A Pirate's Life for Me!

Used as comic relief within Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy the characters Pintel and Ragetti are highly effeminate and the use of their characters as comedy within the movies feeds into a rich historical tradition of Disney (and many others) using ideas of homoeroticism as comedy. The two men are rarely if ever seen away from one another, sharing intimate jokes, plots, and glances unlike anything exchanged between any of the other male pirates. This while the other pirates with the notable exception of Will and Elizabeth seem to not really get along well with one another, or at least do not appear to have strong connections or bonds in the way that Pintel and Ragetti demonstrate. In this way these two men are constructed as outsiders, different somehow from the other pirates as a result of their relationship

Having watched the "at the worlds end" film for the first time within the past few days I became increasingly aware of the intense affection and homoeroticism these characters brought to the plot of the movie. While there is no denying that the majority of their antics were quite humorous (although they do predominantly resort to slapstick humor) it would be nice if we could have clearly gay characters with depth, who were able to move beyond being simply something to laugh at.