I agree with most of what Jonah Goldberg writes, but I honestly have no clue where this came from:
Of course, tales of Blackbeard and the like have always fascinated, but in recent years pirates have joined ninjas, mafiosos, drug dealers and even serial killers as pop-culture heroes. If we can make cannibals and psychopaths — albeit fictional ones — like Hannibal Lecter and Showtime’s Dexter into sympathetic figures, it’s no wonder we can take a profession historically associated with murder, rape, pillaging and torture and turn it into a Disney franchise.
Now, I know nothing of this Dexter figure, but from what I remember about The Silence of the Lambs and the reception to the book and the movie, no one really considered Hannibal Lecter any kind of hero. Of course that was more than 15 years ago, so my memory may be a little off. But I would really hope that the American people would be able to distinguish the Disneyfied pirates from the real thing, especially in light of recent events. Hell, now that I think about it, I am almost surprised Goldberg didn't mention Hagar the Horrible...
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