The movie Captain Phillips is not a typical American narrative at first thought. This movie embodies American men who take a freight ship across the Indian Ocean, and are attacked and held hostage by Somali pirates. Audiences are shocked not only by the greusome nature and violence of the Somali pirates, but also by the way in which Captain Phillips puts his crew before himself. This, as we have learned in class, is one of the greatest American narratives we could strive to achieve.
In this movie, the United States military sends Navy Seals to rescue Captain Phillips from the hands of the Somali pirates. This representation of America sticking together and not taking negotiations from foreign pirates further demonstrates the ideal American dream: a nation that comes together in a time of crisis and stands as one single unit that is ready for any challenge that the world may bring on to it.
This film is based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips who was manning the Maersk Alabama in 2009 when it was attacked and held hostage by Somali pirates. Because this film is not fictional, we can clearly see that the American Dream still thrives to this day, and is not just a re-imagination of America’s past. Although this particular dream has many roadblocks along the way, it all comes together in the end as the United States stands together and intimidates its challengers enough to keep them at bay. This is a true and contemporary narration of twenty-first century America.
I’m really glad you included this. When I saw this movie I thought it perfectly portrayed what 21st century America idealizes–except I saw America in a more negative way. Honestly, for most of the movie, I kept thinking that even if the Somalian pirates did kill Captain Phillips, the navy seals would still continue after the pirates and kill them no matter what. Since America has this ego where we consider our country to be both the most powerful and best country in the world, I assumed that when the pirates attacked Americans, America would see it as a threat to the country and its ego; thus, America would have to put down the threat no matter the cost (which ultimately would be Captain Phillips’ life and the pirates’ lives, too), because we can’t have anyone showing us up. So thanks for sharing another point of view on this story. I would prefer to look at it your way–in a positive way–that America values its family-like bond where we come to each other’s aid in times of crisis, and will overcome hardships together as a country.