Analysis 7: At World's End, but not the end of Orientalism

The sad truth about a great deal of Western culture and the art it produces is its often inherent thematic contradictions, usually when it comes to race, and especially when it comes to Orientalism. One such unfortunate example is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, a film whose central theme of freedom from oppression is undermined by the blatant way in which it subjugates the East. This is the third movie of the series, the first in which characters are introduced from Singapore, and from the moment they are introduced they are juxtaposed against the majority of characters of English decent, creating a clear attitude of Orientalism.

“The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences” (Said 1866), and this is clearly the world of Singapore at the beginning of the film. The British characters journey there to meet Sao Feng, a pirate who they hope will help them find the missing Jack Sparrow. Sao Feng proves to be not just an “exotic” type of character, but a devious liar, violent, and concerned only with his own self-interest. Although this can also be said of many of the other British pirates in the film, Sao Feng is still at a great disadvantage to them as characters – pirates like Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, who exhibit similar negative characteristics, yet still get the opportunity to be developed beyond that, often showing some admirable qualities throughout the course of the multiple movies in which they appear. Furthermore, by getting to know them, we are able to connect and sympathize with them, regardless of their flaws. By contrast, Sao Feng shows practically no admirable qualities and is never given adequate time to allow us to connect with him as a character – he is only in the movie until about half-way through when he is killed in a karmic fashion after capturing the main heroine Elizabeth, and sexually assaulting her, amongst other things.

Everything about this scene with Sao Feng and Elizabeth screams Orientalism. Sao Feng, like the Eastern “Other” he represents, “signifie[s] danger and threat” (Said 1886), attacking Elizabeth. But even on a more docile level, this entire scene promotes an exotic image of the Oriental – the sensuous music, markedly different from the rest of the film’s score, the way in which Elizabeth is dressed up – over dressed, Sao Feng entering speaking in his native tongue and his continued mysterious manner throughout the scene, even when speaking in English – dipping a leaf in water and eating it, discussing the myth of Calypso (whom he thinks Elizabeth is) – all things give off a mystical vibe of a world of otherness, contrasted against the rest of the film’s typically European attributes. In some ways, Sao Feng is even portrayed as animalistic – an inferior to the contrasted Western world of the film, “reiterating European superiority over Oriental backwardness” (Said 1871).

Yet what makes this Orientalism most depressing is the irony of it when one considers the larger themes of the film as a whole. In this film, the major conflict is the pirates and other various outcasts fighting against British imperialism. Lord Beckett heads the East India Trading Co., and seeks to gain full control of the seas by eliminating all pirates. “The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies…The Orient is an integral part of European material civilization and culture” (Said 1866). This colonization of the Orient by British powers is a perfect parallel to the pirates plight of being forced to succumb to British trade’s monopoly of the sea, and yet instead of using the presence of pirates from Singapore to further the strength of this theme, the film rather sticks with a sadly contrary view of the East as something that still needs to be dominated. The pirates of various European descent are seen fighting for freedom, and eventually obtaining it by the end of the film by destroying Beckett’s fleet. And yet, Sao Feng dies long before this – moreover, upon his death, he appoints Elizabeth the new captain of his ship, and for the rest of the film she takes his place as head of the Singapore pirates. Thus, it is not simply that the Orient does not deserve freedom, but to gain it, it must in fact become European-ized, the English Elizabeth now its representative. In the end, although Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End may support a theme of freedom in general, it nevertheless continues a long and sad tradition of supporting “Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient” (Said 1868).



Works Cited

Said, Edward W.. “Orientalism.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1866-88. Print.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Writ. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Walt Disney Pictures, 2007.