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In Defence of Will Turner: or, I Want a Pirate
September 29, 2003, 5:54 p.m. So I went and saw Pirates for like, the third time today. And, as usual when seeing one film repeatedly, I got to thinking about people’s criticisms of it (I did this with Fellowship of the Ring). People keep complaining that Orlando Bloom’s performance as Will Turner was dull and uninspiring, and that he can’t act. Well, I have to refute that. Probably purely because of my hormones, but also because I think there’s some merit to it. So you think he’s dull. Well I ask you, could anything look interesting next to Captain Jack Sparrow? I think Orlando Bloom understood very well the dynamic between Jack and Will – Jack was the crazy one, Will was the straight guy. There’s no sense in competing with such exuberance as Johnny Depp exhibits, so Bloom doesn’t try. Also, Will’s character doesn’t call for that sort of competition – he gets in a few good lines, but he’s a supporting character. Will is, as he tells Jack, not a simpleton, but he is a simple man. He’s an honest man (which means he sometimes does incredibly stupid things, as Jack tells us). The look on his face when Jack pulled the gun on him in the blacksmith’s shop – he was utterly dismayed that yet again, he was going to lose because he had honestly kept to the rules of engagement, and his opponent had not. You could tell that happened a lot to Will, that his honesty had meant he’d been cheated of something. Will’s also a man who feels keenly his place in society. He knows he’ll never be good enough for Elizabeth in the eyes of society, so despite his infatuation (or love, as he calls it) for her, he never presses himself to her, he always keeps her decorously at a distance. This means he’s got nothing by way of self-esteem (as seen by the fact that he never attempts to take credit for his own work). Barbossa calls Will a whelp, and that’s pretty much what he is. A puppy. He’s got no backbone, no real feel for his place in the world. In the eyes of society, he’s just a blacksmith, but he can feel he’s more than that – he has so much energy, so much potential, which he dedicates to his work and his fencing (and, undoubtedly, his fantasising about Elizabeth). So this is where his pirate ‘blood’ comes in. This subversive element to Will’s character allows him to get what he wants, find his place in the world. His pirate-self says to his blacksmith-self, well boy, you want this girl? You’ve got to go and get her! And thankfully, with a little help from Jack, he does. This is where his infatuation with Elizabeth matures into love for her, because he’s now got the confidence to feel such an emotion. Of course, there’s some struggle between his two selves. The honest blacksmith is aghast at the thought of a dishonest pirate, and wants to avoid that part of himself at all costs. But in the end, only by embracing it and his heritage, and accepting that he can be both a pirate and a good man, can he save Elizabeth, win the day and get the girl. Will isn’t a showy character. He’s not a witty one, or a forceful one, or a foolish one. But he is the most human one: sometimes you’re laughing with him, sometimes you’re laughing at him. But you’re always wanting him to win (or at least I was). His desires he keeps in check, but they do drive him, and when they’re satisfied, we’re satisfied. And I myself am particularly satisfied at the sight of Orlando Bloom in a nancy-boy hat and a puffy shirt : ) I’m resolved that my next boyfriend shall have to be a pirate: elves are so last year, what a girl needs is some good swashbuckling action!
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