MovieChat Forums > White Squall (1996) Discussion > They shouldn't have glorified the skippe...

They shouldn't have glorified the skipper. They whitewashed the guy.

posted 16 years ago by micaofboca-1
7 replies | jump to latest

The real life adventures of Captain Sheldon show him to be altogether different than the way he was represented here. In 1965, he bought a 130-foot ship, the Verona, for use as a floating school, even after the tragic loss of the Albatross and crew. But again, he suffered tragedy at sea. On his second voyage, the ship caught fire near the west coast of Central Africa and the fire destroyed the vessel, but all aboard escaped. I can respect William Bligh for his extraordinary seamanship despite his shortcomings that would jeapordize and destroy his achievements. However, Captain Sheldon was no Christopher Colombus or Willaim Blgh, despite the way which Jeff Bridges portrayed him, as an erudite and accomplished seaman, despite his spotty record on incidents that included the fateful sinking of the Albatross. I can't imagine any value in propping him up so fancifully in this fashion. I think the movie would have been far better off if it were truer to life in displaying the foibles and weaknesses of the captain. They artificially propper him up to be worshipped as a hero here where the truth was very different. The guy was a disaster waiting to happen.

[–] opheliarose82 16 years ago

Where did you hear that? I was under the impression that he never went to sea again (I think they even say it at the end of the movie). I know he went with the Peace Corp to South America "soon" after the Albatross sank (he said that in a NY Times interview) and came back to the states in 1968 or '69.

Also, I didn't think the movie "glorified" him, and even if it did, it's being told from the prospective of a teenage boy who, on top of needing a father-figure, was very much in awe of Captain Sheldon.

[–] clark-coleman 16 years ago

Here is the New York Times obituary for Captain Sheldon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/29/us/cb-sheldon-76-skipper-in-a-noted-sinking.html

He had two stints in the Peace Corps, with the Verona incident in the middle.

[–] AidaClarkfield 14 years ago

I agree that bad stuff happens on the ocean. You're on a glorified piece of wood in the middle of nowhere. It's unstable. When you sail around the world or on long voyages...things happen. When you do it multiple times, the chances of things happening go up. I don't think this proves without a shadow of a doubt that he is a bad sailor. It's a risk you take.

The anonymity of the internet has only made us meaner and dumber.

[–] mykungfuistrong 16 years ago

The movie is also based off the book, written by two of the boys from the ship. So I'm not sure how much more true-to-life you want than that, there were THERE. Is there some FIRSThand info you have that you're not telling?

In addition, having sailed for stretches myself, I can attest that crap happens, especially when you're outside US waters. You can't control everything, you just roll with the punches.

[–] TheGoodWife77 12 years ago

I think you need to review your history on Christopher Columbus when it comes to spotty records.

[–] ibbi 12 years ago

That's Hollywood for you.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbrhsWGrEdA

[–] jgarrick 11 years ago

What I've read has indicated that modifications made to the ship created instability that was the primary cause or at least a large contributing factor in the loss of the Albatross.

All hands were saved in the loss of the Verona.

The ocean is an unpredictable and at times dangerous place where at times bad things happen. By all accounts I've seen, he could in no way be fairly described as "a disaster waiting to happen."