Johnny Depp’s most iconic role, the one most distinguishable out of all those strange characters he has portrayed over time, it certainly Captain Jack Sparrow. Many look at the quirky pirate and see nothing in him except what’s on the surface: a weird, funny, and, to put it mildly, very ‘specific’, character, whose main purpose is to entertain the audience. I say there is more to him. Captain Jack Sparrow is a very specifically build character, most of what he is an does is with a purpose, and he is surely not purely entertainment value.

An underestimated genius.

Many people don’t truly realize how amazing of a person Jack Sparrow truly is. Many don’t really understand how brave and intelligent the adventurous pirate is. People see Jack Sparrow as a carefree quirky guy that’s just extremely lucky most of the time, but that is not the case at all. Everything he does, everything he accomplishes, is perfectly throughout and executed. Not only is he a lot smarter than he looks, he is also not a coward (…most of the time). His actions and challenges against death are not a product of his carelessness and his willingness to die, but rather of his bravery and ability to face his fears. Contrary to what many think, Jack Sparrow is afraid of death.

Many don’t see that. People view him as someone who simply… doesn’t care. And maybe that’s another part of him genius, at least I choose to believe so. Jack Sparrow doesn’t simply allow people to underestimate him. I think that he rather willingly wants those around him to view him as a dumb, lucky, and careless pirate so he can use that to his advantage later on. He has done so many times throughout all of the movies. Remember his whole scheme with making Elizabeth Pirate King in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’? You don’t think that was an amazingly throughout plan? And it worked because no one thought that Jack could pull of something so… genius.

A jerk.

If you look at it from a critical lens, Captain Jack Sparrow isn’t really a… good guy. He has done a lot throughout all his adventures to actually be considered quite the jerk. He takes whatever he wants, he screws over those around him, he really is a coward at times, he manipulates people, and, above all else, he is a huge egoist. 99% of the time, Jack cares only for himself. And yet… the character himself is extremely likable. Why?

Johnny Depp’s brilliance.

Johnny Depp gives a truly iconic performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. His wit and his ability to improvise create, nurture, guide, and develop the character to a whole new level. And I think that it is exactly because of Johnny Depp’s amazing performance that so many like Jack Sparrow. The character is, again, if you look at it objectively, a jerk. But Johnny Depp creates such an amazing personality, such a fascinating persona, that it is very hard, nearly impossible, to dislike Captain Jack Sparrow.

Because of that, Johnny Depp creates really an… illusion. People don’t realize who Jack Sparrow really is, they abstract themselves from the egoistical and selfish things the character has done, because of how witty and fun he appears to be. Not to be mistaken, I’m not saying Jack is an awful person, the character really does have a lot of good in him, probably more so than evil, and he really has done great things throughout his life. However, it really doesn’t seem to matter to people that he has done some bad things as well.

Does Depp’s performance work?

Is that bad acting on Johnny Depp’s side? Of course not! The whole idea of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is, generally, to entertain. And through his specific portrayal of the main protagonist, Depp manages to do exactly that: entertain. And let’s not forget, all the movies target not only adults, but children as well, and studios can’t afford it to have a main character who is a douchebag.

Also, the fact that Depp portrays Jack as an amazing guy and that his performance makes you forget all of the characters bad sides is actually quite the realistic portrayal. Don’t you know people who are garbage, but somehow extremely likable and you enjoy their company? Don’t we see that very often in movies and TV (an obvious example is Jordan Belfort). I don’t think that Johnny Depp was doing that on purpose, to be honest, I just think that he wanted to make the character witty and funny, in which he succeeded. However, if you analyze his performance, you actually see that it’s very honest and bound with the laws of psychology.

Jack the caricature.

Captain Jack Sparrow is certainly one over-the-top character. He is, by many factors, a caricature of a pirate (or of any person, really). Jack Sparrow is really on the verge of becoming… a parody. He isn’t one, that’s for sure, but he’s very close to it.

This doesn’t necessarily serve very well to the character, but it does to the plot. Jack Sparrow is ridiculous, but not so ridiculous that it doesn’t make sense or that it looks bad on screen. The character makes the movie a thousand times more entertaining and it is precisely because of him that Pirates of the Caribbean has such a large audience. His caricature-like nature is not just for the sake of it because that makes both the character and the plot of every movie more fun and entertaining. Plus, Jack’s quirky persona surely fits into the overall genre and feeling of the story perfectly. Thus, through making the pirate be more absurd in his nature, the producers of the franchise managed to perfectly sync plot and main protagonist.

How to understand him.

One of my favorite things about Jack Sparrow is the way he is build up and developed. Similarly to Chuck Bass in ‘Gossip Girl’, Jack Sparrow is not one of those characters that you get to know through a long deep monologue where he has an epiphany and talks about who he really is. There is no cheesy moment of truth about him, he doesn’t give out a long speech about who he really is and why he is that way.

You get to know Jack Sparrow by following the little bits and pieces that the producers have been dropping throughout the five movies. A short line here, a flashback there, and only when you connect all the little moments of clarity will you truly understand Jack’s inner motives and his true self. You have to very carefully watch and analyze his actions and lines in order to get to know him. And I like this, don’t you? It’s a lot better to understand who someone is by watching them and analyzing them yourselves, instead of everything being given to you through a long monologue.

Conclusion.

Pirates of the Caribbean is great, it’s one of my favorite franchises ever, but it disturbs me how many people don’t see how amazingly everything in it is thought out. There is so much one can learn from the plot of each movie. Many realize that. But they don’t realize how much one can learn from Jack. How realistic and amazing he is. How he serves to the plot perfectly and how he is a true masterpiece. Jack Sparrow is, by all means of it, the great success of this franchise. Every writer or filmmaker can take away so much from the character: by who he is and how he is build. This essay was to all those who look at Jack Sparrow and see nothing but a quirky pirate. I hope I’ve proven that there is a lot more to the character than that. Every person can and should learn a great deal from the amazing Captain Jack Sparrow.

Did you enjoy this article? What do you think of Jack? Did this change how you view the character? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, please. Also, don’t forget to LIKE and SHARE this article if you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading,

Pouty Boy