Captain Jack Sparrow is Raoul Duke

Johnny Depp is drawing rave reviews for his second stint as the hero-at-heart pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. Fans of the burgeoning series love the mannerisms, an absent wave of the arms accompanied by an overly verbose nonlinear comment, always thick with irony. What few of these fans realize is that Captain Jack Sparrow is actually Raoul Duke. And who, might you ask, is Raoul Duke? Why, he's the alter ego of the recently departed (his ashes having been blown up within fireworks above his ranch) Mr. Hunter S. Thompson, father of gonzo journalism, and subject of the trippy cult favorite, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". In the film, Johnny Depp portrays Raoul Duke, or Hunter S. Thompson, as he covers a motorcycle race through the Las Vegas desert on the rich backdrop of one of the more legendary, non-musician, drug binges of all time. The manner in which Raoul Duke speaks, lumbers as if slightly seasick, and acts generally disoriented makes you wonder if Jack Sparrow has a little more than rum running through his veins as he chases the "bad" pirates around the Caribbean. The irony of straight-edged suburbanites enjoying the spirit of a Hunter S. Thompson drug binge under the guise of a Disney film drew more than a few chuckles from me as I watched the sequel. It harkens back to the legendary childhood c-o-n-spiracy of certain phallic symbols in the Little Mermaid, but I'm not willing to go that far. I'd simply suggest that you check out "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" from you local video store on an evening when you're feeling particularly irreverant. If your heads right, you might just find the American dream. Confused? Watch the movie and you'll know what I mean.