Pirates!

So I have always had a fascination with pirates, but recently there have been a bunch of them giving my lifelong love a bad name. I mean, seriously, I thought all pirates were supposed to be the romanticized version, the gritty, good guys that act like bad guys kinda thing. But now there are pirates keeping people hostage and taking cruise ships and they aren't making it fun or disney-ish at all. Needless to say I'm upset. Now I know this is really no joking matter, people have died and it's bad and everything, but what ever happened to the days when pirates, who were, in their time, terrifying, were light hearted and joyous?

This post is mostly a joke, but I think there's a point in here somewhere. Pirates were never lighthearted and joyous, so why did we start to think of them like that? When did pirates stop being scary and start being awesome? This is a serious question. As Americans I think we like to take things that are tough and scary and idealize them. We value strength and, though I don't think we like to admit it, villainy, in a way. When did that start? Hmm?

But pirates are still awesome.