Summer is upon us everyone! The time is here for taking trips to the beach, sipping fruity drinks, and busting out the cute sandals. Such an exciting time, right? Right?!
WRONG.
Why, you ask? Because today marks the Pirates of the Caribbean ten year anniversary. That’s right. It’s been ten years since the first movie premiered. And that is not at all okay. The moment I realized this was not a good one, filled with lots of denial and horror. The fact that something I’m obsessed with has been around for a decade is distressing. I really need to get my life together, you guys! I still have merchandise in my room somewhere, I can still destroy anyone in trivia, and I can quote that movie line for line. With inflections and accents and everything. (Because I’m a super cool person.) So the fact that ten years of my life have passed since it first came out kind of makes me want to tear my face off in despair.
Pretty much
If you will, please imagine an old timey sepia montage for this next little bit, as it will add to the ambiance:
I remember it well. I was just a tweener, before being called a tweener was a thing, and I saw a commercial for a movie about ghost skeleton pirates that was based on a theme park ride. That sounds painfully horrible, I’ll admit it. But there was just something about it that intrigued me. Maybe it was Orlando Bloom (Whatever happened to that guy? Somebody should go check on him to make sure he’s okay), or maybe I had numerous seafaring adventures in another life.
I miss you
Whatever it was, I thought it looked great and I knew I needed to see that movie. And holy crap did I make the right call. No matter what your opinion is on any of the sequels, I have yet to come across a person who doesn’t think that the first movie is at least a little bit awesome. And if nothing else, it reintroduced us all to Johnny Depp. A dreadlocked, eye liner wearing, and yet still hot Johnny Depp. Jack Sparrow is probably one of the greatest characters ever, and I like to think that he’s our mascot in a way.
Because aren’t we all like Jack Sparrow, really? At least a little bit? Think about it. He’s obsessed with his rum and his ship, these two objects that he cares about more than real people. When he gets stranded on a desert island, he’s more worried about the fact that the rum is gone that the fact that he might starve to death. What a tragically ironic twist that I would soon go down that path… Because fast forward ten years, replace rum with a YA book series, and that would be me.
But oh how young and naïve I was then! I almost wish there was a way for me to go back in time to talk to my younger self as she sat in that theater, to warn her about what was about to befall her. And yet I am tragically bound to the laws of time and space, and thus must look back in my memories and watch as all her sanity is replaced by all the feels. I listened to the soundtrack day and night. I shipped 
Will and Elizabeth before I even knew what shipping was. Pirates is how I learned that there are huge groups of awesome, passionate fans lurking out there all over the internet that love to freak out just as much I do. And that some of those people write fan fiction. Once you discover fan fiction, you’re past the point of no return. They say you never forget your first love, and in this case it means that you never forget the first fandom that sucked you down into the unrelenting depths of painfully wonderful lunacy.
So happy ten year anniversary Pirates of the Caribbean! I looked it up, and the traditional gift for a ten year anniversary is tin. I’ll try and get you something nice. Maybe a fancy canister set or a decorative wall hanging. If it’s not too much trouble, the only thing I’d like from you is the return of my sanity, since it’s kind of your fault that I no longer have it. When you’re ready to exchange presents, just let me know. I’ll be right here, watching three seasons of a television show in one sitting and scouring the internet for Divergent set pictures until two in the morning…
Do you remember seeing Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time!? Can you believe it’s been TEN YEARS?
Source- Feature Image Source- Will Turner pic Source- Will and Elizabeth pic
