WARNING!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! If you don't want to know too much about "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides", then leave now. Here's the door.
The entire Gaelic clan went to a matinee this weekend for a 3-D IMAX viewing of the movie. Based on trailers and reviews, we knew there would be mermaids, zombies, and a search for the Fountain of Youth. But the movie got some points wrong.
First off, anyone who knows anything about the Fountain of Youth knows that it's in St. Augustine, Florida. It probably hasn't changed much since the last time I visited back in the mid-'70s. Would you believe me if I said the 1870s? Which reminds me that the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale.
Getting back to the movie, it appears that everyone in the story is in search of the Fountain of Youth. The king of Spain, the king of England, Jack Sparrow (shouldn't there be a Captain in there somewhere), Blackbeard, Blackbeard's daughter. A race to the famed waters. So where does the religion part come in, as referenced in the title of this post?
Onboard Blackbeard's ship is a missionary who carries his Bible with him at all times. This missionary plays a larger part in the story but then Disney does him the injustice of not tying up his storyline. That's my gripe since his was one of the better plot developments until they pulled the rug out from under his story leaving his ending high and dry.
But the religion part doesn't stop with the missionary. The Spaniards' arrival at the Fountain proves that only one water can give everlasting life. The Spaniards are the only ones who know, or at least believe, that the water of eternal life comes not from a mythological fountain. When discussing the movie afterwards, it became evident that many people missed that reference, focusing more on the Spaniards just not wanting anyone else to have access to the Fountain of Youth.
The point the Spaniards were making was that we shouldn't seek the Fountain of Youth but the Water of Eternal Life. And anyone who knows anything about the Water of Eternal Life knows that it comes not from a fountain in Florida but from a font in a church anywhere in the world.
*Title taken from this.
For Pete Sake!
3 weeks ago
Well said.
ReplyDeleteI love St Aug, and have drunk from the Fountain of Youth! But, I'm still aging! We'll see! You're right, it's the Water of Eternal Life that counts, and it's not just in St Aug. So glad some got the reference! And you're still here!lol Well, so am I.
ReplyDeleteHere, here!
ReplyDeleteI was totally miffed about the missionary.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that the movie is not worth going to see.
ReplyDeleteother than your point about the religion part, was it worth seeing?
I don't know that I'd want Eternal life Wifie, I feel if you get a good FOUR score years and ten out of this world it should be enough. But maybe I'll think different in a few years,who knows,
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is taking me to see the film next week, and though I've heard it's not really all that brill I'll just go along with it as I know she'll be happy to have treated her dear old Mum, a JD fan.