This new pirate series on Starz is the newest in the genre
of violent, gory, sexed-up historical-ish premium cable shows. It’s odd, but
this series is far closer to the Disney World ride The Pirates of the Caribbean than the whimsical movie series named
after it. Now, admittedly there is a lot more lesbian sex than I remember on
the theme park ride, but you know, I really haven’t been to Disney World for a
while, so maybe they’ve increased the explicit content of the ride since I was
there last. But this Black Sails show
certainly has the pirate stronghold island base, lots of drinking and
carousing, and lots of trade in stolen pirate loot. Plus, there are pirates on
pirate ships and lots of rowing back and forth in dinghies.
But all jokes aside, it really is very much more in the spirit of the Disney ride
than the crazy fantasy of the Depp vehicles. But I suppose Black Sails is far too brutal for a Disney association. Although
Disney has had a few darker projects than usual recently, so maybe they’ll
eventually evolve in this more realistic direction with stuff like this, and maybe a new series of Haunted Mansion movies that begin with gory murder sprees and
suicide pacts that get the house filled with dark demonic entities and vengeful
mutilated apparitions, and have James Wan direct them. (But then again, maybe they won’t…)
