Story 10!

The word 'Fangirl' can have many different meanings. You can simply say it means 'a fan who just happens to be a girl', or 'a completely obsessed girl/woman'. The latter is generally due to hormones or large doses of caffeine. I am a Fangirl.

See, when the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl came out, I wasn't interested. “It's a boy movie.” I had said, with a wave of my hand. Several months after it's release on DVD, my friend insisted that I watch it with her. About halfway through, I insisted we turn it off. I just couldn't take it.

About two months later, I watched it again with the same friend, and I kept up a running commentary (“That was stupid.” etc.). While I thought it was a fine movie, I still wasn't really interested.

So, January of 2006 rolled around, and under strong protest, I was going to see Narnia with my Grandparents. So, there I was in the movie theater, munching popcorn and watching previews. I guess you can guess which preview came on. Yup, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. And I was captivated. Amazed. Wowed. Suddenly, a desire to watch the first movie came very strongly, and the minute I got home, I insisted on buying the DVD with one click on Amazon.

So it began, this hunger that I could never seem to satisfy, for Pirates of the Caribbean. Everybody at my church knew I was obsessed, and to this day, people still ask me: “How many times have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean, now?”

I downloaded every picture I could find. I Googled, and Googled, and Googled almost every hour. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that before Pirates of the Caribbean, I was cradling a three-year obsession with Harry Potter. But, that all went down the toilet, and I've never looked back.

I bought a towel, two plastic wristbands, a puzzle of Jack, a blanket (more Jack), a T-shirt, a very embarrassing wallet that said 'I Love Jack', a pillowcase, and books. I printed out pictures and stuck them on my wall. I even got two very large posters, which I actually kissed once.

So, with the theatrical trailer of Dead Man's Chest released, that's just about all I did all day until July of '06. Everyday, I'd turn on the computer, and watch, and watch, and watch. I could recite the entire trailer. Actually, I hurt myself acting out the scenes along with the DVD (I fell off the couch on purpose). I could name every scene, and if somebody asked me about a certain part, I could tell him or her which scene name and number exactly.

I went to see Dead Man's Chest the day after it was released. Since I didn't want to look too obsessed, I wore my Matrix t-shirt. As for the movie, I was not disappointed. When my friends brought up the critics' reaction, I said, “Screw the critics!!!!” I know, very mature.

It was released on DVD December 5th. I went to Blockbuster and bought it and watched it every morning, sometimes more than once. My mother threatened to take away my laptop if I didn't stop watching. Then I started writing FanFiction. It was kind of short-lived, because at the time I was involved in a writing group with girls several years younger than myself. They hounded me the one time I wore my Pirates of the Caribbean shirt.

They had trivia questions for me, and they insisted that I name my favorite scenes. Finally, I told them Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't my favorite movie (what a hunk of a lie).

But, I really was loosing interest in Pirates of the Caribbean. Not the movies themselves, exactly, but the whole franchise.

In February of 2007, a year after I had officially announced my obsession, I just threw in the towel naturally. I still like watching the movies when I'm sad, because they're like comfort food, but I manage to stay detached.

Incidentally, I did see At World's End the day after it was released. I did enjoy it, and I do plan on buying the DVD the day it's released. Because, despite saying that I don't like him just because he's cute, Johnny Depp really is hot, and he is so worth the twenty bucks.