A recent study released by Harfold State College confirms what many believed: the media has whipped us up into thinking that pirates have just recently come out of the woodwork.
Similar to shark attacks, pirates have been around as long as there have been ships. We just normally let them go on their way, plundering booty-laden vessels for millions of dollars. Only recently have we started to take notice.
However, one fact is indisputable: there are more pirate movies today than there were 200, even 100 years ago. Whereas the Sea Peoples were wreaking havoc in the Mediterranean around the 13th century B.C., pirate movies have only started gracing the big screen since the early 1900s. The short silent film Treasure Island was released in 1908.
The study also found that it's much easier to sit through a pirate movie than it is to stop real pirates from raiding ships. Even with Google Earth, it doesn't seem that authorities have the means with which they can combat piracy. This will most likely lead to the making of even more pirate movies.
The vast majority of those surveyed or 88.9% objected to the appearance of the modern-day Somalian pirates. The fact that they don't wear big hats, tall boots, and an eye patch makes them totally unbelievable and a bit silly.