Why did Johnny Depp say goodbye to Jack Sparrow so sadly?

In a courtroom in Virginia, in the United States, the trial sessions were held between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the former spouses who became adversaries, exchanging public accusations, both true and false.

But their legal dispute was not born today or yesterday, as it began in 2019 when Deeb filed a case against his ex-wife for compensation of $ 50 million for defaming him in an article published by the Washington Post, to which Amber responded with a counter-claim demanding double compensation.

Public opinion has been preoccupied with investigating the case and its sudden course that the days reveal to us, until its end is imminent, and we expect, of course, that this will cause intense controversy, but in fact we would like to ignore all of that, to focus on the form of Depp's beloved character with its representations.

In his extended ordeal, the latter stated, in a low tone mixed with rage and alarm, that one of his deepest losses was to prevent him from portraying the character of Captain Jack Sparrow, which he contributed substantially to building from the ground up, as he put it, and which gained notoriety not to be reckoned with in his films "Pirates of the Caribbean ( Pirates of The Caribbean)" after his reputation was on the line.

In one of his court statements, Depp says, "All the actors work hard on building their characters, but I put so much of myself into Jack Sparrow, I don't understand why, after all that effort, and all that work, they suddenly got rid of me ruthlessly!"

What is the fine thread that connects Deep and Sparrow?

Johnny Depp shook off the stereotypes that bound the pirate character in the cinema with a false romance represented by the painting of the American artist Jean-Leon Jerome Ferris "Captain Kidd in New York Harbor" (1), where history is replete with real pirates who lived on pillage, destruction and murder.

Depp re-introduced his pirate with a rebellion befitting his being, so he freed himself from some of the scenario restrictions, and put part of his personality as an essential element in the character standing on the screen, with this action Depp took a risk in turn, presenting in the early days of filming a performance completely different from what the producers wanted in "Disney". , So they considered what they saw a form of drunkenness or madness.

American artist Jean Leon Jerome Ferris' painting "Captain Kidd in New York Harbor"

From that whirlwind, and after much controversy, Captain Jack Sparrow appeared, and it was decided - as Depp ruled - that she was a character who grew up on the high seas on a moving ship, which is what Sparrow's body language tells us on the ship as he duels with his staggering dance pirates without losing his pride Or his poise, and when he steps down on the ground he becomes vacillating, wanking with his drunken steps, seemingly heading towards the unknown.

With this, Johnny Depp declares his affiliation - perhaps without knowing - to one of the pegs of the stylistic school of acting, which takes the same actor as its reference in representing the character, to an extent that may scatter its drawing.

It depends on the so-called emotional memory, which is a type of dependence on the actor's bed, making his mental and emotional state the line on which the character's performance goes.

From a dark substance, another humorous substance was extracted, in which the appearance of a pirate does not inspire fear, as immortalized in the paintings.

In another work by Jean-Leon Jerome Ferris depicts a scene from the last confrontation between Edward Teck - who was known at the time as the pirate Blackbeard - and the British marines.

That scene broadcasts horror, and implicitly resembles the fighting scenes in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, with one difference, which is that the main character here - Jack Sparrow - eliminates the specter of panic with her gestures and jokes that Sparrow throws in dilemmas and his cunning in the face of his opponents and the way he escapes from them.

A work by Jean-Leon Jerome Ferris depicting a scene from the last confrontation between Edward Teck, known in his time as the pirate Blackbeard, and the British marines.

Live the captain as best you can

Jack Sparrow's character develops and matures through the parts and its features become clear, and the fog that filled the opening of the beginning of the first part clears after the memories that Captain Sparrow recalls every while, so we elicit his truth and the motives that motivate him.

The strength of the character's drawing is reinforced by the fact that it shows a contradiction that is not confusing as much as it shows its realism, in keeping with the patterns of a fictional character, such as Zorba the Greek captured by the writer Nikos Kazantzakis in one of his novels.

Both Zorba and Captain Sparrow, despite the age gap between them inside, seem free, driven by their whims or personal interests, united in that prevailing behavior and rebel against any moral systems that people resort to, so each does what he wants when and as it suits it, in line with the recognition of the film's writers Terry Rossio And Ted Elliot that writing about a pirate is like writing about freedom.

But the other pirates in the series are more or less captives, the crew of the British Navy, who you may feel have just gotten off one of Jack Ferris' business, are bound to obey their captain's orders (2), while an ancient curse descends on the crews of the two ships, Barbossa and Duffy Jones, to accompany The owners of the first ship have a tendency to gluttony, and the owners of the second ship have an overwhelming desire for immortality.

Only Sparrow broke those shackles, and through five parts, Sparrow refused to identify himself and line up in a specific group, to highlight his only loyalty represented in defending his personal identity, which is reflected in the smallest details, such as his eagerness to be called the captain by others, and his clinging to his compass that does not guide him, but it That Sparrow does not belong to a place, does not aspire to something stable, so much as is tempted by the freedom for which he seeks in his endeavors as the ship of the Black Pearl.

traditional hero

Captain Jack Sparrow

From that point on, Sparrow flouts the traditional origins of the agreed-upon hero's voyage, with no lofty goal to aspire to, and no ambition guiding him as much as retrieving his ship.

Nor does Sparrow resemble the modern-day heroes, the ordinary who are slowly becoming extraordinary like Harry Potter.

Nothing in it is completely familiar, and there is no journey in which the hero passes through a turning point, dissolves into the story of Sparrow, to limit the heroism to not change, or to yield to pressure to be a close copy of all, and strive to remain as he is without losing himself, and that is only the home of his uniqueness.

That's why people loved Sparrow versus Will Turner from the same series. The Captain had eccentricities and a sense of humor, and he missed Turner's features of attractiveness, honor, daring and nobility, and their contradiction and difference appeared in more than one situation.

Although audiences usually favor honors, Turner's character has not found the acceptance that Jack Sparrow did.

Visually, Depp saw in the character of Captain Sparrow a strange mixture between rock and roll star Keith Richards and Pepé Le Pew, an old Warner Brothers cartoon (3) about a French skunk wandering around Paris in search of love. , his smell repels everyone, but he does not accept rejection and thinks that girls are attached to him even if they beat him.

Under the shade.. behind the mask

Johnny Depp in court

Johnny Depp indicated in one of his interviews that his performance of the character of Captain Sparrow gives him a sense of security, perhaps because it has become to him what is closer to Persona, and Persona - according to psychologist "Carl Jung" - "is the mask that we wear all the time to give others a certain impression of ourselves, and to hide Behind him is the reality of our selves.” Depp probably took on a long, quiet mask, somewhat shy and introverted, until he took hold of Captain Sparrow's mask.

Sparrow gave him a fluency he was not familiar with, covering his hidden side, who suffered from an abusive relationship in his childhood at the hands of his mother, Tourette's syndrome (a genetic neurological disorder that appears since early childhood and its symptoms appear in the form of involuntary nervous movements accompanied by frequent vocal syndromes), and his early addiction to alcohol and drugs (4) ), his passion for music, and all the experiences that left deep traces.

Young calls the persona the shadow, the hidden part of us in which we hide the worst in us, and everything we are ashamed of or refuse to acknowledge, every fragment of our personality or our past stirs us up, we bury it deep down behind socially accepted masks of persona and pretend it doesn't exist at all.

At this point Sparrow is both part of Johnny Depp's star that separates him from us, and is also part of his becoming.

At the end of his talk about the series in court, Depp says, "It was more deserving that this character and this series at least have a proper farewell."

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