I was wondering about the life of pirates in the classical pirate period (there have always been pirates and there are still many today) when they all hanged out in Jamaica.
The typical screen rendition is of either a wronged man seeking revenge or a lovable rogue who kills the really rotten pirate. The derivation of this probably are the privateers who stole from the Spaniards who have always had a bad reputation for their cruelty. The privateers all worked under the unofficial command of the British monarch.
However it doesn’t take much to realise the life of real pirates must have been harsh, vile, cruel and vulgar. That it was honour amongst thieves only up to a point. Disease must have been rife and many people who became pirates were probably once slaves or disaffected from their own families or even captured and turned to become pirates with the lure of some wealth. The idea that they shared their wealth is also probably ridiculous as the least democratic people on the face of the earth are robbers. A fair share would not be likely to be given and the death rates were probably high as boarding ships was dangerous even before the other ship’s crew got busy.
I wonder if they will ever make a film about the true life of a pirate.