Piracy is Not Just for Youngsters

A big huzzah to both NBC and Starz for airing pirate series where the lead characters aren’t youngsters.  To those who watched the Starz series, Blacksails, it was obvious that Captain Flint was not a fresh faced cabin boy. In the upcoming NBC series, Crossbones, Blackbeard is played by 60 year old John Malkovich. What a change from 2004 when the then forty year old Brad Pitt was criticized for being too old to swing a sword in the movie Troy.

Who said only young people should have all the fun of plundering, carousing and rum drinking?  In our youth obsessed culture it’s good to see the “greybeards” actively pirating.  Perhaps it’s an acknowledgment of the graying of America and the purchasing power of the aging baby boomers.

Or is it a salute to the unique perspective of life from the other side of 30?  A longing for freedom that was lost when jobs, spouses, and kids came along? An escape from a job market that at age 20 was full of promise but turned out to only offer dead end jobs.  A rally cry against the current economic crisis that saw people thrown out of the jobs they had for 20 years and are now too old to be hired, but too young to retire.

Perhaps it is a reflection of our current society where people are retiring later either because they need the money or want something to do?

Reenactment by its nature makes time “stop”,  giving reenactors the sense that time has no meaning.  Maybe that’s why there seems to be a good amount of “over the hill” pirates still taking over ships.  We never accepted that the thrill of adventure and the excitement of sailing into new ports, is just for the young. It’s good to see the mainstream catching up.