#bsaaw

Villains: I love how Black Sails deconstructs and upends the idea of what a villain is. Even from the first scene, we start by seeing the Walrus crew from the perspective of the men whose ship they’re taking. In a few minutes we see Joshua take off his fake teeth and crack jokes with Gates. Flint and Anne and many others are introduced through violence. Only later does the narrative go into their pasts and begin to pull back the layers. Black Sails shows how people who are outcasts from civilization are made into monsters, and how civilization itself hides its own monstrosity, or fails to see that it's even monstrous in the first place because certain things–slavery, sexual abuse, violence against and hatred of queer people–are merely the status quo, monstrosity accepted as normal.

Survival: People are pushed to do monstrous things in order to survive in a world that doesn’t want them to survive. Everyone's back is up against the wall. If we think characters' actions are monstrous, we also have to ask ourselves, how would I act if I was in that situation–would I only make good choices? "Amazing, this place. Somehow leaves no option other than to hurt the ones you love." In a situation where everyone is struggling to survive, the circumstance itself places everyone at odds, even against–or maybe especially against–those closest to them.

Shame: Shame is a theme from season 1, framed as something that holds civilization together. But the characters for most of the show operate outside of civilization–does this mean they’re free from shame? I don’t know if there’s a definitive answer, only that the questions the show raises are really important: how does it affects us to grow up in a society that views inherent things about us as villainous? How can we free ourselves from it, and replace this narrative of shame with the truth?

Freedom: People are struggling for freedom from civilization, freedom from slavery, freedom from shame, freedom to love, freedom to find who they are. Freedom to tell their own stories. Freedom to feel rage.

Rage: Rage is one of the most powerful emotions in Black Sails. It’s justified rage, rage that is not vilified or condemned but portrayed in one of the most refreshing ways I’ve seen it. Rage for being taught love is shameful, rage for losing loved ones, rage for being treated as less than human, rage for being abused. Before we know Anne Bonny’s history we can still see her rage as she guts Hamund, which she did for herself as much as she did it for Max. Miranda's rage, kept in for so long, not allowed to be expressed– "I want to see this whole goddamned city, this city that you purchased with our misery, burn!" Max's barely suppressed rage– "people do not speak to me that way anymore." The way women are allowed to feel rage is very different from the men, but it's so important that rage is a theme on Black Sails, because it relates directly to the idea of what a villain is, and what a "monster" is. Deconstructing the idea of a villain means showing rage that is justified, rage that should be felt, that it would be monstrous not to feel. Rage can give us freedom, it can empower us. It shows us something true.

Truth: This relates not just to the truth of history–truth about whose stories have been erased–but also truth between people. Love that is true. People who are true. Max’s lines to Anne come to mind, but so does Miranda’s relationship with Flint. She more than anyone, saw the truth about him. The inverse is relationships where we can’t bear truth to be known such as Silver's past. When can we not bear to face the truth, or to share it? And how does our relationship with truth affect our ability to survive–do we survive by separating ourselves from the narrative like Silver does, or is our only manner of survival fighting that narrative tooth and nail like Flint?

And truth circles back to the theme of villains–who is truly a villain? Who decides? How has history warped the truth, and created a narrative of shame? If you look at any two themes together, it shows how well they complement each other. Deconstructing the idea of what villains are works better when everything rests on themes of truth and freedom, looking at what drives rage, how people struggle to survive and how shame is created as part of the narrative civilization enforces.

"A story is true. A story is untrue. As time extends, it matters less and less. The stories we want to believe, those are the ones that survive...those are the stories that shape history."

Black Sails Anniversary Appreciation Week:

Day 3: Favorite Setting or Location  ➡ Skeleton Island

Black Sails Anniversary Appreciation Week: Favorite Episode | 2x10 XVIII

Black Sails Anniversary Appreciation : Favourite artwork of my own.

Frankly put, this is one of the best stories I’ve seen told in fiction. James Flint/McGraw and Max are two of my favorite characters in fiction. By the last episode, I don’t think there were many character beats I hadn’t scooped up hook, line and sinker. The importance of the show’s themes - the representation, the story from the perspective of societal outcasts - has been said before. As a queer person I was overjoyed to see complex relationships depicted - some with happy endings even! As a woman I loved watching all the female characters exert their agency and kick ass and take names in each of their ways. And as a general lover of good stories, I was amazed to see how much respect the creators showed toward this one. It’s one thing to go the route most shows go and show a horrible society with the characters going to extremes to survive in it. It’s quite another to show a horrible society that is the foundation for our current Western society and have the characters actively try to tear it down. 

I feel like everyone brought their A game: the writers, the directors, the actors, the costume department, everything from sound mixing to props  to cinematography, to the performances of the most minor of characters. Just everyone. It’s so refreshing to see that the actors and creators are genuine fans of the show itself, not just talking it up as part of their PR duties. You can see the love and pride with which this was made, and I think that’s amazing in the television landscape where there are so many ways things often go wrong.