Twenty-first century pirates struck off the Somali coast, captured an American ship and paid a high price for doing so.

For days four of the pirates held the ship's captain hostage for ransom. The American public rejoiced when they learned that U.S. Navy snipers had killed three of the pirates and rescued their prisoner unharmed. The other pirate was brought to New York City to go on trial.

I saw the teenaged Somali prisoner on the television news—what a disappointment! He had no sword, eye patch or tricorne hat—in fact he didn't have any of the other paraphernalia associated with pirates. He didn't even seem to have any clever or romantic lines to say. Could it be that everything I've learned about pirates from television and movies has been wrong?

Sad to say, it's true. The popular fiction version of pirates is terribly inaccurate. That doesn't surprise me—and probably not you either. However, this episode made me realize how common the pirate antihero has become.

An antihero

An antihero in literature is a character of bad morals and low values. Yet because of the circumstances of his or her story, the audience roots for and even identifies with this otherwise bad person. An example is Captain Jack Sparrow from the recent Disney movies.

The financial success of the Pirates of the Caribbean series has encouraged ancillary business so that now a lot of children play with pirate toys, wear pirate costumes, read pirate comic books and who knows what else. Pirates are popular antiheroes.

Colorful depictions commonly make piracy seem cute, funny or dashing—and that's the problem that concerns me.

Bad pirates

While movie pirates look like romantic heroes, real-life pirates actually are and always have been brutal thieves and murderers. From the days of Blackbeard until today, there have never been good pirates.

It seems, though, that the image of them appeals to people. That image can distract attention from good role models and values, from genuine heroes.

"Look, a pirate!"

As a history teacher I sometimes use historic clothing to portray important characters from the past. I portray men from whom we can learn good lessons.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into a room wearing the 18th-century suit and tricorne hat that I use to play Alexander Hamilton or Paul Revere, and a young child exclaimed, "Look, a pirate!" The truth is that buccaneers in the 1700s—like those of modern day—dressed pretty much like other sailors and workmen of the time. They just tended to be dirtier and more ragged.

But if it's not the clothes that make pirates seem so cool, what is it? The dangerous lifestyle? The adventure? Or…is it because we accept as entertainment something that really is not good at all?

Evil good, good evil

In the pages of the Bible, the Creator and Ruler of the universe gave a warning that is not at all subtle. It says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20).

It should be no surprise that this comes from the same God who specifically said not to steal in His fundamental list of laws—the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:15). You can read about "The Eighth Commandment: Practice Giving Rather Than Getting."

Considering those standards, it's no wonder that people are calling for severe punishment of the Somali pirate. Do we feel the same about the pirates of Hollywood? Or are we blinded by tall ships and frilly shirts?

They're still pirates, ahhrrrrr! VT