THE EDITOR, Sir:

Having just read Rohane Riguer's letter in your Monday edition regarding her perception of the racist nature of the film Pirates of the Caribbean, I was forced to respond. The chip that Miss Riguer seems to have on her shoulder seems to be such a heavy weight that it is warping her memory regarding historic fact. First of all, she needs to realise that the film is not set in our present modern times but in a period of history when superstition and fear of the unknown were rampant.

Is she willing to deny the historic fact that the brown-skinned Carib Indians of the Caribbean were cannibals? Has she also forgotten that transplanted Africans of the period (and even today in our modern times) practise Voodoo? Was she absent from school on the day when the lesson about the Indians who sold Manhattan Island in New York for a collection of beads and trinkets was taught? When cultures clash, the primitive are always awed by the new and unique.

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Was she sleeping in history class when they taught about how Europeans thought that the world was flat and its nether regions populated by monsters and dragons and not black people as she claimed, who were actually brought to the Caribbean by Europeans? And while she's at it, can she tell us what percentage of Davy Jones' 'slaves' were people of colour? Why not also speak up for the 'abused' midget in the film?

Wasn't he a minority also? She should also appreciate the fact that the Jamaican accent is regarded by Americans as the most authentic intonation of the Caribbean.

As for her problem with the portrayal of the East India Company, she should again look to her history texts which will show how principals of that company literally had the power of kings and princes in India and behaved accordingly.

Pirates of the Caribbean is nothing more than plain, simple fun. Why is she the only one of the millions from different races who have seen the film who finds it to be racist? If it takes a few liberties with historic facts, hey, that's the price we pay for entertainment because sometimes the whole truth is simply boring. Miss Riguer, the only thing worse than too little education is too much education and trust me, you are way over-educated. We won't miss you at the showing of 'Pirates' 3.

I am, etc.,

Milton Williams

Kingston 10