Island Med Student

I found out that the new Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest was filmed mostly on the island of Dominica, which is soon to be my new home. I wouldn’t ordinarily pay money to see such a movie in the theatre, but I couldn’t resist seeing great footage of the island on which I’ll soon be living.

The movie ended up being fairly entertaining and cinematically stimulating, but it was, as expected, lacking in substance. Nevertheless, seeing amazing footage of Dominica was actually really captivating. As I watched the movie unfold against a backdrop of breathtaking beaches, rainforest canopies, and boiling lakes, I became even more enthusiastic about living in such an absolutely magnificent environment.

After seeing the movie, I decided to do some research on the filming and production. It turns out that the Dominican government was very excited to have Disney film the movie on their island, as it boosted their economy and provided jobs for hundreds of local Dominicans. In fact, the government was so proud of the movie and expecting a tourism spike, that they even made a website dedicated to the Pirates in Dominica theme with all kinds of pirate related paraphernalia and touristy information.

Although filming Pirates of the Caribbean on the island of Dominica was undoubtedly good for the local economy, many people were adamantly opposed to the making of the movie. Their opposition was because in the movie, the Carib Indians who are native to Dominica, were depicted as ruthless cannibals who tried to eat anyone who came to their island.

An Article, written in Indian Country Today describes how:

“Chief Charles Williams of the Carib community in Dominica has denounced the concept of his people being depicted as cannibals. This stereotype has ‘”stigmatized” Caribs for 500 years and is still used both as a form of personal insult and as justification for mistreating his people, Williams said; the movie will further “popularize” the historical insult against his people.”

Instances of supposed cannibalism were noted as a feature of religious war rituals, and in fact, the English word cannibal comes from the Spanish caníbal, itself taken from the Carib karibna (‘person’) as recorded by Columbus. However, no archeological evidence has ever been found to support the theory that the Carib Indians ever participated in cannibalism. It’s likely that the reason the Europeans claimed that the Carib Indians were cannibals is so they could justify their own killing, raping and enslavement of the Indians.

Even though there was a lot of opposition to the depictions in the movie, Disney ultimately convinced the Dominican government to go ahead with production.

I understand both sides of the argument and believe that propagation of negative stereotypes is almost always detrimental, but I am glad that I was able to take a sneak peak at my new home. I can’t wait to meet the real Carib Indians who live on the island. They are actually the only remaining Carib Indians in the world. I’ve read that they are extremely friendly folks with a rich heritage. I love discovering new types of people and learning about their culture and traditions, and can’t wait to learn the Caribbean way of living!