Our heroes come ashore with their captives, but it’s not too long before they’re all in a tight spot, with Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Black Pete (Matthew Maher) in a rather cramped cage.
[EDIT: obviously Pete isn’t the only disabled character but he is the only one played by an actor with the same condition! I worded my initial tweet poorly whoops it should say “A visibly disabled character played by a visibly disabled actor”]
I was so happily surprised that this was never mocked or played for laughs with Pete’s character - something that likely other older pirate media absolutely would have done - not only is he a supporting main character but he gets an onscreen romance as well?
Cleft lip and palate is actually a common condition that occurs during pregnancy and surgery can restore normal function with minimal scarring and speech therapy can help too - it also affects face shape, and sometimes breathing! So fanartists and fanfic authors take note!
Representation is so important! Think of all the kids out there who rarely get to see anyone like them get to be a fun gay pirate! Please don’t accidentally erase Pete’s cleft lip scars or lisp or I will crawl through the internet and cut off your toe and make you eat it
I used the term “visible disability” in the first tweet and while some people consider the cleft a disability, not everyone feels the same, it is a diverse community with many opinions, and language is very personal ❤
But what is most important is that more people get to see themselves represented on screen and thats what makes Our Flag Means Death so great!!!
Big thanks to my cleftie friend @twinpersonalitys who helped me out with my wording! And if you wanna check out my thread on twitter here you go!
Starring David Oyelowo, Daniel Craig, David Wilson Barnes, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Rachel Brosnahan, Blake DeLong, Glenn Fitzgerald, Slate Holmgren, Anthony Michael Lopez, Matthew Maher, Nikki Massoud, Kyle Vincent Terry & Finn Wittrock
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me… actually that’s kind of it.”
Black Pete grew on me as the series progressed. He might be an arrogant try-hard, but he’s got a heart of gold. You just want to shake him and tell him he’s already a pirate. It doesn’t have to be all edgy!
NGL I’m hoping we’re going to see a whole array of different types of pirates in Season 2.
