not have resembled today's depictions of pirates, in the 1924 film version, Hook's dress appears stereotypical. The 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island starred Robert Newton, and is considered highly influential on the modern perception of early pirates.

From 1989 to 1997 the Lego Group produced a series of pirate LEGO sets. Starting in the late 1990s, Japanese manga and television show One Piece boosted interest in the pirate genre. In 2003, popular interest in pirates rose again with the release of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which focuses attention on the pirate bases of Tortuga and Port Royal. Before that, theatrical and film interpretations of Captain Hook and his crew have been among the most popular and memorable expressions of piracy in popular culture.

In the 1990s, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was invented as a parodic holiday celebrated on September 19. This holiday allows people to "let out their inner pirate" and to dress and speak as pirates are stereotypically portrayed to have dressed and spoken. International Talk Like a Pirate Day has been gaining in popularity through the Internet since its founders set up a website, which instructs visitors in "pirate slang".

In several parody websites, it is claimed that pirates (in the Caribbean buccaneer sense) and ninjas are sworn enemies, despite the (geographical if nothing else) implausibility of this. This idea has become a fairly widespread cultural phenomenon – for example, "Pirates versus Ninjas"-themed house parties. In anime and manga subculture, this meme is exemplified by One Piece and Naruto, two action-oriented shonen series that feature pirates and ninja, respectively, as their main focus. Both began in the late 1990s, and both have gone on to become immensely popular in Japan, further enhancing the notion of a "rivalry" between the two franchises. These show also became popular amongst audiances in USA and rest of the world.

Pirates also play a central role in the parody religion of Pastafarianism, established in 2005.

[edit] Dress, Appearance and Mannerisms

Stereotypical pirate accents tend to resemble accents either from Cornwall or Bristol, though they can also be based on Elizabethan-era English. Typical dress includes: on the head, a bandana or a feathered tricorne, an eye patch, a hook or wooden stump where a hand or leg has been amputated, horizontal striped shirts, and often Elizabethan-era clothing. They often have rotten or missing teeth and show other effects of scurvy, along with numerous scars or other wounds from battle. Pirates are often depicted with monkeys or parrots as pets. Fictional pirate crews have typically been all male, but more recent fiction has depicted a gradual increase in appearances of female pirates as well. Pirates often carry a cutlass and a flintlock pistol, though other types of swords and guns are also depicted.

[edit] Space pirates

Main article: Space pirate

Space Pirates are science fiction or fantasy character archetypes who operate as pirates in outer space as opposed to on the sea, capturing and plundering spaceships for cargo, money, and the ships themselves. Space pirates tend to share many traits with the classical pirate archetype, being characterized as ruthless criminals.

[edit] Pirates in music

  • Easily the most elaborate example of songs in this Rock sub genre is "Pirates" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer a massive, 13 minute long performance piece from their 1977 tour, it features the Orchestra de L'Opera de Paris. The piece can be found on the album "Works, volume 1"
  • German metal band Running Wild adopted a "pirate metal" image in 1987, with its third album.. The Texas punk group Employer, Employee was considered "pirate rock" by its fans, as its lyrics often contained themes of piracy ("One Count of Mutiny"), as well as the 16th-century New World in general.
  • The Sex Pistols adapted the saucy song "Good Ship Venus" as their hit "Friggin' in the Rigging". Fellow Malcolm McLaren protegée Adam Ant took the pirate image further. One of the tracks on the album Kings of the Wild Frontier was called "Jolly Roger". In 1986, The Beastie Boys paid homage to the pirate lifestyle on their Licensed to Ill album with the song "Rhymin' and Stealin'". The song is filled with piratical and nautical phrasing liberally mixed with 1980s hip-hop references.
  • Mutiny is an Australian pirate themed folk-punk band with releases on Fistolo Records.
  • Pirate imagery has also been adopted by many anarchists, possibly due to the origins of the black flag of anarchism in the pirate flag, and due to books like The Many Headed Hydra by Marcus Reddiker, about the early resistance to capitalism and colonialism, and Pirate Utopias, by Paul Lamborn Wilson, otherwise known as Hakim Bey. According to several authors, the pirate ship was among the most democratic institutions of the colonial age.
  • The Arrogant Worms, a Canadian band, play a humorous song called "The Pirates of The Saskachewan." It can be heard online here.
  • Pirates also occasionally rival vampires as themes for goth music, fashion, and imagery. Goth musician/comedian Voltaire illustrates the sometimes humorous rivalry between vampiric and pirate camps of goths in the song "Vampire Club" from the album Boo Hoo (2002).
  • The Jolly Rogers is a pirate-themed Renaissance Faire musical troupe based in Kansas City.
  • The hardcore/pop punk band Set Your Goals will soon be releasing their first, pirate themed, full length album, Mutiny.
  • Ska/Punk band The Mad Caddies' 2001 album Rock the Plank has a skull and crossbones on the cover of the album, also featuring the song "Weird Beard", a song in the flavor of many classic sea shanties.
  • The Ska/Punk band the Aquabats recorded a song entitled "Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates", which told the story of Jim, a young boy who joins a pirate-hunting crew headed by Captain Hampton.
  • The Pirate, a musical starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, has a number of songs about piracy in general, and the dread pirate "Mack the Black" Macoco in particular.
  • Relient K released a single covering the song "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" for the children's show VeggieTales. It was originally recorded by the cast of VeggieTales, and Relient K's version of the song was later included in the 2003 compilation album called Veggie Rocks!

[edit] Pirates in sports

Because pirate ships connote fearsomeness, loyalty and teamwork, many professional and amateur sports teams are named "Pirates." The most famous of these is the Pittsburgh Pirates, a Major League Baseball team that has used the nickname since 1891.

Other teams:

[edit] Fictional Pirates

See also: List of fictional pirates

[edit] Novels


Further information: Category:Pirate books

[edit] Films


Further information: Category:Pirate films

[edit] Television

[edit] Comics

[edit] Webcomics

  • Sea Monsters (2006-) by Gwendolyn Meer is an action/adventure and comedy webcomic starring infamous pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Calico Jack Rackham (among others) as modern-day pirates in the Mediterranean area.

[edit] Games

  • Sid Meier's Pirates! by Sid Meier is a well-known video game featuring pirates.
  • The pirate-themed Monkey Island series of computer games is also inspired by the same Disneyland ride and set in the 17th century Caribbean.
  • Star Fox 64 features a pirate named Sarumarine who has a pirate accent and has a ship with cannons, a pirate stereotype.
  • Sonic and the Secret Rings has a stage called Pirate Storm which is based near some ruins with a fleet of pirate ships which have been ruined by heavy storms, the stage boss is caleed Captain Bemoth who has some features of a pirate. One minigame is based on shooting down ships with a cannon.
Further information: Category:Computer and video games about pirates

[edit] Stage

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Lyrics

[edit] Pirates' Code

[edit] Virtual pirates crews

  • The Pirates of Tibia A today very large organization in the game Tibia which has as number one priority to work as the pirates in the golden days of piracy.

[edit] Pirates publications and online resources

  • The Pyrate's Way Magazine Full-colour 96-page resource designed for pirate crews, leisure boaters, maritime and nautical enthusiasts and those who search for the golden days of pyracy.
  • No Quarter Given Newsletter for pirate reenactors and enthusiasts, with a great deal of pirate information.
  • Bilgemunky.com Online source for the latest in pop-culture piracy. Includes many pirate-themed reviews including music, clothing, games, and rum.

[edit] Pirate Living History / Re-enacting

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