tv spotlight
by chris carpenter
Sailing The High Seas WITH VICO ORTIZ
photography by val vega
There have been many media portrayals of pirates during the last century. Some have been fearsome, some not so much. From big-screen Errol Flynn classics like Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk to Broadway’s The Pirates of Penzance, TV’s Black Sails to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean attractions and films, historical swashbucklers have long captured the public’s imagination. We can now add the new, comedic HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death to this list. Queer-friendly, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) serves as executive producer. He also directed the pilot episode and co-stars throughout the series as the real-life pirate Blackbeard. The show was inspired by the life of Stede Bonnet, an 18th-century aristocrat turned pirate enjoyably personified by Rhys Darby.
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www.rage.lgbt | APRIL 2022
