My Apologies to Elizabeth Swann

They say perspective changes everything. And it really does, my opinions have changed a lot since I was a teenager, and I would say most of that change is for the better. Most of it is in funny ways, like how I  would read a book at sixteen and would be totally taken with the "bad boy" and now I can barely make it through your basic YA novel without laughing or screaming about how toxic most of the relationships are.

And some of it is me realizing that I hated certain characters for really dumb and immature reasons. Most of them having to do with a weird phase I went through, where I shunned anything that was feminine. I blame having older brothers on that, I never wanted to be perceived as a "girly-girl".
Now I don't have those reservations, I don't care at all really.
I am pretty open about my many obsessions and now have no qualms about sitting down with a bowl of lucky charms and cringing/squealing over shoujo anime.

It's very freeing.

One of the characters that I used to take issue with was Elizabeth Swann.

 I didn't necessarily hate her, but I didn't like her and that dislike grew as the series went on. Actually, I have quite a few things to say about the decline in quality that plagues the POTC series but that's a whole other post.

I always thought of her as a damsel in distress, and she is. but not in the ways you would think. She flips the troupe on its end. And evolves into something else entirely by the end of the series.

Now I have almost the opposite view of her.

 I might've been distracted in my youth by a certain pirate who stole the show. (guyliner was the key to my heart then and still is it seems.)

Elizabeth is the main character in a way. The whole show starts with her as an idealistic kid who thinks it would be the most exciting thing to meet a pirate. Then ten years later she gets her wish.

And probably immediately regrets it. 

I mean Jack Sparrow does save her life but then threatens it a moment later. All in all, if that was my interaction I'd be one part thrilled and the other furious. Which was essentially her reaction. 

Even when I was younger I loved that she gritted her teeth at him and called him despicable, I also love how full circle this scene comes in the second one. 

When she gets tangled up with a gaggle of cursed pirates, due to a small lie she tells. I think her opinion of pirates from then on is forever changed.

They're not mysterious anymore, they don't represent adventure. They're just men. Dirty, ill-mannered men and it makes her reevaluate everything. She goes from being terrified to just being defiant and annoyed. 

 She gets pushed around, kidnapped, and harassed, but takes none of it lying down. If anything the more she's pushed, the more she pushes right back.

I love that she barely ever hides her emotions, she's a livewire. She cries, screams, and gets in people's faces. She never apologizes, she knows what she wants. The true ingredients of a strong female character, not just one who shuns anything feminine or has absurd strength. At first, she's defenseless, even though she attempts to fight back against her captors she's unskilled and at a disadvantage.

Doesn't stop her from coming at Barbossa with a knife. 

If you disagree with me that she's the kind of female character we've been begging for, well you're wrong. 

She doesn't accept defeat. Whatever anyone throws at her she takes and throws it back. She learns and adapts, and she does most of this while wearing a dress or a chemise. I love that she almost never complains about being a woman if anything she complains more about men, corsets, and pirates. She doesn't shed her feminity to even the playing field she utilizes it to work in her favor. 

From her first interaction with Jack Sparrow, she gets to see firsthand how pirates treat women and learns how she's viewed by one. A pretty plaything more or less, I think every girl has had this experience at least once. It angers her, and rightfully so. Then Barbossa treats her more or less the same, need I mention the dress she's forced to wear at dinner. She does initially refuse and throws his own words back at him, but at that point in time she's defenseless, and all her attempts to gain the upper hand fail.  

But she uses all of these experiences. She learns to use the damsel image to get what she wants and she weaponizes her sexuality. Which honestly is really progressive for a 2000's Disney movie. I think Jack and Norrington get the brunt of this and to be honest they deserve it. 

Norrington saw her as a prize to be won, and despite being around as she grew up seemed to know nothing about her. 

Jack's intentions weren't any better, it was clear what he wanted. (Don't come for me I actually ship her and Jack so)

When she's marooned with Jack on that island, I think is when the last bit of luster of her childhood hero wears off. He's a drunk, his exploits were exaggerated and he isn't half as impressive as she thought. She seduces him, gets him drunk, and then lights everything on fire. 

It's incredibly satisfying. I love that she carries the duality of Persephone throughout all the movies. She can be feminine and smiling, while also cutting her way through the many obstacles in her path. She doesn't get respect so she starts demanding it.

Before she even learns how to fight she's intent on defending herself. Using whatever advantages she needs to get the upper hand

This is on display even more in the second movie as she tracks Will disguised as a cabin boy. She knows how to swordfight, she's lost her naivete. She's gotten used to pirates and their behavior. I do like that at the beginning of the film, she's ready to get married. She's in a fabulous dress, she was more than ready to put all the adventure behind her. She had what she wanted, which is Will basically. 

Beckett takes that away from her and she comes at him with a pistol. (Are we seeing a pattern here)

So I love that her whole thing this go-around is like 'give me my fiance back.'

My favorite bit will forever be when the men are all fighting and she mocks them, throws things at them, pretends to faint. Anything to get them to stop, but they completely ignore her, and it always makes me laugh. She's just so fed up with them all. Which I don't blame her for. 

She kinda gives up her moral high ground here. She does what she needs to, her sole purpose is securing Will and their future. Her behavior matches the situation she finds herself in. She takes on the morals of those around her. "Take what you can, give nothing back" 

She toys with Jack like he toys with her. Leading to the moment that parallels their first meeting except for this time she's in control. She uses his attraction to her, to sacrifice his life for hers, Will's, and the rest of the crew. 

It's not a moral choice, it's not a good choice, but it's one that she made without hesitation. It's one Jack would never make himself. Because of a truth they had both been skirting around

She's a pirate. 

I also love that she doesn't apologize for it. 

And unlike Jack, she's able to make tough decisions. She doesn't run and she's definitely more ruthless than him. I've always found him to be the type that seemed to accidentally have become a pirate, by no fault of his own. And most likely due to his soft nature. He tends to do the right thing.

Elizabeth's nature is much harsher. 

She can be cruel. She has a ferocity to her, that none of the men match. She's something to be feared.

It's something Jack seems to recognize in her, and he takes her betrayal in stride. Almost as if it was expected. He votes her as the pirate King because he knows she'll do whatever it takes to win. She always does.

That's probably the one reason why I prefer her and Jack to her and Will. Jack never tries to tame her.

 

Will seems to love the person he assumed she was, but to be fair they seemed to sort it out in the end. Opposites attract, and I think part of the reason Elizabeth loves Will is because he's the person she wishes she was honest to a fault and well decent. She wanted a life with him.

I do think it's intresting that even though Will is the one grappling with the fact that he has the blood of a pirate running in his veins. Elizabeth is the one who seems to be born of the sea. 

(Why did I ever complain about this)

She's more of a pirate than Will and Jack could ever be.  

She's also probably one of the best female characters Disney could have given me, and I snubbed it because I was a foolish child.

I have since mended my ways, and I'm now grateful that I got to grow up with characters like Elizabeth. I sincerely hope we get more. 

I will also be forever jealous that Kiera Knightly at seventeen got to film with Orlando Bloom (My first crush) and Johnny Depp (My obsession) resulting in my ultimate comfort film. That has a dash of everything.

Here's to Elizabeth Swann!

Hamlette is hosting a pirate party. There's a tag and a fantastic giveaway if your interested.