Pirates of the Caribbean

Normally, I am more-or-less immune to overtly commercial franchise products, re-imaginings of comics into film, multi-billion dollar corporate media manifestations and the like. So what sense is there in me being so very obsessed with a Disney park ride converted into a series of campy films? The franchise is nothing but a cash cow (global box office of the three films comes to over 2 billion bucks!) Is it my alleged man-crush on Johnny Depp? Is it (more likely, by my assessment) a fascination with Keira Knightley?

I cannot explain it. I cannot dismiss it, either. When people ask me that hypothetical question, "If you could meet anyone, absolutely anyone on earth from any time period, who would it be?" I am just as likely as not to say "Captain Jack Sparrow!" If I have my headphones on at work or my earbuds in at play, it's more-than-likely I'm listening to Hans Zimmer's Pirate's soundtracks (as I am at this very moment). I am looking forward to a lot of things, like the end of the semester in 73 days, 5 hours and 3 minutes, but I am especially (more than anything else) looking forward to Pirates IV, On Stranger Tides, where Barbosa and Sparrow will sail in search of the Fountain of Youth!

I think I'm always looking for a hero, and when I find one in the more unlikely places, like on the deck of a pirate ship, I am pleased.