IV. DISCUSSION
1. Jack
Jack, the main character of this movie, is the living or imaginative figure of queerness. He is a man who does not only perform a traditional gender of men, but also
more-liminal gender as he also performs with the traditional women gender. There are two gendered characteristics of Jack showing his queerness; his eyeliner and his posture and
movements. Moreover, by using symbolism and psychoanalysis approach, we can see Jack’s queerness through his compass that does not point north.
a. Eyeliner
Thinking blatantly, to give dark, excessive eyeliner to a character in a story will give an impression that the character is bad. E.g.: Joker and Poison Ivy in Batman
black eyeliner, Lucifer in Constantine red eyeliner. However, remembering the nature of eyeliner as cosmetics, which is closely attributed to women, there is a
message of queerness that we can infer. He is acting differently from the stereotyped image of a man; based on the masculine stereotype, men are not supposed to put on
makeup as men have to be men Campbell. In terms of eyeliner, we can look at Adam Lambert. Adam Lambert is a
homosexual pop-singer who is identified with his special appearance by putting on visible, thick eyeliner. Being a public figure, he strengthens the close relationship
between homosexuals and eyeliner. Moreover, regardless of the difference in time setting, both the movie and Adam Lambert are seen by the audience nowadays, which
impose the same queer message about the usage of eyeliners. Exploring further the interrelation about eyeliner and the image of
homosexuality I found another reference showing the relation between eyeliner and
homosexuality. I found a scene from the on-screen version of Burlesque, where Ali thought Jack was homosexual because he puts on eyeliner.
“Ali: You’re straight?Jack: You thought I was gay? Ali: Yeah.
Jack: Wait, why? Ali: I don’t know, the day bed, the eyeliner...” Antin
From the two external references above, the usage of eyeliners is attributed to one of the gay cultures. Thus, the audience might unconsciously or consciously
address eyeliners as an attribute of gayness or a less masculine feature of a man. However, Jack is showing qualities of a functioning pirate. He can still lead his crew,
he can fight, and he can trick people just as cunning as a pirate can be; whereas in this story he is actually the good guy, the main character, and the protagonist. With those
qualities, traditional-gender-minded audiences are actually being offered an image of queer, further,
being taught to accept andor to idolise a man like Jack. Jack’s image then suggests that a man with queer actions can actually still function appropriately to
his role here, as a man who is a pirate. b.
Posture and movements As a man, Jack’s posture is not considered as someone big and tall, far from
the attributes of masculinity. While his clumsy way of walking reminds us of Dr. Jeckyl’s alter ego, Mr. Hyde. Some people might defend this statement by saying that
“he is drunk, he is a pirate, he drinks rum.” It might perhaps safeguard Jack’s image from not being queer. However, remembering that Jack did not drink rum all the time,
we might question Jack’s manliness from his posture and stature that he mostly walks
clumsily throughout the movie. Even in the last battle scene with Captain Barbossa,
Jack still is not walking or fighting with a strong solid figure of what we traditionally call a man.
Image IV-1
Image IV-2
The above images are taken from the early part of the film, where he was in the pier, talking to the two guards. His posture and movements when he was talking
are not of a stereotypical man —which is bold and strong. He folds and swings his
hands, and plays with his fingers. He spoke not as tough as a stereotyped-man with his daft speaking style and his expressive facial expressions.
He speaks nothing like commodore Norrington, who speaks boldly, with his straight standing figure. We will find out more about the comparison between the two
in the next sub- chapter “Commodore Norrington” in point II under the Discussion.
c. Compass that does not point north
Jack’s trinket, the compass that does not point north, might just be a broken compass to the normal eye as it does not point north, like the name suggests.
Normally, a compass would point north —the orientation of a compass is north;
however, this compass that Jack has would not point at a static place for a long time. The compass might point southwest, west, or any direction, while actually it is told in
the text that the compass point to something that the holder wants. Remembering that the compass is a part of Jack’s identity while carrying the idea of gender fluidity in
mind, this compass then makes Jack’s queer image more vivid. The compass symbolizes Judith Butler’s idea of gender fluidity. Based on her view, queer suggests
that a person does not stick to a static orientation and role. She argued that our gender role is impermanent, where we can decide how we act and what we want for one
particular moment; we can act like a man or a woman for one moment and change and perform as a different gender at a different time.
2. Commodore Norrington
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