# Is Captain Jack Sparrow a Good Man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343 "2012-02-09T21:02:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/21 "2012-02-10T17:26:39Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Yeah but do you think he has all of it planned out or is he making it up as he goes? He definitely makes it up as he goes along. That’s why he changes sides so often; he’ll always help whoever it’s most beneficial to help. > [@](#): > > He’s “good” in that despite all of his selfishness and big talk, he ultimately will “do the right thing” when the moment comes. But those moments tend to be few and far between. Does doing a few right things make up for a lifetime of wrongdoings? > [@](#): > > The thing is, Jack Sparrow exists in a world where being “good” in any meaningful way doesn’t make sense. His world is populated with truly amoral pirates, prostitutes, corrupt beurocrats, cannibles and evil supernatural beings. So IOW, he’s just another jerk trying to survive. He just happens to be a more stylish one. Yes, but other people manage to go through this world without becoming evil. Although they are few and far between. I’d argue that Elizabeth’s dad is certainly a good man, in that he always tries to do what is right. I’d argue that the admiral from the first movie, while originally pursuing Jack for all the wrong reasons, eventually redeems himself as early as the first movie, when he gives Jack a head start. > [@JSexton](#): > > Finally, NOW we’re back to the good part. Well, that was kinda weird, but we’re back at the club… ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/22 "2012-02-10T17:49:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The existence of greater evils does not change the fact that he’s evil, too. Nearly everything he does is for his own benefit, with almost no thought for the welfare of anyone else. That’s pretty much the textbook definition of evil. You saw the part where I stated “But no, he is not “good”.”, right? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/23 "2012-02-10T18:14:10Z")
So he’s evil, so what? He’s loads of fun. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/24 "2012-02-10T18:21:24Z")
yeah, a good man would not have tried to lead a mutiny against teachers lording over their students. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/25 "2012-02-10T18:25:59Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > …the series would be called ‘Hornblower with witches’ … Nothing to add here that hasn’t already been said, except I’d so watch the above-mentioned series! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/26 "2012-02-10T18:37:16Z")
I think we like Jack Sparrow because he is enormously entertaining (and fictional). Johnny Depp really earned his big pile of money for those movies. I was at Disneyworld last week and the whole pirate thing is pretty big (merch!). I can’t imagine Jack Sparrow being half as popular if he did all those terrible things and was a dull log. We like him for the same reason we forgive the pretty. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/27 "2012-02-10T18:41:37Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I heard that he’s a pirate so brave on the seven seas, and that his **raven locks sway** in the ocean breeze. Finally! I had no idea what he was singing there. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/28 "2012-02-10T19:24:28Z")
He’s the kind of character that is great fun to watch in fiction, but in real life I’d be helping Barbossa maroon him. Also, the character gets a lot more slack than he should because he is played by an attractive actor. Nope, not good in any moral or ethical sense. Barbossa has him beat all to hell in terms of honesty, and if I were a pirate he’d be my choice for captain. Sparrow is entirely in it for what he can get out for himself and screw everyone else. Funny to watch when Bugs Bunny does it, but sucks to be his collateral damage. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/29 "2012-02-10T19:31:45Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Yes, but other people manage to go through this world without becoming evil. Although they are few and far between. I’d argue that Elizabeth’s dad is certainly a good man, in that he always tries to do what is right. I’d argue that the admiral from the first movie, while originally pursuing Jack for all the wrong reasons, eventually redeems himself as early as the first movie, when he gives Jack a head start. Giving a known criminal a head start on escape is good? Elizabeth’s father is an apparatchik in the very same government that we see has no problem with hanging children. Elizabeth, herself, becomes a pirate and does her share of betraying others. Will is the only character that you could make a legitimate case is a good person, and he is something of a chump who gets taken advantage of by almost all concerned. I agree that Sparrow is doing no more than trying to survive in a snakepit of a world. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/30 "2012-02-10T19:42:10Z")
Just had a brief think on something tangential to this; The year after the first film came out, there were a ton of Jack Sparrow cosplayers at GenCon. I was helping to run a pirate-themed LARP, and one of them showed up, acting the part to the hilt. After it was all over, the consensus was that he was pretty, but a complete asshat. After reading this thread, I realized that, yeah, he was playing the part! ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/31 "2012-02-10T20:13:13Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Giving a known criminal a head start on escape is good? Elizabeth’s father is an apparatchik in the very same government that we see has no problem with hanging children. Elizabeth, herself, becomes a pirate and does her share of betraying others. Will is the only character that you could make a legitimate case is a good person, and he is something of a chump who gets taken advantage of by almost all concerned. I agree that Sparrow is doing no more than trying to survive in a snakepit of a world. Letting Jack have a head start is the least he could do since Jack did, after all, save everyone. Elizabeth’s dad never orders children to be hung. That only happens when a corrupt military official siezes power for the East India Trade Company. I never said Elizabeth is a good person… She’s almost as bad as Jack. And I don’t know if I’d say that Will is a good person… His major motivation is wanting to get Elizabeth. He’s certainly honorable, in that he keeps his promise to his dad at all costs, but how often does he backstab Jack? Although, Jack IS trying to backstab him at the same time… Now that I think about it, the PotC world really is very dark, especially for a disney movie. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/32 "2012-02-10T20:18:09Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > . . . . > > Now that I think about it, the PotC world really is very dark, especially for a disney movie. Clearly it’s been a while since you watched any Disney movies! they’re all full of :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/33 "2012-02-10T22:28:47Z")
> [@](#): > > No, that’s the textbook definition of Chaotic. (well, DMG, anyway) > > Personally, I find Sparrow and Pratchett’s Rincewind to be very similar - both want what they consider a comfortable niche, both end up Luck and Fate’s plaything. Both are driven by their own cowardice. They just approach it from different endpoints. No, that’s Evil. I’m not sure where you’re getting chaotic for that. As for Rincewind, “I would like to state that I do not wish to volunteer for this mission.” “So what are you doing here?” “Volunteering. But I don’t want to.” Yes, Rincewind tries very hard to survive, and with the hand he’s dealt that’s a full-time job, but he makes as much effort as he can to not screw over others in the process. He just wants a nice, boring life. Jack, meanwhile, leads a life full of adventure, not because that’s the cards he’s dealt, but because he’s the dealer. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/34 "2012-02-10T22:38:24Z")
But **Chronos** , don’t we all want to be the dealer? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/35 "2012-02-10T22:47:13Z")
Jack is a pirate, he robs and commandeers merchant and passenger ships. People die no matter how careful you are in robberies, people get raped, not to mention the little fact you’re attacking innocents to steal their property. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/36 "2012-02-14T02:35:56Z")
Yes. Piracy was certainly prettied up for these Disney movies, which were enormously entertaining but hardly historical. In reality, pirates were generally cruel, amoral, violent and greedy. Jack Sparrow, as fun to watch as he was, seemed to be all of these things but cruel. Evil? Yes, I think so, in that his lifestyle was based on crime, disobeying the law and taking things (the bigger and shinier the better) that weren’t his. He was certainly less evil than Barbossa or Davy Jones, but that’s faint praise indeed. Remember his past crimes being read out when he was about to be hanged at the end of the first movie? Even allowing for the hyperbole of 17th century English justice, this was no choirboy. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/37 "2012-02-14T04:26:45Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes. Piracy was certainly prettied up for these Disney movies, which were enormously entertaining but hardly historical. In reality, pirates were generally cruel, amoral, violent and greedy. Jack Sparrow, as fun to watch as he was, seemed to be all of these things but cruel. Evil? Yes, I think so, in that his lifestyle was based on crime, disobeying the law and taking things (the bigger and shinier the better) that weren’t his. He was certainly less evil than Barbossa or Davy Jones, but that’s faint praise indeed. > > Remember his past crimes being read out when he was about to be hanged at the end of the first movie? Even allowing for the hyperbole of 17th century English justice, this was no choirboy. No, but he did impersonate a clergyman. allegedly. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/38 "2012-02-14T15:02:21Z")
> [@simster](#): > > No, but he did impersonate a clergyman. > > allegedly. Heh. An _Anglican_ clergyman. Considering he chuckled and nodded when he heard that recited, I’d take that as an admission. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/39 "2012-02-14T20:45:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, that’s Evil. I’m not sure where you’re getting chaotic for that. The world is not divided into good people and evil people. Just because the answer to the titular question is “No” doesn’t mean the answer to the opposite (Is Captain Jack Sparrow an Evil Man?) is “Yes.” Jack, like most of humanity, rests comfortably in the middle. Think of it another way: would Disney really allow Jack to succeed if he was completely, irredeemably evil? Hell fracking no. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343/40 "2012-02-14T21:24:06Z")
There are people who are neither good nor evil. Jack is not one of them. He is evil. He’s literally willing to damn a hundred men, who have done nothing to him, just to get out of his own obligations that he freely entered into. Yes, that’s evil. If you think that Disney would not portray a man that evil as successful, then you have a mistaken notion about what Disney will and won’t do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-captain-jack-sparrow-a-good-man/612343.md?page=3)