Subject: Fate of the missionary. (spoilers)
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Posted on: 2011-08-19 22:39:00 UTC
I thought they foreshadowed it early in the movie.
"The kiss of a mermaid stops a man from drowning." or some such quotation by a random pirate.
That sure seems to be what happened at the end. Even if it was left ambiguous visually...
To be absolutely honest, I was impressed with most of the movie, except for the bit at the end when the Spaniards just show up and destroy the fountain. Some explanation beyond "it's heathen' would have been nice.
A possible explantion could be that the Spanish were acting on a deal put forth by the mermaids, as relayed through that old guy the fishermen pulled up. Since the fountain is 1) human sacrific-y and 2) has caused mer-kind so much grief in the quest for their tears, they could have offered that, in exchange for the destruction of the fountain, they would convert to Christianity (though to the young missionarys advantage, never specifying which branch of the religion).
So, what to you all think and does anyone else have plotholes to fill?
After watching the various characters and factions fighting over it throughout the movie, I took it for granted that the Spanish fleet wanted to find the Fountain for the same reasons. So when they announced they wanted to DESTROY it, it felt like a whole new facet had been added to the conflict (not that it lasted long).
We all knew from the get-go that the Fountain would be destroyed. Everyone going after it wanted something from it and 1) characters simply getting what they want is dull and 2) since Status Quo is God, the fountain couldn't be found, or if found, must be lost or destroyed.
Also, the religious conflict was handled with more tact than you'd expect from your average Hollywood blockbuster. One of the main conflicts is the Catholic Spanish vs the Protestant British- the British get involved because they hear the Spanish are going after it, and they don't want their hated Papist rivals to gain the secret of eternal life.
The Spanish, meanwhile, are still a waxing colonial power, and are working hard to Catholicize the heathen natives of the areas they've annexed. Abstract religious reasons aside, they have very valid political reasons for wanting the Fountain buried and forgotten. If nothing else, it's existence lends credence to beliefs they're in the process of suppressing. (And, let's be honest, the part where it's all human-sacrifice-y would give a lot of people moral qualms.)
As far as the merfolk are concerned, I don't think the Spanish would be inclined to deal with them, or vice-versa. Whether or not they had souls to be saved would be a valid question that the value of conversion would depend upon, and I have serious doubts that the merfolk would take humans at their words on a small matter, let alone a mass religious conversion. Besides, only that one particular mermaid had an interest in the (presumably Protestant) missionary, so on cutting a deal with the Spaniards with the intention of honoring it, it would be Papacy all the way, baby.
Honestly, the only part I was unsatisfied with was the fate of the missionary. But even that I didn't feel cheated by; it's not his story, and leaving that plot thread dangling does preserve some of the sense of mystery that surrounds the merfolk.
...sorry. Nattering. That's just what I think.
I just wish that the Spanish hadn't been quite so seemingly dismissive of the Fountain's power before they destroyed it, especially considering the survival of one of De'Leons crew. Branding it as a manifestation of New World heathen devilry (what with it's sacrificial angle) and labeling it the work of Sat an as a reason for destroying it may have worked better.
On the other hand, the mermaids may have still led the Spanish to the Fountain out of their hate for it, knowing that they would probably destroy it from the tales of the old man, no conversion deal necessary.
I thought they foreshadowed it early in the movie.
"The kiss of a mermaid stops a man from drowning." or some such quotation by a random pirate.
That sure seems to be what happened at the end. Even if it was left ambiguous visually...
... but I'd have much preferred the ending of that storyline if she ate him. Bit "Farmer and the Viper" of me, I know, but that's how I think most paranormal romances should end.
If they hadn't said that, everyone would've assumed she just flat-out killed him. As it is, you never know exactly how true that legend is, or if there's some nasty little prophecy twist involved.
I like to think it was left ambiguous, anyways. Maybe I'm just being stubborn.
I really liked the movie, but I am a huge POTC fan and watch all the movies with pirate-goggles firmly planted on my nose (they are like nostalgia-goggle, only with pirates) so it would have been hard for me not to like this one.
I actually didn't have a problems with the Spaniards' reason for destroying the fountain. For me, it seemed to be pretty much in character, historically speaking, that they would do something like that.
I was more unhappy with Sparrow abandoning Angelica in the end. Unless it was on the rum-smugglers new island so he could be sure she could get rescued, but it didn't say so.
And oh, isn't it a strange time we live in, in which the mermaids of one continuum are more terrifying than the vampires of another?