It has been six decades since I attended Muskingum College. A great deal has changed during my lifetime. Today, Muskingum is now a university. The curriculum has also changed. Years ago, there was a 10-hour class called The Arts. It was a required course that could be taken in either the junior or senior year. I took it in my junior year, and that decision changed my Weltanschauung. Over the past several decades, I have taught various humanities classes at the college level, including art history.

The Arts opened my eyes and explained what I thought. It provided a framework for me to understand the mindsets of artists. The class centered primarily on paintings, sculptures, and architecture. However, it also addressed films, musical compositions, and writing.

One of the films was the Italian movie, La Strada (The Road), by Federico Fellini. It was about a young gal named Gelsomina. Due to poverty, her mother sold her to Zumpano, a street performer. Gelsomina and Zampanò were polar opposites. Gelsomina reminded me of Charlie Chaplin, particularly in her eyes and mannerisms. She often seemed confused about life but was always caring, even to the abusive Zampanò.

If I were to teach an art history class today, I’d leave movies like La Strada and use a handful of movies featuring Jack Sparrow. Nevertheless, Fellini films and the Pirates of the Caribbean films carry similar messages about life, whether on the road or at sea.

Captain Jack Sparrow’s ship was called the Black Pearl.

The Black Pearl

In the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow provides a one-liner: “Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.”

This is the scene in which Jack Sparrow utters his insight about life.

The East India Trading Company (EITC) hired Jack Sparrow to locate the lost island of Kerma, which was rumored to contain a treasure trove of gold. When he claimed that he couldn’t find the island, the EITC representatives didn’t believe him. As punishment, he was to transport slaves from Africa to the New World. When Jack Sparrow realized that he was the captain of a slave ship, he freed the slaves and took them to Kerma.

Another one-liner, which was a follow-up to Jack Sparrow’s comment about gold and silver not being the only treasure, was “If you were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it.”

Essentially, Jack Sparrow warns us that waiting for the right moment will result in wasting time. Act. Carpe Diem. Get in gear. We do not have the luxury of putting things off for another time.

Jack Sparrow had an interesting, playful personality. Additionally, he was flamboyant. Those personality traits often disarmed adversaries. Jack Sparrow could draw people to him. He wasn’t as combative as the other pirates.

Another take-away, beyond Gelsomina and Jack Sparrow being similar, is that a similarity exists between Zampanò and Trump. They are both emblematic of an assertive, brutish, and holier-than-thou mindset. Again, we have a Kierkegaardian either/or choice. Choose wisely on your yellow brick road.

How many actors are like Johnny Depp, who volunteer their time to visit children that are in hospitals? Depp, dressed as Jack Sparrow, has visited various hospitals in Canada, Spain, and Australia.